Seems like only yesterday that the folks over at the Washington Post were going to get rich by tapping the insatiable need of politicians and lobbyists to eat fondue at Katharine Weymouth's house as a revenue stream, bringing glory days and special favors for ever and ever. Now, much has changed, as executive editor Marcus Brauchli is having to break up the vicious fights between Post staffers, who are all just hitting each other, in the face, at all times. Harry Jaffe has more at the Washingtonian's Capital Comment blog.
Apparently, this whole folderol began when, in the wake of the accidental disclosure of a confidential House ethics committee report, Monica Hesse and Manuel Roig-Franzia were assigned to prepare this "charticle" of accidental disclosures throughout history.
Veteran Style section editor Henry Allen found it unsatisfactory and began "ranting about the number of mistakes he had found," Jaffe reports. From there, that "charticle" tore the fragile newsroom apart in a melee of employee-on-employee punchings.
Allen, according to sources, said: "This is total crap. It's the second worst story I have seen in Style in 43 years."
Roig-Franzia then wandered into the newsroom. A veteran foreign correspondent, he has been turning out political features for Style. He heard Allen's rant and stopped by his desk.
"Oh, Henry," he supposedly said, "don't be such a cocks-----."
Allen lunged at Roig-Franzia, threw him to the newsroom floor, and started throwing punches. Roig-Franzia tried to fend him off. Brauchli and others pulled the two apart.
We've emailed Allen in an attempt to find out what story was the worst Allen had read in 43 years, because aren't you curious about that?
RELATED:
Fists Fly After Post Editor Tells Writer, "It's the Second Worst Story I Have Seen in Style in 43 Years" [Washingtonian]
Fact or Fiction? Punches Thrown in WaPo Newsroom! [FishbowlDC]