Exhibits in the Decline of the Washington Post

One thing I can’t stand is laziness when it comes to the quality of one’s work. Another thing I can’t stand is a smug attitude. So the thing that really tops my list is the group of people who are smug about their poor work product – a group that seems increasingly an exclusive domain of reporters.

First, we have the Washington Post story that pushes a manifestly false story about how Secretary Gates and President Obama are cutting defense spending when they are in fact increasing the Pentagon’s budget by 4%, but shifting priorities and cancelling some programs to make room for others.

Then, we have a Washington Post reporter actually, and honestly, defend their right to be stenographers – to report just what is said by a politician, and not provide any context or investigation on their part that might prove that the politician is engaging in rank hypocrisy. If the press’s job isn’t to check the accuracy of the people they quote, than what is their job? If I wanted a copy of what Senator Mitch McConnell said, I’d just pick up a press release, not the Washington Post.

And newspaper publishers are wondering why their industry is in the toilet both in profitability and prestige…