Post Ombudsman Falls Down on the Job
Sent to letters@washpost.com on 12/8/07
Sometimes, people break the law. That’s why we have police.
But when a citizen breaks the law and gets away with it, you have a problem.
Likewise, sometimes newspapers run poor articles. That’s why papers that aspire to a high standard of journalism ethics employ an ombudsman.
But when the ombudsman fails to hold the newspaper accountable to its ethical standard, you have an institutional problem.
So, when The Post aired its now-infamous front-page gossip-fest on the “rumors” surrounding Barak Obama’s imaginary “muslim ties” (“Foes Use Obama’s Muslim Ties to Fuel Rumors About Him,” Perry Bacon Jr., 11/29/07), Ombudsman commentary was needed. Unfortunately for the Post, Ombudsman Deborah Howell fell down on the job. (“Refuting, or Feeding, the Rumor Mill?” 12/9/07)
First, Howell low-balls the criticism as an “Internet reaction”, despite also writing that critiques took the form of “Hundreds of negative comments, e-mails and phone calls,” and even a criticism (or “potshot,” according to Howell) by the Post’s own cartoonist Tom Toles. She then chooses to discuss the civility of reader criticism, describing one reader’s response as being “more civil than many,” and airing editor Bill Hamilton’s pathetic cry that “the people I have heard from are not reasonable.” Regrettably, the Ombudsman’s job is to address criticisms of the paper, not to assassinate the character of its readers.
But what seals the Ombudsman’s failure is Howell’s utter lack of a verdict in her final words on the Post’s incredible screw-up. Howell whiffs: “This is the new world journalists live in, one that will be continue to be explored in this column.”
And the band plays on, though the music doesn’t sound as good as it used to.
Will Hafer
Somerville, MA
I have been rating WAPO and CNN currently as only slightly behind Faux.
From Juvenal.
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p>It’s been translated many ways, but the best, as far as I’m concerned, is the loose translation “who will watch over the overseers?”
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p>And that’s why I don’t pay much attention to American media.
That’s Alan Moore’s translation.
need the Weather Underground and Black Panthers back and direct them at the MSM.
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p>Mark
…it has been translated several ways. Some benign, some not so benign. It is a cautionary line: we have overseers, but who will watch over them?
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p>It actually is very chilling.
March ’09, baby!
This coming year, the democrats and the progressives have a weakened Republican Party to compete with. Many senior Republicans are retired from Congress, and some that are running again, like Ted Stevens and Mitch McConnell, are in weakened positions due to corruption and extremism.
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p>But the Villagers, the prominent, six-figure-salaried media figures in the WaPo, the NYT, NBC, ABC, CNN, and CBS, have been going to cocktail parties with Republicans for as long as they can remember. The WaPo’s Shailagh Murray called Mississippi’s Thad Cochran her favorite Senator. When Wolf Blitzer dared to quiz Cheney on his own daughter’s sexual orientation as in conflict with Republican policies, Wolf began his question by talking about how much he had enjoyed the social events Cheney had invited him to. Brian Williams enjoys off-the-record luncheons with the President. Maybe these individuals aren’t themselves believers in conservatism, but they’ve grown partial to the Republican leadership, and their wealth keeps them from seeing any urgent need for reforms like universal health insurance or a consumer product safety commission that keeps dangerous products off the market. They can’t stop reporting all the bad consequences of the Bush Administration, but they can push absurd ideas like “Obama is a secret Muslim, who’s been eating pork and going to Church all these years” to keep their invitations to the White House black-tie events. You never see any stories about George Bush being a closet atheist who is faking his Christianity on the front page. The WaPo’s front page editors aren’t brain-injury victims. They know what they did, just as Alberto Gonzales didn’t have a faulty memory.
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p>All those democrats who think that by picking someone different from Hillary, we’ll avoid silly stories need to think about this story on Obama, and that John Solomon piece on John Edwards’ home. The media are only beginning to show us how they can create fear, uncertainty, and doubt about any Democrat with no evidence to justify it.
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p>They are bullies, just like the Mean Girls in high school. And the only way to stop them to point out just how wrong they are, firmly and publicly, every time they do this stupid stuff.
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p>Keep up the good work, Will!
Very good comment on the Villagers, the non-immunity of the non-Hillaries, and our opportunity.
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p>And the only way to stop them to point out just how wrong they are, firmly and publicly, every time they do this stupid stuff
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p>Not really. The only way to stop them is to complain to the advertisers. That’s how John Aravosis pretty much got rid of Dr. Laura Shitslinger.