Comments on: Journalism 101: Whoring in Hard Times http://themoderatevoice.com/38999/journalism-101-whoring-in-hard-times/ An Internet hub with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, indies, centrists, moderates, and right Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:18:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Gray62 http://themoderatevoice.com/38999/journalism-101-whoring-in-hard-times/comment-page-1/#comment-193996 Gray62 Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:21:14 +0000 http://themoderatevoice.com/?p=38999#comment-193996 "The lowliest staff member could have told the top people that it was not a good idea" but, not surprisingly, nobody did. Certainly they all thought it was not their job to stand up against a business "opportunity" that was suported by all the top managers. After all, the plan was presented to them when the main decisions were already made. And in a time where cost cutting in on the rampage among the staff, nobody wants to expose himself as much. But instead of seeing that there is something seriously wrong with the discussion culture at WaPo, when everybody tries to keep such a low profile, Katharine Weymouth now dares to criticize their staff for not protesting her horrible idea:<br><br>"After the fact, one person came to me and said: ‘I thought this was a bad idea all around.’ And I said: ‘You cannot come to me now and say that you thought this was a bad idea.’ I said ‘It is your job to raise objections at the time so we can have a discussion about it.’"<br><br>Well, with such a management style on display, formally accepting responsibility but seeking the blame at others, totally ignoring that this is a systemic failure that is provoced by leadership, nothing is likely to change at the Post. And WaPo will have a hard time surviving the ongoing massacre among newspapers. “The lowliest staff member could have told the top people that it was not a good idea” but, not surprisingly, nobody did. Certainly they all thought it was not their job to stand up against a business “opportunity” that was suported by all the top managers. After all, the plan was presented to them when the main decisions were already made. And in a time where cost cutting in on the rampage among the staff, nobody wants to expose himself as much. But instead of seeing that there is something seriously wrong with the discussion culture at WaPo, when everybody tries to keep such a low profile, Katharine Weymouth now dares to criticize their staff for not protesting her horrible idea:

“After the fact, one person came to me and said: ‘I thought this was a bad idea all around.’ And I said: ‘You cannot come to me now and say that you thought this was a bad idea.’ I said ‘It is your job to raise objections at the time so we can have a discussion about it.’”

Well, with such a management style on display, formally accepting responsibility but seeking the blame at others, totally ignoring that this is a systemic failure that is provoced by leadership, nothing is likely to change at the Post. And WaPo will have a hard time surviving the ongoing massacre among newspapers.

]]>