One Mission, Two Newsrooms
A river runs through the struggle for the future of the Washington Post.
Cover Story
The Washington Post knew it had a hot story on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. For months, ace reporters Dana Priest and Anne V. Hull had been rounding up horrifying anecdotes about the center’s treatment of soldiers and Marines wounded in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. One recovering soldier had a cluster of black mold in his room; another was left to walk, disoriented, around the center’s campus; hundreds were essentially forgotten by the Walter Reed bureaucracy.
The blockbuster investigative series debuted in the Post on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007. But an information-hungry public got a preview the night before. In a video, Priest described life in Walter Reed’s Building 18: “Conditions here are far from ideal: mold and peeling wallpaper, shower rot, mice and cockroaches.”
That kind of multimedia pre-story hype is just why the Post invests so many dollars in washingtonpost.com, the dynamic site that tallies about 9 million unique visitors per month and regularly ranks among the top news sites in the country.
One problem, though: Priest’s report was on NBC Nightly News, not on the paper’s multimedia pipe. Priest had a contract with NBC and occasionally collaborated with the network on her stories. Several weeks before the Walter Reed package was slated to run in the Post, she approached her NBC producer about the project.
How much notice did she give washingtonpost.com? “Anne and I basically didn’t tell them anything about the project until two days before it was going to run,” says Priest.... Continued 
Issue of Feb. 15 - 21, 2008
News and Features
- One Mission, Two Newsrooms
Cover Story - Should Mount Pleasant Rock All Night?
Feature - Which Side Are You On?
Feature - No Comment
Feature - These Prices Are Insane!
The City - Like a 40-Degree Day
The Mail
Columns
- Babes in Toyland
Savage Love - Transitive Property
Loose Lips - Sugar Babies
The Straight Dope
Eats
- Seoul Meets Body
Young & Hungry
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- Nanking and The Violin: Land Slide
Film Review - Attack of the Killer Sequel
Film Review
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- One Track Mind
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- Pain and Buffering
Theater Review - Predagory Friending
Theater Review
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- What's Your Problem?
What's Your Problem? - The Money Shot
Show & Tell - Spree of Good Cheer
Books
City Lights
This week's best in Arts and Entertainment.
- Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein
Arts & Events - 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother
Arts & Events - De Novo Dahl
Arts & Events - Future by Design
Arts & Events - Black Mountain
Arts & Events - Atlas Sound
Arts & Events - Blood on the Wall
Arts & Events - "Absence Presence"
Arts & Events - Samantha Power
Arts & Events - Susan Choi
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City Paper History
- Slum Kind of Wonderful
Nov. 14 - 20, 2003 - The Office
Nov. 15 - 21, 2007 - What Does $26,790 Buy Your 4-year-old?
Nov. 15 - 21, 2007
