The Washington Post Is Having a Bad Year… This Week – Opinion

WaPo was once an institution of excellence in journalism but has since become a clown-show.

This paper is based on Woodward and Bernstein’s legacy, the Watergate scandal and Pentagon Papers. To this day, Washington, D.C. is home to names like Katherine Graham and Ben Bradlee. The Washington Post newsroom has been the subject of many movies. 

Today, however, it is more like a comedy with three cameras filmed in front of a studio audience. Once regarded as the paper of record in our nation’s capital, it has become in recent years a source of mockery. Today, what was once regarded as the epitome of journalism has become a source of mockery.

It’s where Jennifer Rubin pens pieces that would be embarrassing to anyone in possession of the ability to feel shame. It is where the truth-averse Glenn Kessler plies his trade as a ‘fact’-checker, and Max Boot rewrites the same column-once a week-decrying Trump and the Republicans. Reading the newspaper today is like going to a house that hasn’t updated its photos since 1980s. It contains framed achievements from the past and many trophies from long-matriculated high schools. 

It’s been a very sad week, even though it seems so comical. The beginning was not good with an awkward attempt to deflect the nation’s horrendous economic conditions away from the president. In pieces dripping with condescension and bolstered with sub-Schoolhouse Rock animation, you could almost feel them patting readers on the head as the overarching message they were delivering was, “Don’t blame Joe.” 

This is an extremely difficult time for Americans to understand the U.S. economy. Trends from high gas prices to persistent inflation are creating uncertainty. https://t.co/uLGTlCVRCz

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 1, 2022

Things turned darkly funny from there. First, the jury returned a verdict on the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial-of-the-sedentary, and it proved to be a blight for the Post. The trial centred on an opinion piece Heard wrote in the Post. Depp was found guilty of all three defamatory items she published in that column.

This led to the paper adding a long inscription. Editor’s Note The opening of the columnShe also attested that she was liable for the items in the article. This was because Heard had pledged millions to the ACLU and that the ACLU had ghostwritten the column. Depp filed his defamation lawsuit. A major newspaper has to admit that it published the piece, which was later found offensive in court.

A shooting session can also be done simultaneously. The event took place in a Tulsa HospitalAnd Coverage in the Post The humorist to the absurd abounds. An ex-patient, distraught by lingering pains, called his doctor. He then killed himself and others at the hospital before taking his own lives. The entire episode was framed by The Post around race. The Post mentioned the Tulsa race Riot, which Governor Tomblin called hatred. The race of the shooter (a black man) was never mentioned. As I mentioned on my latest “The Lie-Able Sources” podcast, the gun narrative was clearly written beforehand and the details had to be rearranged–once they realized there were inconvenient facts.

Further asinine drama was unleashed on Friday. There were first hysterics when Dave Weigel made the impossible: He retweeted someone’s tasteless joke. Felicia Sonmez, Felicia’s coworker, was not impressed by this innocuous gesture. She not only found a way of being offended by someone completely different to her but also used social media to expose Weigel as a social aggressor.

It is great to be able to retweet from news outlets like these! pic.twitter.com/zs4dX4qprH

— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) June 3, 2022

In fact, the paper was compelled by Weigel to reply. forced to apologizeThis was because no one at The Post saw the absurdity of the episode and chose to laugh about a Weigel joke.

Next came Taylor Lorenz, the constant source of embarrassment and humiliation, who was the true culprit for the masthead’s demeaning fate. This is her most recent article. The writer was covering videosThat experienced increased traffic and revenue from posting videos about the Depp Heard trial. Recipist Fabulist Lorenz was exposedAccording to the claim that they reached out to many account holders who had not in fact been contacted. Her mother had also misattributed details about these accountswas included in the article. This led to even more shame for the paper.

The Post stealth-edited the articleAfter being reached out by Fox News regarding the matter, I was able to rectify the errors. a formal correction was issued. A second, and much longer, correction was then issued in a remarkable fashion that evening. The article needed to change many aspects. Lorenz had claimed that three people had been contacted but they were not. Also, details about a few claims had to be correct. It was quite a mess, and the Post seemed happy to provide coverage for this reporter who had a bad track record.

These issues would prove to be a challenge for any news agency over the course of a long period. To see all of the above playing out in a matter of days–within a truncated week–is head-spinning. The fact that the paper is from a time when news agencies used to have it lodged in their firmament is even worse. The Washington Post has an internal dysfunction that is not unlike a tabloid weekly.