'Wash Post' Guild Leaders Want Paper Out Of Sept. 11 'Freedom Walk'
NEW YORK Newspaper Guild leaders at The Washington Post on Monday afternoon called on the newspaper to withdraw its sponsorship of a controversial Sept. 11 memorial walk organized by the Department of Defense. The event has drawn opposition from several groups for its alleged pro-war tilt.
"Basically, the guild is calling for the Post to reconsider and drop sponsorship," said Rick Weiss, a Post reporter and co-chair of the Washington Post unit of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild Local 32035. "As a matter of maintaining its appearance of neutrality on polarizing issues of policy."
Weiss said eight members of the local's leadership committee met Monday and unanimously passed a resolution asking the paper to drop its support of the event. He said the resolution would be delivered to Post Publisher Bo Jones as soon as possible.http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001015059Course, it could be the "don't crap where you eat" motivation at play--there have been complaints:
Groups such as United for Peace and Justice and American Friends Service Committee have come out not only against the walk, but against the Post's part in it. AFSC has even placed a form letter of protest on its Web site to be e-mailed to the Post, along with e-mail addresses for Jones, Executive Editor Leonard Downie, Jr. and Managing Editor Phil Bennett. "The Washington Post has no place sponsoring an event that clearly smacks of propaganda," the form letter states.