Washington Post: Stop Us Before We Do Any More Real Journalism Like That Cute Little Guardian Paper

from the we-should-never-have-broken-watergate dept

Want to see how an out of touch editorial board works? The Washington Post -- which continues to be a key player in publishing documents leaked by Ed Snowden -- has written a bizarre and totally tone deaf post about how the leaks need to stop before they cause any real damages.

In fact, the first U.S. priority should be to prevent Mr. Snowden from leaking information that harms efforts to fight terrorism and conduct legitimate intelligence operations. Documents published so far by news organizations have shed useful light on some NSA programs and raised questions that deserve debate, such as whether a government agency should build a database of Americans’ phone records. But Mr. Snowden is reported to have stolen many more documents, encrypted copies of which may have been given to allies such as the WikiLeaks organization.

It is not clear whether Russia or China hasobtained the material, though U.S. officials would have to assume that Mr. Snowden would be obliged to hand over whatever he has to win asylum in Moscow. Such an exchange would belie his claim to be a patriotic American and a whistleblower. At the same time, stopping potentially damaging revelations or the dissemination of intelligence to adversaries should take precedence over U.S. prosecution of Mr. Snowden — which could enhance his status as a political martyr in the eyes of many both in and outside the United States.

Yes, this is an editorial board of a newspaper famous for breaking stories thanks to whistleblowers and leakers, including this very story, asking the government to stop them from being able to publish any more leaked documents. It's as if the Editorial Board of the Washington Post doesn't even realize that its own reporters have been key players in reporting on this story. Or, as Jack Shafer amusingly wrote: "Bart Gellman's stories are coming from INSIDE YOUR BUILDING!"

And then, in a bizarre article by Paul Farhi, the Washington Post appears to mock The Guardian, the famed British newspaper, which has been around for almost two centuries and is well known around the globe, as if it's some small upstart:

For a newspaper that's small and underweight even by British standards, the Guardian has a knack for making some big noises, both in its home market and across the pond.

Of course, as plenty of folks are pointing out, the Guardian is larger than the Washington Post in terms of readership:

The Guardian's global monthly unique visitors: 23.2 million 41 million in May, per Guardian press officer Gennady Kolker

The Washington Post's monthly unique visitors: 17.2 million

And, in terms of newsrooms, apparently, they have nearly identical staff sizes. Oh, and then there's this: while the Washington Post has beaten the Guardian to a few of these stories, the Guardian is generally cleaning WaPo's clock in terms of its overall coverage of the leaks. Perhaps the Washington Post shouldn't let its jealousy show quite so much.