WaPo: Money Talks, But Not for Froomkin

by Glynnis MacNicol | 4:48 pm, July 20th, 2009

computer_cash_flowing Via Romenesko comes this little nugget regarding the the controversial firing of Washington Post columnist Dan Froomkin, pulled from an “Ask the Post” online chat with Washington Post editors Liz Spayd and Raju Narisetti.

Hackensack, N.J.: I can’t understand how the Post can find no room to keep so valuable a contributor as Dan Froomkin. Surely, if you feel that Mr. Froomkin represented too strong a viewpoint for some reason, the proper response was to hire someone with a different viewpoint, not to sack Mr. Froomkin and by extension sack his readership.

Liz Spayd and Raju Narisetti: Much has been written about the end of Mr Froomkin’s contract with WP.com. All we want to note is that the decision has nothing to do with his viewpoints. Even on the Post website, let alone on the web, there are dozens of voices across the political spectrum and we are constantly evaluating the best use of our shrinking dollars.

So! Froomkin wasn’t fired for his views — as a number of people initially speculated — instead they seem to be suggesting he was fired because he wasn’t providing enough bang for WaPo’s shrinking buck. Translation? It looks the theory he wasn’t generating enough hits on his blog may be more accurate than he would let on.

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Dan Froomkin, New York Times, WaPo

1 comment

Timothy Dee Micheli says:

July 20, 2009 at 11:55 pm

Cute… delete my comment and fix your typo (which, of all things, lampooned WaPo typos!). It’s as if it never occurred! Raising the public’s opinion of MSM one whitewash at a time. Is this standard procedure at Mediaite? If so, this will be one of my last visits. Accountability, we hardly knew ye.

Just wanted to reiterate my initial critique of the “substance” in this post: Accepting their defense at face value without follow-up is evidence of nothing. “It looks the theory he wasn’t generating enough hits on his blog may be more accurate than he would let on” Without objective evidence to the contrary, this is meaningless

If this is deleted again, I’ll know never to come back and to report your policies to the blogosphere. Stay Classy, Mediaite!.

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