Comments on: Downie Talks About Departure

By: Hondo Howard

Hondo Howard — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:33:49 +0000

I could have sworn that I once read a piece by Dave McKenna in which he related that Tony Kornheiser had abused Ken Beatrice, that Dave wrote about that, and that the Post sports section then kicked Dave off their stringer list. I wouldn’t say that was fabulous treatment. In fact, I’d say it was wrong, judging by the excellent music reviews he writes for the Style section.
The Jessica Lynch story was a bad deal, no doubt. I was just saying there were plenty of good things Downie did too.
Now, can I have “WaPo Hatas” for 200?

By: Nunyo Demasio

Nunyo Demasio — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:48:29 +0000

no editor is perfect. despite working in the toy department — sports — of the washington post for a few years, i got a taste of downie. in my experience he was extremely fair, passionate and inspiring. and there were a couple times that he mentioned a specific line in what i thought was a throw-away story. it certainly seemed to indicate that he read virtually everything. not that the pulitzer prize affirms an editor’s impact. but it offers a hint that downie’s been the best newspaper editor anywhere during a turbulent time for the industry.

By: companytoolssuck

companytoolssuck — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:09:52 +0000

hey hondo howard, who signs your paychecks? i think you’re on the wrong side of quality versus quantity. jessica lynch wasn’t a spelling mistake or a clarification. it was f-i-c-t-i-o-n. a hair shy of janet cooke. at least janet made up her own story and didn’t just belch out what was fed to her.

By: Dave McKenna

Dave McKenna — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:29:46 +0000

Hondo:
I’ve been “treated badly” by the Post? where do you get that? i’ve been treated fabulously by the Post for a long time.

i think a lot of people agree with you that the Post’s Jessica Lynch story, which was repeated, but not written, by every news outlet in the country, was no big deal. but i don’t.

i am, however, envious of your name.

thanks for playing the feud!

By: Hondo Howard

Hondo Howard — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:50:02 +0000

Who gets credit for the first classless posting here? Why it’s Dave McKenna of the City Paper, who was treated badly by The Post years ago. Waaah.
As Wemple correctly points out, The Post and Downie have done a remarkable job of producing quality journalism, en masse, for the last 17 years. An occasional screwup is mathematically likely. Constant excellence deserves some credit. Not some whining about one lousy story, which was written by every news outlet in the country.

By: Dave McKenna

Dave McKenna — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:36:02 +0000

my memory of the bogus tale of the 7-year- old driver is vague, but, given the aftermath, i can’t think of a story as shameful to the paper or the profession as the Jessica Lynch fiction reported by the Washington Post’s Susan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb in 2003.

who gets credit for that?