How to Poke Don Graham and Not Get Fired for It (Hint: Try Facebook)
Let’s say you want to cozy up to Don Graham, one of the nation’s most powerful media moguls. How do you socialize with the head of the Washington Post Company?
You can hope for a chance meeting on the Metro. He would be the sixtyish gentleman with rosy cheeks, brown fedora, and funky overcoat.
Better yet, you can “friend” him on Facebook, the online social network that’s all the rage with much younger people.
At one of his occasional luncheons with staff members at the Post boardroom, Graham talked up NewsTracker, a new application that allows Facebook users to add Post headlines to their page and link to its Web site. He also mentioned that he has his own Facebook page.
This revelation further enshrines the strait-laced publisher as one of the hippest guys in the news business. As they say on the Web, Don Graham “gets it.”
Facebook started out as a social-networking site restricted to the high-school and college set. As it expanded to become the place of choice for young people to meet and communicate online, it opened up to all ages. Graham, 62, joined in.
Posties flocked to “friend” Graham, meaning they could communicate with him with a quick “poke” or a longer quip of a few sentences. At last check, Graham had more than 300 friends. Among them were media mogul and Post Company board member Barry Diller.New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger friended Graham; Graham friended back.
While there are many ambitious Post writers on Graham’s list of friends, missing were executive editor Leonard Downie and managing editor Phil Bennett.
But it’s only a matter of time before the best way to reach writers or editors at the Post will be on Facebook. According to Facebook’s count, 555 Post staffers already are part of the network.
Not all have “friended” Don Graham. Yet.
Meanwhile, your chances of seeing Graham on the Metro have declined. The recently separated publisher is likely to be walking to work more often from his new Dupont Circle digs near the Phillips Collection.
This article first appeared in the December 2007 issue ofWashingtonian Magazine.
How to Poke Don Graham and Not Get Fired for It (Hint: Try Facebook)
Let’s say you want to cozy up to Don Graham, one of the nation’s most powerful media moguls. How do you socialize with the head of the Washington Post Company?
You can hope for a chance meeting on the Metro. He would be the sixtyish gentleman with rosy cheeks, brown fedora, and funky overcoat.
Better yet, you can “friend” him on Facebook, the online social network that’s all the rage with much younger people.
At one of his occasional luncheons with staff members at the Post boardroom, Graham talked up NewsTracker, a new application that allows Facebook users to add Post headlines to their page and link to its Web site. He also mentioned that he has his own Facebook page.
This revelation further enshrines the strait-laced publisher as one of the hippest guys in the news business. As they say on the Web, Don Graham “gets it.”
Facebook started out as a social-networking site restricted to the high-school and college set. As it expanded to become the place of choice for young people to meet and communicate online, it opened up to all ages. Graham, 62, joined in.
Posties flocked to “friend” Graham, meaning they could communicate with him with a quick “poke” or a longer quip of a few sentences. At last check, Graham had more than 300 friends. Among them were media mogul and Post Company board member Barry Diller. New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger friended Graham; Graham friended back.
While there are many ambitious Post writers on Graham’s list of friends, missing were executive editor Leonard Downie and managing editor Phil Bennett.
But it’s only a matter of time before the best way to reach writers or editors at the Post will be on Facebook. According to Facebook’s count, 555 Post staffers already are part of the network.
Not all have “friended” Don Graham. Yet.
Meanwhile, your chances of seeing Graham on the Metro have declined. The recently separated publisher is likely to be walking to work more often from his new Dupont Circle digs near the Phillips Collection.
This article first appeared in the December 2007 issue of Washingtonian Magazine.
Most Popular in News & Politics
Every Bus Line in DC Is Changing This Weekend. Here’s What to Know.
8 Takeaways From Usha Vance’s Interview With Meghan McCain
Yet Another Anti-Trump Statue Has Shown Up on the National Mall
Another Mysterious Anti-Trump Statue Has Appeared on the National Mall
A Cult Classic of Cannabis Brands Is Making Its DC Debut
Washingtonian Magazine
July Issue: The "Best Of" Issue
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
How Would a New DC Stadium Compare to the Last One?
The Culture of Lacrosse Is More Complex Than People Think
Did Television Begin in Dupont Circle?
Kings Dominion’s Wild New Coaster Takes Flight in Virginia
More from News & Politics
Speaker Johnson’s Megabill Prayers Likely to Be Answered Before Holiday Weekend, Wrongly Deported Maryland Man Faced Abuse in El Salvador Prison, and We Found Some Yummy Nepalese Food
Pardoned J6er Will Join Ed Martin’s Justice Department Office, Trump Outlines Hypothetical Alligator Escape Plan, and We Have Fireworks Show Recommendations
The “World’s Largest Outdoor Museum” Is Coming to DC. Here’s a Preview.
A Cult Classic of Cannabis Brands Is Making Its DC Debut
The Commanders Wine and Dine DC Council Members; GOP Senator Suggests Tax Language Was “Airdropped” Into Spending Bill; and Trump Wants DOGE to Investigate Musk
100 Reasons to Love DC Right Now
How DC’s Attorney General Got So Good at Double Dutch
DC Council Ponders New Way to Expel Trayon White, the GOP’s Budget Bill Advances, and We Found You Some Tacos With Ethiopian Flair