Wright From The Beginning
March 22, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell has a must-read piece on the paper dropping the ball on coverage of the Barack Obama/Jeremiah Wright saga:
The Post — and some others in the news media — came late to reporting on the controversy …
Here’s one particularly important excerpt from Howell’s account:
Wright has been both admired and controversial for many years. Before he retired, he was pastor of the largest congregation in the United Church of Christ; Obama’s first book mentioned him prominently. It’s natural to want to know about him, his church and his importance to Obama, who said Wright brought him to Christianity 20 years ago, performed his wedding and baptized his two daughters.
Had anyone suggested doing that story at The Post? Religion reporter Michelle Boorstein pitched it twice and was turned down by editors on the Metro and National desks.
Pity. 20-20 hindsight is, of course, easy. But a bit of balance amid all the media’s fawning over Obama at the time would have been helpful.
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