Who Is This Column For?

April 7, 2000: Recently, Fred Hiatt, the editor of the editorial page at the Washington Post, invited Slate Editor Michael Kinsley to begin writing an opinion column for the Post. As Hiatt recounted it in a telephone conversation, yesterday, Kinsley asked if the column could also be published in his own magazine, Slate. Hiatt agreed and Kinsley began writing a Tuesday column for the Post. 

But this arrangement had an unusual element because, with Hiatt's knowledge, Kinsley has been publishing his Post column in Slate magazine before it appears in the Post. In effect, Hiatt has allowed his newspaper to be beaten by another publication with its own content.

This week, for example, Kinsley posted a column about the new money and whether all that wealth is real. It appeared on April 3 at 4 p.m. in Slate, as shown below.

But it appeared only in the April 4 edition of the Washington Post. 

Hiatt makes the point that the appearance of the two columns is separated only by a period of hours, which is true since the next day's edition of the Post comes out late the night before. But most people will read the column in the Post the day after it appears in Slate. And, in any case, it is hard to see how the Post can make the claim in the tagline to Kinsley's column that he "writes a weekly column for the Post". Common sense says that if Kinsley is editor of Slate and writes a column that appears first in Slate, it is more like a Slate column.

Hiatt also says there was no intent to use that tagline to deceive readers, as shown by the fact that Slate's Internet address is provided. Still, Post readers are given no information about the pre-appearance in Slate. In the Slate column, they are told only that "Michael Kinsley is editor of Slate" which leads them to believe he has written the column for his own magazine.

But the really interesting question is why would Hiatt make such a bad deal to begin with? Is he too nice a guy? A bad bargainer? Inevitably, the question comes around to the nature of Slate magazine. After all, Slate has made a name for itself, in part, by engaging in aggressive media criticism that has made powerful newspapers and television networks take notice. That means Hiatt knew his newspaper had something to fear from it.

So the inevitable question is -- did Hiatt give Kinsley such a good deal because Kinsley oversees a magazine that has the power to damage the Post or Hiatt's editorial department at the Post? Was that a factor in his offering the column to Kinsley? Certainly, it brings someone from Slate over to the side of the Post. (There may have also been other reasons for Hiatt's willingness to make the agreement, of course.) 

On Kinsley's side, one has to ask -- how can we know if his magazine will pull its punches when it writes about the Post or its editorial department in the future. It is true that Slate has done critical writing on the Post since Kinsley's column started appearing there. But since the decision-making process of journalism is largely hidden, we don't have any way to know if Slate has, or will, be affected.

One would think that Hiatt and Kinsley would have discussed these questions ahead of time. In an effort to find out if they did, I asked Hiatt if Kinsley made a point of saying to him that Slate's coverage of the Post wouldn't be affected by the new column. But Hiatt chose to not reveal the contents of their discussion.

Hiatt also says no announcement appeared in the Post that explained any of this. And a Slate spokesman said he believes none appeared in Slate. (I was less than successful in getting information from Slate.)

The clear and simple remedy for this situation is to provide a full airing of all this in both publications. In addition, the column, as it appears in each publication, should have a reasonable explanation of who it is written for.

This isn't the journalistic error of the century so I doubt that readers will be terribly disturbed. But tell the readers, and let the readers decide.

Lake Washington Isn't Getting Any Bigger: in Slate
The New New Money: in the Washington Post

Oil Crooks - Dangerous criminals conspire baldly in Vienna: in Slate
Oil Crooks: in the Washington Post

------------------- 

(This column supercedes an earlier version of the same column.)

Ken Sanes