Freedom Of The Oppressed or Freedom From The Oppressors?

I couldn't believe my eyes. First ABC News broadcasts a week long infomercial from the White House and now the Washington Post is selling "access" to the “health care reporting and editorial staff." WHAT?

When will the revolution begin?

I am ready!

"The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth." --Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Here it is:

Washington Post sells access, $25,000+
By MIKE ALLEN | 7/2/09
POLITICO

For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off the record, non-confrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper’s own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer is detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health-care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he feels it’s a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."

The offer—which essentially turns a news organization into a facilitator for private lobbyist-official encounters—is a new sign of the lengths to which news organizations will go to find revenue at a time when most newspapers are struggling for survival.

[It isn't about the papers struggling revenue. All they would have to do is start covering BOTH sides of every issue. Thw WP would then stand out in a sea of liberal bias and find themselves swamped in revenue. This is about facilitaing BHO's single payer universal healthcare scheme, plain & simple.]

Here's the advertisement:

"Underwriting Opportunity: An evening with the right people can alter the debate," says the one-page flier. "Underwrite and participate in this intimate and exclusive Washington Post Salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth ... Bring your organization’s CEO or executive director literally to the table. Interact with key Obama Administration and Congressional leaders …

“Spirited? Yes. Confrontational? No. The relaxed setting in the home of Katharine Weymouth assures it. What is guaranteed is a collegial evening, with Obama Administration officials, Congress members, business leaders, advocacy leaders and other select minds typically on the guest list of 20 or less. …

“Offered at $25,000 per sponsor, per Salon. Maximum of two sponsors per Salon. Underwriters’ CEO or Executive Director participates in the discussion. Underwriters appreciatively acknowledged in printed invitations and at the dinner. Annual series sponsorship of 11 Salons offered at $250,000 … Hosts and Discussion Leaders ... Health-care reporting and editorial staff members of The Washington Post ... An exclusive opportunity to participate in the health-care reform debate among the select few who will actually get it done. ... A Washington Post Salon ... July 21, 2009 6:30 p.m."

This is journalistic malpractice. How can they possibly be considered an objective news source while at the same time facilitating the undermining of 20% of the U.S. GDP?