FULL "DISCLOSURE:"

WASHINGTON POST

PROMOTES

FORT TOTTEN

DEVELOPMENT TO

WHICH IT HAS

MULTIPLE

RELATIONSHIPS

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

Once again, the Washington Post has failed to disclose its relationships with an interest about which it has written.

Yesterday's Post editorial page offered wholehearted boosterism for a controversial redevelopment of what is currently an affordable apartment complex near Fort Totten.

Once again, there's just one problem: the Post did not disclose the many ties the paper and company have with the developer, the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.

For starters, the Cafritz Foundation and the Meyer Foundation are partners in their project to redevelop and "revitalize" DC neighborhoods. And the Meyer Foundation was started by Eugene Meyer... past editor and publisher of The Washington Post. No conflict of interest there, right?

Who else is helping to "develop communities" in DC with the Cafritz/Meyer foundations?

Bank of America - According to CNBC on August 14, 2007, Washington Post Co. Director Warren Buffett "bought a major stake [in] Bank of America."

Fannie Mae - According to Reuters, just 6 days ago, Post Co. Director Warren Buffett "has joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) in a bid to buy $3 billion in tax credits from mortgage giant Fannie Mae."

M&T Bank - According to the New York Times, this bank's "largest investor is billionaire Warren E. Buffett."

PNC Bank - Again from the NY Times, in 1994, Buffett bought "[a] stake of 8.3 percent, or almost 20 million shares," in PNC Bank.

Wachovia Bank - According to the Huffington Post(!!), "Buffett sounded upbeat about the prospects of Wells Fargo bank, of which Berkshire is the largest shareholder. He believes its cost of capital and investment spreads have never been better, and that the Wachovia acquisition is a great franchise that will pay off."



There's nothing illegal about having these kind of connections. But journalistic ethics demand that the paper disclose them when covering the story, especially when it's an editorial piece endorsing a controversial development project!

By the way, I also enjoyed the editorial because it took shots at those of us who don't believe Bethesda Row can be rebuilt everywhere, even in residential neighborhoods. And it touched on one of the new tactics used in these controversial situations - a group of residents who come forward to endorse a project, speaking directly from suspiciously-familiar talking points. Of course, the Post was suggesting that these people come forward on their own, rather than being orchestrated.

The Post won't ever cover that kind of thing, but you'll return here to read about that and everything that is really going on in Montgomery County, only on RobertDyer.net.