But there were others, perhaps none more insidious than the spreading of false rumors across Alabama that The Washington Post had paid Moore’s accusers to come forward, and were offering thousands of dollars to other women for salacious stories about him. The practice of paying for information violates ethical standards at The Washington Post, where I worked for nearly 20 years, and is forbidden in most American newsrooms. Further reporting by the Post and The New York Times has linked him to using fraudulently obtained records in news stories. Second, my colleagues Beth Reinhard and Alice Crites and I spent weeks doing what Washington Post journalists do: old-fashioned reporting. The Post and other newsrooms should defend the values and practices that produce journalism in the public interest, and that cynical forces would like to see swept away.

Source: Washington Post June 22, 2024 19:52 UTC