Washington Post and Fiscal Times

Spencer Collins · #1 (**permalink**) 01-02-2010, 07:18 PM

Quote:

On the last day of 2009 the Washington Post published an article as its own new story that was in fact written by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation funded "Fiscal Times." This marks the unfortunate demise of the Washington Post as a serious newspaper.

As background, Peter Peterson is a Wall Street billionaire, who has spent much of the last quarter century funding efforts to gut Social Security and Medicare. He wrote numerous books with scary titles like "Gray Dawn" that warned of a demographic disaster when the baby boomers retired. He would then use his vast fortune to ensure that these books were widely publicized. He also founded the Concord Coalition and more recently the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, both of which routinely call for cutting Social Security and Medicare in the context of reducing the deficit.

As his latest ploy, his foundation has created a newspaper called the "Fiscal Times." Given Peterson's longstanding agenda, this is like the American Rifle Association putting out the "Firearms Gazette" or the Tobacco Industry publishing "Smoking Today." Naturally advocacy organizations will use whatever tools they consider appropriate to advance their agenda. But a real newspaper would never publish the output of an advocacy organization as its own new story.

Apparently the finances of the Washington Post have become so desperate that it feels it has no alternative. At one point last year the top management devised a plan that would charge lobbyists to have access to Washington Post reporters special high-priced dinners.

This plan was nixed only after the story was leaked in Politico prompting widespread outrage. Turning over sections of the newspaper to advocacy organizations like the Peter G. Peterson Foundation is apparently the Post's latest desperate effort to stave off financial collapse. The Post had a proud reputation as a serious newspaper. It earned this reputation in breaking important news stories and exposing corruption in high places, most notably for its role in exposing the Watergate scandal. It is unfortunate if current economics may no longer support a serious newspaper, however it would have been best for the both the paper and the country if the Post could have died with its reputation intact.

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WHAT ???

And people keep telling me that WaPo is a liberal rag. Now they will tell me that WaPo -was- a liberal rag...

I guess when money talks..the liberals must walk...

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cnredd · #2 (**permalink**) 01-02-2010, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Turning over sections of the newspaper to advocacy organizations like the Peter G. Peterson Foundation is apparently the Post's latest desperate effort to stave off financial collapse

I disagree (possibly; just speculation)...

The MSM has forgotten how to research and factcheck, so I wouldn't be surprised if the editors didn't even know this guy's background...

Spencer Collins · #3 (**permalink**) 01-02-2010, 07:55 PM

Anything is possible...but these newspapers are in big financial trouble and that could also be a game changer.

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