The D.C. newspaper novel, the media, the Washington area, tech and other surrealism: David Rothman at large
Jack Shafer, the Reuters columnist, wrote last year that Graham family should spin off the Washington Post newspaper from the company of the same name. As the buyer he suggested Michael Bloomberg. “Not so crazy an idea,” I said on the Solomon Scandals site and in the Georgetown Dish. Now the spin-off will become a […]
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The New York Times, whether on global warming, the newest iPad or corruption in Mongolia, outdoes the Washington Post all too often. Underfunded for a hyper-competitive Internet era, the Post newsroom stints on local reporting, too. WaPo’s numbers could be much better. Future Grahams and others may not show the patience of Donald and kin. And the current […]
Read MoreJack Shafer, the Slate “Press Box” columnist, is mourning the “fallen status” of the traditional paper book, which he thinks technology has devalued. As a contributor to the troubled medium—Scandals is available as a trade paperback, not just as an e-book—I have an obvious stake in this. Shafer may be thinking especially of hardcovers, but […]
Read MoreMencken (photo) loved newspapering. But he did his best to be impervious to the industry ballyhoo, and I think he’d have enjoyed the latest from Jack Shafer, press critic for Slate, which the Washington Post Company owns. Shafer’s headline is Democracy’s Cheat Sheet: It’s time to kill the idea that newspapers are essential for democracy. […]
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