Washington Post Hides Key Fact
Paper did not disclose a Biden appointee is married to Biden's chief of staff
This is a short, but important column. It points out a glaring example of unethical journalism. Courtesy of The Washington Post. The intentional omission of key facts is is just as egregious as lying.
The Washington Post published a story today reporting on the appointment of Monica Medina as special envoy for biodiversity and water resources or, as the Post called it, “a diplomat for plants and animals.”
The most basic information the article’s reporters could have, and should have, reported was identifying Monica Medina. It failed on this account. Yet, sound, honest, and ethical journalism demanded it do so.
Who is Monica Medina? She is married to Ron Klain, the chief of staff to President Joe Biden. Medina is too high a profile person in DC political and news circles to have been overlooked. As any brand new reporter can attest, the most basic step in crafting a story like this one is to fact check the appointee to determine who they are. And report it. The Post did not disclose this critical fact.
Two Washington Post journalists shared the byline for the story.
Another Washington Post journalist — and not just any journalist, but the Post’s claimed “fact checker,” — tweeted the article. The guy who allegedly fact checks for accuracy on behalf of the Post also failed to disclose to whom Medina was married.
To be clear, this is not a Joe Biden, Ron Klain, or Monica Medina failure. They have done nothing wrong. Simply, this is yet another example of The Washington Post (“Democracy Dies in Darkness,” it likes to trumpet!) keeping a critical fact in the dark. It is especially curious since The Washington Post had a melt-down over Ivanka and Jared Kushner working in the White House. The Post’s position is nepotism is bad for one president, but acceptable for another.
Chances are The Washington Post will correct the article. The question is whether it will do so with an accompanying correction notice (as journalistic ethics demand), or will it conduct a “stealth edit” by making changes and pretending the original article was correct from the get-go. Of course, we have the receipts — the original, flawed article.
Mark Hyman is an Emmy award-winning investigative journalist. Follow him on Twitter, Gettr, and Parler at @markhyman, and on Truth Social at @markhyman81.
His books Washington Babylon: From George Washington to Donald Trump, Scandals That Rocked the Nation and Pardongate: How Bill and Hillary Clinton and their Brothers Profited from Pardons are on sale now (here and here).