And now a little Katharine Graham...

I've always been a fan of The Washington Post. I'd say out of all the "national" papers, it's always been my favorite.

I've always thought it sucked I couldn't get the Post delivered to my doorstep like the NY Times.

That being said, I've never gotten around to reading Katharine Graham's autobiography, which I'd always heard great things about.

I finally got to the part where her father, Eugene Meyer, bought the Post in an auction on the paper's front steps for $825,000. Can you imagine?

I ran across a great passage:

My father wanted a paper that would advance beyond what it had achieved even in its heyday and "take a leadership that could be achieved only by exceptional quality." In one address, on March 5, 1935, he spoke about the principles that he insisted on from the beginning, outlining them as follows:

1) That the first mission of a newspaper is to tell the truth as nearly as the truth may be ascertained;
2) That the newspaper shall tell ALL the truth so far as it can learn it, concerning the important affairs of America and the world;
3) That as a disseminator of news, the paper shall observe the decencies that are obligatory upon a private gentleman;
4) That what it prints shall be fit reading for the young as well as the old;
5) That the newspaper's duty is to its readers and to the public at large, and not to the private interests of its owner;
6) That in the pursuit of truth, the newspaper shall be prepared to make sacrifice of its material fortunes, if such course be necessary for the public good;
7) That the newspaper shall now be the ally of any special public interest, but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.

It seems the more things change in this uncertain world, the need for some things stay the same.