18 Responses to WaPoo Fires Froomkin

1. acquarius74 June 18th, 2009 at 3:05 pm «

   Recommended. I really hate to see this happen. When I first began commenting online I only did so at Dan’s column. He told it like it was. He had a lot of readers, often over 400 comments, sometimes up to 600. I hope they all give WAPO Hell! It won’t matter – WAPO is owned and produces the propaganda its handlers say to print. Might as well call it Fox News II Your clip is perfect for the situation!
2. Jim White June 18th, 2009 at 3:15 pm «

   Thanks, aq. It’s really eerie how many of the problems from the “Network” rant are still relevant today.

   Froomkin was such a treasure to be in Washington looking out for our interests. I sure hope he gets hired by someone else to keep a similar blog going. Imagine him as one of the crew at EW…
3. alank June 18th, 2009 at 3:17 pm «

   Hopefully, he’ll find a friendlier environment in which to blog plainly. His was my go-to blog RSS feed of choice.
4. ubetchaiam June 18th, 2009 at 4:01 pm «

   Anyone else see the hands of Axelrod and Emmanuel here?

   The ‘bunker’ mentality is alive and growing in the Obama Admin.
• macaquerman June 18th, 2009 at 4:16 pm «

  Any tiny bit of evidence for that or are you seeing invisible hands?

  How often do major newspapers fire someone for fear of displeasing administration officials?
5. earlofhuntingdon June 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm «

   Will Katherine Graham ever stop spinning in her grave? The Washington Post just liberated itself of one of its few remaining journalists. Political censorship at its finest.

   The Post and Froomkin have long been at odds. For years, it played games with his column, changed its name and its placement, and buried it deep inside their online website. When Rove and Cheney were in their heyday, the Post trembled, expecting their screaming phone calls when Dan would describe Bush’s actions in plain English: lies, inconsistencies, hypocrisies, torture. (The Times was no more stalwart.) The Post didn’t like Dan’s rational analysis and the way in which he barbecued the Beltway’s most sacred cows.

   People are discarding newspapers, in part, because they refuse to cover the news. It’s one reason Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are so popular. They’re funny, but in what they cover, they do it more credibly than Brian Williams, and they cover news even PBS buries or relegates to the murmurings of Brooks & Shields. The Times or McClatchy or Salon should scoop Dan up and keep him in DC.

   If ever a newspaper deserved to fail for abandoning journalism in favor of polishing the boots of Reichwing power merchants, it is the Washington Post. But here’s the thing: did the Post can Dan because he irritated Rahm, because Fred finally had enough of real journalism, or because its bevy of Reichwing assholes, like Charles Krauthammer, rebelled at Dan’s “partisan” coverage of landscape they claimed as their own territory?
• allan June 18th, 2009 at 4:34 pm «

  Will Katherine Graham ever stop spinning in her grave?

  No, she will actually never start.
  Katherine Graham was the ultimate Washington insider,
  as is her son, and they wouldn’t or couldn’t care less what the great unwashed masses think.

  Of course, the Washington Post Company is a public corporation,
  and the actions of the Donald Graham- Fred Hiatt wrecking crew are hardly
  in the best interests of the shareholders, but, other people’s money and all that.
• cocktailhag June 18th, 2009 at 6:23 pm «

  I disagree. For all of her elitist faults, Ms. Graham was willing to freaking go to jail, if necessary, to inform her readers, quite well documentedly. The apples, unfortunately, fell pretty far from that tree. Perhaps it was the personal threats about her tit in the ringer and such, but she nonetheless set aside business considerations that were not inconsiderable, to pursue journalism, as she saw it during Watergate.
  I’m inclined to suspect a bit of grave-spinning.
6. egregious June 18th, 2009 at 5:18 pm «

   A sad day for journalism.
7. dosido June 18th, 2009 at 5:32 pm «

   ditto that, eg.

   thanks jim. I’m shocked. I shouldn’t be, but I am.
8. jimbo June 18th, 2009 at 7:15 pm «

   Froomkin fired? Is this a joke? If not, who are the stupid who did it? If administration people were responsible, I’ve about had it these idiots anyway. I demand to know. Why was he fired? Who could have done something so blatently stupid? Is there anybody who has the guts to be honest about it? Are you all fucking nuts?
9. Bustednuckles June 18th, 2009 at 10:03 pm «

   Why the hell this ain’t on the front page yet is beyond me.

   Clean the boy up and put him on Rachael Maddows show.
10. newtonusr June 18th, 2009 at 10:52 pm «

    Like we needed fewer reasons to go over there…
    Just inane.
11. pmorlan June 18th, 2009 at 11:20 pm «

    I just found out about this at Greenwald’s place. Wow.

    The WaPo ombudsman has a column on Froomkin’s firing. I hope everyone will post a comment. Here were the two comments I posted:

    Comment 1

    I think the real reason that Froomkin’s blog was ended was because he was too good. When General Taguba accused the Bush administration of war crimes it should have been front page news but in the Post the only place you saw the story was on Froomkin’s blog. I guess the Washington Post editors and “research teams” didn’t think a former general accusing a president of war crimes was newsworthy.

    Posted by: pmorlan1 | June 19, 2009 1:50 AM | Report abuse

    Comment 2

    Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt, whose “stable of contributors” includes Froomkin..

    Great, now that the only thoroughbred is gone all we have left are the nags and the stable boy who mucks out the stalls.

    Posted by: pmorlan1 | June 19, 2009 1:55 AM | Report abuse
• freepatriot June 19th, 2009 at 1:41 am «

  fuck em

  I ain’t givin the wapoop the content

  I wouldn’t even give them the sweat off my balls

  the wapoop is dead to me
12. perris June 19th, 2009 at 7:37 am «

    the fourth estate has become real estate, up for sale to the highest bidder
13. NMRon June 20th, 2009 at 7:49 am «

    It’s obvious that there’s no longer any reason for anyone other than their own staff to buy the rag unless you need fish-wrap or fireplace kindling . . . and there’s cheaper more effective products for that.
14. Presumptuous Insect June 20th, 2009 at 9:43 am «

    That’s what I really feel like doing, Jim! Except the only ones to hear it from my window here would be the ears of corn out in the field.

    Time to make my FROOMKIN LIVES t-shirt.