Dire Straights

No I am not talking about the band.

Everyone knows that the newspaper industry and the publishing industry have been hit particularly hard by the recession. Recently Politico Reported that the Washington Post is looking at some “creative” new revenue models. The paper is basically selling time with its reporters and their sources to lobbyists.

The Paper was called-out by a lobbyist who received a flyer touting this new revenue model. Apparently, this lobbyist thought the scheme was unethical, and by all rights, it is.

The job of a journalist is to report on the facts with an unbiased point of view. By offering access to lobbyists for a price, the paper is essentially selling its point of view to the highest bidder. And the price tag isn’t cheap – The Washington Post was reportedly selling access for $25,000-$250,000.

This distresses me personally. I take offense at comments about “The Media’s hidden agenda.” Generally they come from people who are spouting off talking points with no real evidence to back up their claims and no education about how the media works internally. The conspiracy theories around what the media is doing to “undermine society” rival those of Area 51.

I try to stand up for my proffession. There is no hidden conspiracy – the media is too fragmented and competitive to collectively hide stories that harm a certain viewpoint and promote those that help it. Yes, there are some liberal-leaning outlets, and some overtly conservative leaning outlets. However, there is more neutral media coverage and there are more good, unbiased journalists than either side would like to admit.

So when the Washington Post sells access like this, it feeds a fire that is already burning out of control in many areas. If this report is true, it’s a shame. In its efforts to survive in a time of economic trouble, this paper may have just committed suicide.

Update 7/6: The New York Times recently published an editorial by David Carr about this same issue with some new insights. Read it HERE.