Washington Post

I still subscribe to the Post and sometimes it surprises me with some good journalism, but I see it turning into something of a rag these days.

The coverage of the G20 meeting of finance officials last weekend marked a new low in business coverage. A scene-setter on Friday was transparently based on a Treasury briefing and shamelessly toed the official line. It even described Geithner's proposal to cap payments imbalances as "elegant" in the lead.

This pandering continued on the reporting of the event itself, with the final story once again parroting the official line. In fact, it looked as though the Post didn't even send a correspondent, so it had to depend on Treasury for its information and could offer no reporting from other participants to round out the picture.

I had kept a subscription for a long time because I know the time is near when we won't have newspapers delivered to our door any longer. But I got fed up, particularly with Fred Hiatt's direction of the editorial pages and the general deterioration in reporting, writing and editing, and canceled. So then they called and offered me six months of daily delivery for the price of the Sunday delivery alone -- so six months for $48. An offer I couldn't refuse. But it still annoys me on an almost daily basis.