Media List Meltdown

A Pulitzer Prize-winning critic at The Washington Post was reprimanded after he sent a scathing e-mail to an aide for D.C. Council member Marion Barry. The flap started after Tim Page, a classical music critic at the Post, got one too many unwanted press releases from Barry’s office.

Last week, Page received a release about Barry and Greater Southeast Community Hospital. Page replied to the release, sent the aide an e-mail that accused Barry of political grandstanding, and asked to be taken off the media distribution list. Page added he would not be interested in anything Barry did, including dying from a drug overdose, according to the Post. Barry, former mayor of Washington, served a six-month sentence in 1990 for smoking crack cocaine.

Surely, this was not Page’s finest moment. He has apologized to Barry. The Post apologized through Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr., and the paper was right to sanction Page.

But I have to ask—why was a classical music critic on Barry’s media list in the first place?

Unless Barry was doing work with a school music group or orchestra, Page should not be copied on his press releases. Page said he tried to be taken off the list, but was cursed by a Barry staff member. Barry’s office told the Post it has no record of his request.

Washington Post reporters are fairly accessible. On the Web site, readers can click the reporter’s byline to send an e-mail. Anyone can call the main switchboard and ask to be transferred to the reporter’s desk. If a reader or organization feels ignored, they can contact the reporter’s editor or the paper’s ombudsman.

Barry’s staff could have easily determined who covers health care in the Washington area. Flooding Post reporters with e-mail will not win Barry better coverage. Cultivating relationships with relevant beat reporters and editors would be a better approach. The most shocking aspect of the incident was that Page took the time to write an e-mail at all. No doubt dozens of people at the Post got the news release. Most just hit delete.

Source: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/.