Bloomberg story on Koch draws scrutiny when republished in WaPost

Patrick Pexton, the ombudsman of the Washington Post, writes that the paper could have handled better the republication of a story about Koch Industries that originally ran in Bloomberg Markets.

Pexton writes, “Post Business Editor Greg Schneider said he ‘was aware’ before republication that ‘the piece had stirred up some reaction, but we look to highlight work that is provocative.’

“I think newspapers should always be provocative. But they should also be fair and provide context.

“The Post could have included a sidebar summarizing and linking to the rebuttals that ran between Oct. 3 and 9. It could have called Koch directly — it didn’t — and put its comments in the sidebar.

“After publication, the Kochs requested that The Post put online a one-paragraph statement from its general counsel, along with a link to KochFacts.com. I thought the statement was too strong; I might have negotiated over the wording of that statement, but the request does not seem unreasonable after a 3,000-word critical story is published. The Post did not publish the statement.

“The Kochs are wealthy people with outsize influence; they are fair game for journalists. But journalists should also play the game fairly.”

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