The Washington Post and the Columbia School of Journalism have spent much of this week celebrating the latest report on how to save journalism, this one by former Post editor Leonard Downie and Columbia University professor Michael Schudson.

But all the self-congratulation didn’t sit well with Jim Farley, head of news and reporting at WTOP radio, Washington’s all-news station. He called the report’s denigration of radio journalism “thin gruel—not based on any serious research.”

The Post devoted a chunk of Monday’s opinion page to a Downie-Schudson essay promoting their ideas, which boil down to suggesting ways for charities, government, and universities to help finance journalism. The new business model, they argue, is handouts and subsidies of various kinds.

Post media reporter Howard Kurtz used his Monday media column to give the Downie report more attention. Kurtz focused on the report’s listing of new ventures that show “journalism is being revived and reinvented in some encouraging ways.”

Kelcy Ostrega started her fashion blog, What She Has . . ., as a New Year’s resolution in January. She calls herself a “blog-posting camel. I can go long periods without posting, but when I do, I’m loading up.”

Ostrega has always been interested in fashion, she says, “but I don’t really think I had any idea what I was doing until two or three years ago.” She attributes her evolving sense of style to her husband, Piotr. “He’s Polish and has that innate sense of European style that a lot of Americans lack,” she says. “I used to buy a lot of things just because they were a good deal, and he’s taught me to buy things because they look great on me.”

Even still, Ostrega is a bit of a bargain hunter. As the blog title suggests, many of her posts are wardrobe wish lists, but she has a real knack for finding high-fashion riffs at more wallet-friendly stores. Need proof? Check out her Fabulous Finds Under $50 list.

We caught up with this 28-year-old fashionista to chat about Washington style. Read on for her tips on glamming up a work outfit, her biggest fashion pet peeves, and where she goes to flex her bargain-hunting muscle.

Two years ago, United Airlines trumpeted that it was the first airline to fly nonstop between the capitals of the world’s greatest powers: the United States and China. The new route was the result of heated airline bidding and a special ruling by the Transportation Department.

The route from Dulles International Airport was a big step in what economist Zachary Karabell calls “superfusion”—the growth of a single giant economy linking both countries.

Then came the global economic meltdown. Now United says it can’t find enough business to support year-round operation of the once-celebrated route; the airline has suspended it from October 25 through March 27. While United says it’s just a seasonal thing, the move is a sign of the cooling of bilateral relations between the countries amid the economic crisis and recent trade disputes.

Continuing the service, United spokesperson Sarah Massier says, “doesn’t really make sense if we’re not getting the passenger amounts we want.”

This article first appeared in the October 2009 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.

Our contrast-themed photo contest fielded a good mix of entries—everything from portraits to landscapes to studio shots. Now that our judges have selected their five favorites, it’s time for you to choose a winner.

Go here to view the finalists' gallery, then take the poll at the bottom of this page to vote for your favorite. The photo with the most votes on Friday, October 30, at noon will be declared the winner and will run in the December issue of The Washingtonian.

Remember, it’s only one vote per person, so play fair. If we notice voting irregularities for any photo, we reserve the right to disqualify it from the contest.

Good luck to this month’s finalists, and happy voting!

> > Click here to see the finalists

There were lots more photos that our judges liked; check them out in the runners-up gallery. Go here to see all the past winners. And for details on how to enter next month's contest, check back November 1.

Image courtesy of the Newseum.

On the day the Washington Post unveiled its new design, the newspaper did what it still does best: It published the second in a powerful investigative series about how the District misspends millions to treat AIDS victims. The articles, by Debbie Cenziper, are maddening, saddening, and solidly grounded in documents.

But was it easier to read? Is the new Washington Post easier to read than it was Sunday?

Biggest change for readers throughout the Post is the typeface. The Post switched from Postroman to a version of Scotch Roman, “a sturdy typeface used in newspapers since the early 1800s.”

The new type is thinner and will allow the Post to get more words on the page. Being less bold, it is slightly harder to read, especially for Boomers with fading eye sight, and they make up the bulk of print readers.

Dan Snyder bought the Washington Redskins in May 1999 and at first looked like a savvy businessman who loved the team and might become a great owner.

Little did fans know that his hiring of Vinny Cerrato that year would doom the team to years of disappointment and mediocrity.

There was a brief moment of hope in 2001 when Snyder fired head coach Norv Turner after an 8–8 season and hired a tough, experienced coach, Marty Schottenheimer, and gave him some real power. One of the first things Schottenheimer did was fire Vinny Cerrato.

Who was Vinny Cerrato? He had been the player personnel chief for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990s, leaving mostly wreckage behind, before he was hired by Snyder in 1999 and fired by Schottenheimer in 2001. But when Schottenheimer’s Redskins went 8–8 in 2001, Snyder fired Schottenheimer and, figuring he could run the team with someone like Cerrato as his yes man, rehired Vinny.

It’s been one disaster after another ever since.

In honor of Washington’s godfather of go-go, Seventh Street, Northwest, from T Street to Florida Avenue has been “symbolically designated” Chuck Brown Way. The honor was certainly deserved, but why stop there? Here are other area routes that could be named after local personalities:

U Street, Northwest: Jim Vance Street. Washingtonians trust this local mainstay as the go-to source for what’s happening. Cleaned up since the early ’90s, U Street now boasts the same swagger that made it a favorite long ago.

I-270: Ben Stein Highway. You’ll need a pair of dry, clear eyes to make it through the tentacles of this stop-and-go artery without falling asleep during rush hour.

Military Road, Northwest: Dick Cheney Road. With plenty of deer creeping on and around the shoulder of this street near Rock Creek Park, there’s unlimited hunting potential, and heavy traffic means innocent bystanders are always at risk.