20 Jun Calling bullshit

This week, the Washington Post, a once great newspaper that has descended deep into neocon territory, fired Dan Froomkin, a blogger whose column on the White House appeared on the Post’s website.

Post editors and columnists frequently belittled Froomkin as “liberal” or “opinionated,” but his real sin was doing what was once thought to be a journalist’s main job: challenging the factual assertions underpinning White House policies and pronouncements. He was a rare exception to the craven press corps cheerleading in the run-up to the Iraq war, and he had begun holding Obama’s feet to the fire when the Post dropped him.

Froomkin himself defined his role as, “calling bullshit.”

Salon.com‘s Glenn Greenwald offers this analysis of the ensuing furore. Replete with useful links, it is a must read for anyone interested in the state of journalism.