Amid Criticism, Post Drops “Appalling” Plan to Sell Access|ABC News
The Washington Post is nixing a reported plan to sell access to its newsroom staff and Obama administration officials to lobbyists and corporate interests, a spokeswoman for the paper said Thursday.The Politico newspaper reported Thursday morning the venerable Washington paper had invited lobbyists to participate in “off-the-record,” non-confrontational meetings with Post reporters and editors, as well as with administration officials and others, by paying between $25,000 and $250,000.The meetings would have been held at the private home of Post CEO and President Katharine Weymouth, according to the flyer obtained by Politico. The paper said it received the document from a health care lobbyist who was struck by the apparent conflict of interest.”An evening with the right people can alter the debate,” the document promised, according to the Politico report, by former Washington Post reporter Mike Allen. In his report, Allen called the meetings “astonishing.”
