Washington Post

The Washington Post is a dominant newspaper in Washington, D.C. with a circulation of 5 million. It was founded in 1877 and it's parent company, The Washington Post Company, is a publicly traded NYSE company. The family of Katharine Graham remain large shareholders.

In 1981, Janet Cooke, a reporter hired by Ben Bradlee, wrote a series of articles entitled, Jimmy's World, the profile of an eight year old heroin addict. Cooke was nominated by Bob Woodward for the Pulitzer Prize, which she subsequently won after it was established the story was a complete fiction. Post Ombudsman Bill Green concluded an investigation with several comments and recommendations, including "The scramble for journalistic prizes is poisonous. The obligation is to inform readers, not to collect frameable certificates, however prestigious." [1] The Ombudsman said of Bradlee, "Ensuring accuracy was the editor's job, and he had failed miserably." Woodward said of his nomination for the Pulitzer Prize, “It would be absurd for me or any other editor to review the authenticity or accuracy of stories that are nominated for prizes.”

In 1998 the Post printed a series of denials regarding public leaks of depositions given by President Clinton in the Jones v Clinton case contrary to an Order of the Court. Dr. Deni Elliot of the Practical Ethics Center after reviewing the matter concluded the Washington Post knew the source of the illegal leaks yet "knowingly deceived its readers" by alleging the leaks could have come from the Court or the opposing councels office. Dr. Elliot wrote in the Organization of News Ombudsmen’s publication , “The Post intentionally lied to its readers in printing this set of denials", and "None of this sounds like the making of ethical principals". [2]