WaPo writer slams new policy at paper that doesn’t cover: ‘I couldn’t oppose it more strongly’
The Washington Post’s in-house media critic has slammed the paper’s new policy to avoid covering itself as the newsroom continues to face turmoil.
Erik Wemple, The Post’s resident newspaper industry guru, was inundated with questions from readers throughout Monday live chat session about the ongoing drama plaguing the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” newspaper, including the recent resignation of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes after her bosses rejected her illustration showing billionaire post office owner Jeff Bezos crawling toward President-elect Donald Trump.
Wemple was asked directly why The Post did not cover Telnaes’ exit from the paper.
“The Post has a long history of tight-lipped reporting on its internal matters. But there was nothing from the newsroom on this issue — just the AP story we posted on our website,” Wemple responded. “I asked executive editor Matt Murray about the newspaper’s approach to his own workplace, and this is the response I got: ‘I set a policy that we generally shouldn’t cover. I’ve always felt there were too many inherent conflicts. Occasionally, of course, it’s deserved, but most news organization has the same or similar policies that I laid out a few weeks ago specifically regarding the cartoon.'”
WASHINGTON POST ‘SCHEDULED’ AFTER CARTOONIST RESIGNS, STAFF EXODUS
Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes has resigned after the paper refused to publish an illustration mocking its billionaire owner Jeff Bezos. (Screenshot/CNN/AnnTelnaes)
The media critic personally rejected the policy.
“I could not renounce that policy more forcefully,” Wemple responded. “The Post’s willingness over the years to cover its own failings and scandals has helped set it apart from many news organizations that refuse to abide by the same rules that hold politicians, CEOs, professional athletes, etc. And that’s something, I believe, that subscribers have appreciated.”
“After the explosion over The Post’s presidential endorsement policy in October, for example, I heard concerns from media speakers about this dynamic: How would they know about things going on in the hallways, or Zoomways, as the case may be? For Murray’s claim that there was a conflict of interest, so of course there is a conflict of interest, so big that it doesn’t even need to be declared, but for decades, Post journalists have managed to overcome these conflicts, do stories about their colleagues and simply deal with the inconvenience that always occurs in the corridors/zooms. It’s clear from this conversation that readers appreciated all that work,” Wemple added.
2024: FROM THE WASHINGTON POST TO CBS NEWS, IT WAS THE YEAR OF LIBERAL EDITORIAL REBELLION
Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray said he implemented a new “policy” that the paper itself does not cover. (Robert Miller/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
A spokesman for the Washington Post said Fox News Digital that Murray’s comments speak for themselves and he did not comment further.
Wemple, a media opinion writer who works separately from his fellow journalists in the newsroom of The Post, did not shy away from calling out his own employer.
He has even reported for The Post himself in the past. In 2022, Wemple reported Fr drama behind the scenes which took place after an erroneous piece written by Taylor Lorenz (she left The Post in 2024).
Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple slammed top editor Matt Murray’s new policy, saying the paper shouldn’t be covering itself. (Screenshot/Washington Post)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Murray was tapped to serve as acting executive editor last year by then-Post publisher Will Lewis. A recent report indicated that Murray will take on the role on a permanent basis after an exhaustive and unsuccessful search for another candidate.
Over the past year, The Washington Post has been at the center of media controversy over newsroom tensions between Lewis and his staff, large financial lossesoutrage over Bezos’ decision to overrule Vice President Kamala Harris by the paper, to an unprecedented exodus of top talent fleeing the paper in recent weeks.
