Patrick Pexton who replaced Andy Alexander as the Washington Post ombudsman penned his first column Friday and started off on a positive note for the newspaper.

Pexton  praised the Post’s Egypt coverage and sounded more like another columnist on the op-ed page rather than the critical eye that he is supposed to be.

One column does not make a pattern but rather than stake out a position of someone who isn’t afraid of biting the hand that feeds him so to speak he gave readers the impression that he will be nothing more than a corporate shill for the liberally minded paper.

Pexton wasn’t totally unaware of this as he wrote:

I’m sure some readers will worry that my first column as the Post’s ombudsman is positive. But I think good work should be praised. Emulation of the good improves a publication as much as avoidance of the bad, about which I’ll have plenty of occasion to write.

A publication that aspires to greatness must have courage, the constant courage to take on the powerful, to unearth unpleasant truths, to take risks. If the Post’s leadership emulates the bravery and resourcefulness of its own Linda Davidsons, its future will be secure.

Well I only hope that Pexton will hold the Post accountable to unearth unpleasant truths and to take risks but the history of the paper is quite the opposite.

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About the author

Don Irvine
Don Irvine is Chairman of Accuracy in Media. He is active on Facebook and Twitter. You can follow him @donirvine to read his latest thoughts.

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