The publisher of the Washington Post, Will Lewis, is facing fresh questions over his independence after a cache of leaked files revealed he gave extensive support to Boris Johnson as a secret political adviser when Johnson was prime minister.I know Americans think of UK journalism as "BBC World Service," those Guardian investigative pieces you remember, and that one interview with Jeremy Paxman from 30 years ago, but most of them are like Lewis. For those who don't remember the "blogger ethics panel" reference, when bloggers became a thing, some journalist were obsessed with trying to impose professional ("ethics") standards on us that didn't even apply in theory to journalists, let alone in practice.
The files shed light on how the media executive, who at the time was vice-chair of the Associated Press news agency, worked behind the scenes with Johnson as his premiership was engulfed by a series of scandals.
They had public panel discussions about this stuff without consulting with or featuring any bloggers.
It was an attempt to marginalize and drive us out of "business."