Last Friday, two Washington Post journalists got into a fistfight about their work. Longtime writer and editor Henry Allen dissed a piece by staff writer Manuel Roig-Franzia, whereupon Roig-Franzia referred to Allen as a “cocksucker.” Allen responded with blows.

Read More “Final Thoughts on Allen v. Roig-Franzia” »

David Von Drehle is a former Washington Post editor and staff writer—one of the paper’s towering figures. He left the paper in 2006 for Time magazine but is always worth consulting about things that go down at the Post. I asked him for his take on the Allen-Roig-Franzia fracas and got quite a few thoughts. I was going to pick and choose some things to quote, but there’s no point in filtering this stuff:

Read More “Von Drehle on Henry Allen and Manuel Roig-Franzia” »

Did anyone actually end up writhing on the floor? Where did Allen connect? Was there any shoving involved? How quickly did Brauchli get to the scene of the crime?

Hit play and find out!

When one man hauls off and punches another in the face, the conflict often has a long-tailed provenance. Such appears to be the case with Washington Post Style section staffers Manuel Roig-Franzia and Henry Allen. Those two got into a tussle on Friday afternoon in the vicinity of Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli’s temporary office on the 4th floor of the Washington Post building at 15th and L Streets NW.

Let’s mark the start of hostilities as mid-week. That’s when, according to an informed source, Allen raised questions about a Roig-Franzia story about a woman who had undergone multiple abortions. In the back and forth, Roig-Franzia allegedly called Allen a “dick.” No punches were thrown.

Read More “Allen v. Roig-Franzia: From the Beginning” »

Around deadline on Friday, some tensions boiled over in the Style section of the Washington Post. According to an informed source, a disagreement arose between reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia and storied Style veteran Henry Allen.

Though it’s unclear exactly what they were arguing about, it is clear that the mood was testy. Testy enough, that is, for Roig-Franzia to quip to Allen, “Henry, don’t be such a cocksucker.”

Allen didn’t take kindly to the suggestion and went after Roig-Franzia, in the testimony of an eyewitness. Limited combat then broke out, though, again, it’s not terribly clear how many punches landed.

The mayhem broke out not far from the temporary office of Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli. A lean man, Brauchli reportedly was among the first Post males on the scene to perform the time-honored “break it up” duties. A few others helped out, too.

We have calls out to both principals and will keep prosecuting the story as the day progresses.

Update 11:28 am: Attempts to get Brauchli on the line regarding his alpha-male heroics have proven futile thus far. The executive editor is apparently on travel today. However, WaPo spokesperson Kris Coratti issued this statement in response to questions about the matter: “I can’t discuss private personnel matters but that doesn’t mean we haven’t taken this incident seriously and addressed it appropriately.”

Just what “appropriately” means here isn’t quite clear yet. Before taking on that question, we’re looking to speak with Allen and Roig-Franzia, not to mention other individuals.

Update 12:25 pm: Reached Roig-Franzia on his cell phone. After I identified myself, his phone hung up.

UPDATE: Be sure to check out City Paper’s exclusive reenactment of this historic event: Allen v. Roig-Franzia ~ The Movie!

Well, it took a few days, but the opinionmakers over at the Washington Post came up with some impressions on how D.C. public schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee handled herself at a pivotal Thursday hearing before the D.C. Council. Here’s the WaPo editorial board, which hardly interrupts its yearslong standing ovation of the Rhee regime:
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Thanks to its cable and education businesses, the third-quarter profit of the Washington Post Co. jumped 69 percent.

The good news would have been better if not for the fortunes of the newspaper division, which includes the flagship Washington Post plus some lesser-known papers.

Read More “Washington Post Newspaper Division Slows Losses” »

With the possible exception of the fun-filled Michelle Rhee hearing that we’re live-blogging, PostKiller.com remains the No. 1 local news story in the Washington market. Two days ago, TNR reported that Allbritton Communications Co., publisher of Politico and owner of WJLA-TV and News Channel 8, would be launching a Web site—complete with Politico sensibilities—on the D.C. region.

Read More “PostKiller.com: Will Politico-Style Site Obliterate Other Local Media Outlets?” »

Want to know more about this colossal new local Web venture coming from the people who gave us Politico? Here are some questions and answers:

What’s the name going to be?

Read More “More! Details on PostKiller.com” »

Yesterday, TNR broke the story of a new Washington-area news site that’ll be challenging the Washington Post, among other outlets, for supremacy on local Web coverage.

Following the jump, see the memo from local media mogul Robert Allbritton on this matter. It includes one key detail: A staff of 50-plus!

Read More “Details on New Politico-Style D.C. Web Site!” »

It hasn’t been the best of years for Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry. He’s had some health problems. He had a terrible 4th of July. He triggered a D.C. Council investigation into his ethics in steering a contract to a girlfriend.

But things’ll take a turn for the better tomorrow, when the longtime D.C. pol receives a fine distinction from the District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA). At a ceremony on Thursday at Gallaudet University, Barry will receive DCPCA’s 2009 Distinguished Public Official Award. In the words of DCPCA, the recognition celebrates Barry’s “many years as a visionary and resilient leader, deeply committed to this city and to eradicating poverty, promoting employment and neighborhood development, and improving the health and quality of life of all DC residents…”

The other headliner awardee is Alice M. Rivlin, the Brookings Institution scholar and former D.C. financial control board big shot who has been steady and strong in advocating for the District’s interests over the past decade. She’ll be getting DCPCA’s 2009 Champion of Change Award.

So you think you get your fill of local news via the Washington Post, the Washington City Paper, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, the Washington Jewish Week, the Washington Blade, DCist, The InTowner, the Northwest Current, the Rock Creek Current, the Dupont Current, the Hill, Roll Call, Brightest Young Things, Prince of Petworth, News Channel 8, Channel 4, 5, 7, and DC North?

Well, a new entrant is hitting the field. According to Gabriel Sherman over at The New Republic, Robert Allbritton, he of News Channel 8/Politico fame, is starting up a local D.C. news site. He’s apparently hired Jim Brady, the former executive editor of washingtonpost.com, to pilot the enterprise. Brady left the post early this year, after it became clear that he would not be CEO of the Web site under the dominion of Washington Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli.

Sherman reports that the venture will be heavy on breaking news along with some aggregation and other features. But it’s not clear how deeply staffed it’ll be.

More to come on this.

Anyone who has plied the C&O Canal just beyond Georgetown or—hell—anyone who has driven across Chain Bridge with the windows open knows about the city’s premier sewage-stench problem. It hovers over these swanky neighborhoods along the canal and never seems to go away. It’s heavy with that hydrogen sulfide nastiness of rotten eggs plus feces with a side of urine. And it has been bothering some pretty motivated civic activists for decades.

Read More “Swanky Palisades-Cabin John Sewage Stench to Get Scrubbed” »

That’s the question that attaches to the following passage:

Here are some things you can do at the Maryland Renaissance Festival: You can drench a wench. You can hurl hatchets at tree stumps with red targets painted on them. You can ride elephants. You can participate in a game called rat-pucking, punting stuffed-rat toys across a lawn toward the gathered apron skirts of a matron assigned as the target. You can buy little puffy-tipped horns and walk around for the rest of the day with them attached to either side of your head, and no one will look at you funny. You can coast down a long wooden slide. You can’t carry a sword, or even a realistic-looking fake, but you can buy a dull-edged wooden one to go with your knight’s hood. You can attend lectures about Tudor-era crime and punishment, or medieval fashion. You (meaning you, legal adult) can walk around drinking a beer in what feels like a small town.

Well, the answer may not surprise those who’ve been following the new Washington Post Magazine.

Read More “Is It an Ad? Or Is It WaPo Mag?” »

Quote of the weekend, hands down, comes from the District of Columbia’s Attorney Very General, Peter Nickles. The quote comes from a story in the Washington Post regarding the contracting irregularities in the Fenty administration—namely, the funneling of recreation projects through the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA). The Post broke the story late last week, and the D.C. Council is furious at the administration for routing the cash through DCHA and sidestepping the council, which has a statutory function of reviewing all contracts exceeding $1 million.

So here’s what Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh had to say, along with Nickles’ rejoinder:

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