WASHINGTON — The Washington Post's publisher abruptly canceled a series of policy dinners Thursday that were to have been underwritten by lobbyists or corporations willing to pay thousands of dollars to be in the same room as journalists and lawmakers, saying the marketing department had misrepresented the newspaper's intent.
Lawmakers who had been invited said they were not told the events would make money for the newspaper. But the Post had separately sent fliers seeking sponsors who would pay $25,000 for a single "salon" or $250,000 for 11 events.
The concept raised questions about journalistic ethics.
Rep. Jim Cooper's office said the Tennessee Democrat received an invitation this week to attend a dinner on July 21 at the house of Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, a Maine Republican, was also among those asked to attend.
In both cases, the invitations came as personal e-mails from Weymouth's office.
Cooper accepted, believing the dinner would be a low-key chance to exchange ideas about healthcare and other public policy matters, according to his staff. Snowe turned down the invitation.
Both Cooper's and Snowe's staff said there was no mention that the dinner might be a money-making opportunity for the Post.
But the fliers to potential sponsors spelled it out:
"Bring your organization's CEO or executive director literally to the table," the flier read. "Interact with key Obama administration and congressional leaders."
The fliers described an "intimate and exclusive Washington Post salon, an off-the-record dinner and discussion at the home of CEO and Publisher Katharine Weymouth."
News of the fliers was first reported by Politico, which said it obtained a copy from a healthcare lobbyist.
The Post canceled the dinners after the disclosure.
"It was clear the invitation was not being presented the same way to everyone," said Jim Spragens, a spokesman for Cooper, a longtime player in healthcare reform.
"The way it was represented is a big part of this. I haven't seen the flier, but they were charging hundreds of thousands of dollars for access. . . . Everybody didn't have the same set of information," Spragens said.
The Post also sent an invitation to the Obama administration's Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius -- a key official in the president's efforts to revamp healthcare.
