The Washington Post 'Salon'
Media | Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 11:48:33 am PDT
Oh brother. The Washington Post was apparently planning to sell access to top Obama officials and other VIPs, at a price of $25,000 to $250,000 a pop, in a “salon program” at the private home of CEO Katharine Weymouth.
The Washington Post has long prided itself on its access to the capital’s elite. Now, it appears, the paper is willing to sell that access.
In a flier circulated to Beltway lobbyists, the Post touted a “salon” program which gives “exclusive access” to “Obama administration officials, Congress members, business leaders, advocacy leaders and other select minds” for between $25,000 and $250,000. (View an image of the flier.)
White House officials said privately Thursday that the administration had no idea that the Post was peddling access to its officials.
The first event, entitled “Health-Care Reform: Better or Worse for Americans” is scheduled for July 21, at the home of Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth.
“Spirited? Yes. Confrontational? No,” the flier states. “The relaxed setting in the home of Katharine Weymouth assures it.”
The flier, first reported by former Post editor Mike Allen on the Politico web site, offers the chance to “hear and be heard as an equal with key policy-makers and other stakeholders,” including Weymouth, Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli and health-care “reporting and editorial staff members” at the Post.
Post company spokeswoman Kris Coratti issued a statement Thursday morning claiming that the flier was a “draft” that hadn’t been “properly vetted” before being dispatched.
