More Woodward Gripes

Writing in the Washington City Paper, Eric Wemple fills in some more details on a story that we first reported two weeks ago: Mainly that Bob Woodward‘s allegiance to the Washington Post is grating on some of the ink-stained wretches he shares office space with.

The camel back-breaking straw was USA Today’s scoop of the contents of Woodward’s new book, The Secret Man:

The frenzy kicked up resentments in the Post newsroom. Think about it: USA Today, a paper that didn’t even exist during Watergate, gets a clean break on a story whose component pieces are sitting on the desk of a Post employee. Style officials had been agitating for an advance copy of the book way before USA Today got the goods.

The disenchanted at 15th and L, of course, won’t go on record trashing their most famous assistant managing editor. “It just shows how far Woodward has moved beyond his roots,” says a Post staff writer.

Woodward’s response is hardly soothing. In response to making his fellow reporters scramble to catch up to Mark Memmott‘s story, he told the City Paper: “What was the problem–some people were late for dinner?”

It’s that sort of empathy that will make Woodward the hit of 15th Street.

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