(GunReports.com) — Patrick B. Pexton, the Washington Post’s so-called ombudsman, defends his meal ticket’s work on barely reporting Operation Fast & Furious. His unsurprising bottom line: “No news outlet covers every story perfectly. Nor do they reach the conclusions that ideologues on the left or right want. But The Post has acquitted itself well on Fast and Furious.”
Laughable. He can be reached at 202-334-7582 or at Ombudsman@WashPost.com. Don’t expect him to pick up.
But before you call or write, here is his defense of the paper that pays his salary:
Slow on the draw on Fast and Furious?
Conservatives have alleged that The Post has ignored this story because the paper’s editorial board, or more generally Post reporters, are liberal and pro-gun-control. The more outrageous conservative critics have even accused Post reporters of somehow being complicit in Terry’s death because an award-winning series The Post published in December, “The Hidden Life of Guns,” did not reveal Operation Fast and Furious and its missteps.I have looked at all of the Post coverage, including December’s series, and the 16 stories The Post published between Jan. 31 and July 27 this year that were wholly or in part about Fast and Furious (all can be found at www.WashingtonPost.com). I have talked to the reporters and editors in charge of this coverage.
I think the conservative critics’ charges are unsubstantiated.
The Post was one of the first news outlets in the country, on Feb. 1, to break the news of the connection between Fast and Furious guns and Terry’s death. And a full report on the operation and its many faults, by staff writer Sari Horwitz, published on July 26, is one of the two best stories to date on the subject.
