The Washington Post fires its best columnist

The Washington Post … just fired WashingtonPost.com columnist, long-time Bush critic and Obama watchdog (i.e., a real journalist) Dan Froomkin.

What makes this firing so bizarre and worthy of inquiry is that … Froomkin was easily one of the most linked-to and cited Post columnists.  At a time when newspapers are relying more and more on online traffic, the Post just fired the person who, in 2007, wrote 2 out of the top 10 most-trafficked columns.  In publishing that data, Media Bistro used this headline:  “The Post’s Most Popular Opinions (Read: Froomkin).”  Isn’t that an odd person to choose to get rid of?

Glenn Greenwald elaborates. Froomkin was one of the few remaining reasons to read the Post.

2 thoughts on “The Washington Post fires its best columnist”

  1. How odd. Froomkin is one of the handful of folks that I read daily. Now I guess I have to hope to read him daily elsewhere.

  2. Either the editors didn’t get along with the guy or didn’t like his columns. It’s hard to see this as a business decision when the guy’s strength was generating traffic in a medium that is increasingly moving online. C’est la vie, he’s talented and will land on his feet.

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