Washington Post "F-word" story contained "smart-aleck" writing, says ombudsman

Posted by Dana Goldstein on July 5, 2004 at 4:31 PM

From the Washington Post: Last week, we noted the Washington Post's explanation for why it decided to publish the "F-word" following a confrontation between Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy. Now, Post ombudsman Michael Getler writes that while he backs the paper's decision to print the word, he doesn't support the way Post reporters framed the story: "Having obviously put a lot of thought and deliberation into deciding to use Cheney's exact language, Post editors then proceeded to neglect their responsibilities, in my view and those of several readers, by failing to take out some smart-aleck and tendentious writing by the reporters. I'm not going to repeat the word, but the key sentence read: '"[Expletive] yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency.' Why not just say, 'said the vice president,' as one reader asked. ... This was guaranteed to be an explosive story because of the language. It should have been done in a way that was beyond reproach journalistically."

Source: The Washington Post

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