Thursday, July 02, 2009

Politico: WaPo Sells Access for $25K to $250K

Mike Allen is getting attention with this piece:

For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to “those powerful few” — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer is detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he feels it’s a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff.”

The offer — which essentially turns a news organization into a facilitator for private lobbyist-official encounters — is a new sign of the lengths to which news organizations will go to find revenue at a time when most newspapers are struggling for survival.

The question is which “Obama administration officials and members of Congress” are participating.

UPDATE: Post Publisher Cancels Plans for Off-the-Record ‘Salons’

UPDATE 2: White House Acknowledges Officials Were Likely Invited To WaPo Salons

Topics: washington-post, ethics, politico, administration