The Post’s ‘Salon’ Plan: A Public Relations Disaster:
For a storied newspaper that cherishes its reputation for ethical purity, this comes pretty close to a public relations disaster.Politico reported this morning that The Post has been soliciting lobbyists to pay from $25,000 to $250,000 to underwrite off-the-record “salons” at the home of publisher Katharine Weymouth that would provide access to administration and congressional leaders and the paper’s reporters and editors.
The story, accurately reported by Politico (and former Post) reporter Mike Allen, is based on a flier being circulated by a new marketing arm of The Post that has been created to host conferences and events.
The problem: The Post often decries those who charge for access to public officials. This raised the specter of a money-losing newspaper doing the same thing — and charging for access to its own reporters and editors as well.
