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January 22, 2014

Post to Klein: Take Your Blog and Shove It

Why The Washington Post passed on Ezra Klein: For nearly five years, the Post has steered a bounty of financial resources to its star economics columnist and blogger.

It has allowed him to have a contributor deal with MSNBC, a column with Bloomberg View, and to write long-form for The New Yorker. It has provided him with eight staffers to keep Wonkblog, his popular policy vertical, flowing with up-to-the-minute charts and analysis. The PR department has promoted him in profile upon profile. But when Klein proposed the creation of an independent, explanatory journalism website — with more than three dozen staffers and a multiyear budget north of $10 million — the Post said enough is enough. Indeed, Jeff Bezos, the Post’s new owner, and Katharine Weymouth, its publisher, never even offered an alternative figure, sources familiar with the negotiations said.

Posted by gerardvanderleun at January 22, 2014 9:29 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Being that he is one of the New Castrati, he deserves severance pay.

Posted by: Gagdad Bob at January 22, 2014 10:23 AM

Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck....

Posted by: vanderleun at January 22, 2014 11:08 AM

But it hired Eugene Volokh to take his place, amazingly enough.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at January 22, 2014 12:51 PM

Ah, for the old days when a corporation could buy a media outlet and prop it up, just to skirt campaign finance laws by having a legitimate propaganda arm. Now, post- Citizens United there is no reason to do such a thing and these formerly necessary propaganda departments can now be asked to actually - turn a profit.

Posted by: Mikey NTH at January 22, 2014 6:21 PM

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