Fenty and the Washington Post

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty created a firestorm this week among reporters who cover the DC Government when he delivered the scoop on his choice for Chancellor of schools to the Washington Post. Even Jonetta Rose Barras, who strongly endorsed his candidacy early on, was furious at how the Mayor locked out the rest of the media and top city officials from the big announcement.

It's not just that the Post was able to break the story, it's how the story came out that infuriated reporters like WTOP radio's steady Mark Seagraves. Here's what happened. The Post breaks the story Monday night for its Tuesday morning edition. No need to attribute the scoop to sources because the news article is complete with quotes from the Mayor himself and the new Chancellor of schools, Michelle Rhee. The Fenty administration had given the newspaper such advance notice of the announcement that the Post Editorial staff had ample time to write an opinion for Tuesday's newspaper, even before the announcement was made from the steps of the Wilson building. If you saw the subsequent news conference "live on Nine News Now", you must have heard Rose-Barras off to the side, screaming questions to the Mayor and undressing him about the propriety or lack thereof on how the Post was hand-delivered the story. To his credit, Mayor Fenty accepted responsibility, right there on the spot.

According to Wilson building insiders not only was the Council Chairman Vincent Gray and all of his colleagues surprised by the Chancellor choice and announcement, Fenty's own press officers were left out of the loop until after the Post was brought in...as a result they were telling reporters late Tuesday that they had no word on anything when in all the words were already in the Post, including the Mayor's exclusive remarks on why he selected Rhee to replace Superintendent Clifford Janey.

It turned out to be an excellent scoop for one of the best newspapers in the world and certainly a story I or any other reporter would have run with; but Fenty is making up new rules...his own..for dealing with the media.Some of them serve us all very well..like his appearing on the scenes of every homicide and major fire..but it's how he's announcing the appointment of new cabinet members...through the Washington Post that's keeping most other reporters and even more Council members and Community leaders at odds with the new young Mayor.