I have been planning to write this blog post for quite some time and my thoughts were crystallized after attending the Washington Post 200 Business Forum. Katharine Weymouth the striking granddaughter of the late Washington Post Co. chairman Katharine Graham, kicked off this event to approximately 300 local business executives. During her introduction, she talked briefly about her role as the newspaper’s publisher and the fifth member of the Graham newspaper dynasty to hold that title since her great-grandfather, Eugene Meyer, bought The Post at a bankruptcy sale in 1933.
During the first intermission, I spoke with a Post journalist who covered the business section about my perspective on the reasonably horrible job the Post has done in delivering interesting stories and company profiles regarding emerging companies in the local technology community. I really think that filling the Post Business section with lots of AP stories (that I have already read online the night before the paper arrives) and stories about emerging technology companies outside of the region is a big mistake.
Given that the DC Metro region is the 2nd largest region of technology professionals in the United States, only trailing the San Francisco, CA Region, we have a huge number of fascinating start-ups that have great stories to tell about their business ideas and the new entrepreneurs in the region that are succeeding.
Is this sour grapes? In the interest of full disclosure, we have had several good discussions with Post journalists, but the stories died after the individual was moved to another “beat” and the response was, “yes that has become quite common.” But beyond the reorganizations (just today the Post announced it was reducing the newsroom staff by 10%), the Washington Post’s business section simply does not focus on a critical section of the local business community – emerging technology companies. From a business perspective, these companies are the source of innovation, ideas on “what will happen next”, and contribute greatly to a thriving (despite the economic downturn) and successful local business community.
In the past, if I did a web search about a new technology and the results were from an unknown blogger, the Mercury News or the Post, I would select the story by the Mercury News because of their great reputation for business and technology coverage. Sadly, for the Mercury News, the paper is fast losing that reputation and the key reporters that helped to build it.
The Washington Post has a unique opportunity to create a great reputation in covering this space, and my assertion is that the local business community would rally around the Post. Local coverage is so key to business leaders as you work to network at local events and learn about companies working on complementary initiatives, but today we have a real void in our regional coverage, which has a direct connection to why I recently discontinued my Post daily delivery.
Dear Katharine, some of your journalists and advertising executives agree with me. Please consider a renewed investment in the Business Section. The Post has a unique opportunity and even something I’ll call “first dibs” to tap into and become part of a thriving, vibrant technology business community that extends far beyond just a print/online newspaper. Why isn’t the paper taking advantage of this?
