Ombud 'defends' Froomkin firing

Okay, so I'm already breaking my pledge not to link to WaPo, but this is still about Froomkin. I suggest you don't bother to click the link. Here's the shorter version. OmbudAndy sort of addresses the firing of Dan by repeating the fiction that he just wasn't popular enough to keep on the roster. That's Fred Hiatt's story and they're all sticking to it. In fact, no one at WaPo is allowed to comment further.

How Froomkin's column was sabotaged in a deliberate attempt to drive down his traffic count has already been widely addressed, and it was obviously done in order to justify dropping him. It's also painfully apparent that the only reason they did it was because Dan held up a mirror to the insider's media club and they didn't like their own reflection. Andy admits himself that the Post wanted Dan to stop doing media criticism. Hell, that's why we were all reading White House Watch in the first place. But I'm linking to the post for this quote from Andy:

It's too bad both sides could not have found a way to save White House Watch. The Post will lose a valued voice, even with its diminished audience. And Froomkin will lose the benefit of The Post's prestige and reach. ...With his loyal followers, he'll survive. So will The Post.

Ha! I've got news for Andy. The WaPo is quickly losing its prestige and I wouldn't bet the farm that it will survive for that much longer. Not as long as they elevate their stenographers and regular neo-cons to star status and dump the honest voices from the roster. If they wanted to ensure their survival they should have dumped Fred.

But he's right about one thing. Dan Froomkin will surely survive and we'll all be following him to his next home.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]