Fallout from WaPo salon disaster continues

The Washington Post cares too much for money, and money can’t buy back the love of outraged readers. Last week, Politico reported that WaPo had hatched a scheme to offer lobbyist and association executives off-the-record access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even WaPo reporters and editors, in the form of cozy salons at the home of publisher Katharine Weymouth. The price tag? $25,000 to $250,000.

This incredibly ill-advised plan is a sign that newspapers, in their desperation for revenue, are willing to cast ethics aside.  The paper  responded that the business division sent out a flier describing the salons with out the knowledge of the newsroom. Today, Craig Stolz reminds us on HuffPo that the first “salon” was to be centered on health care, and that the people who were not granted access to this behind-the-scenes gathering were those who have the most at stake — namely, the patients: “Patients are going to have to force themselves into this debate against the resistance and indifference of the Washington establishment. Patients cannot afford the luxury of deference and e-mail.”