The Post needed two writers to replace Metro columnist Marc Fisher. In tapping Robert McCartney and Petula Dvorak, the paper went for experience and comfort, not youth and passion.
McCartney is almost a Post lifer—he went there in 1982. He has covered Central American wars, Wall Street, and Europe and has edited foreign and local news. But what might have best prepared him for a local column is that his son went all the way through Montgomery County public schools.
“I’m looking forward to expressing my point of view,” McCartney says. The styles of the columnists he admires—Steve Pearlstein of the Post, Tom Friedman of the New York Times—suggest that his pieces will be more wonky than gritty.
Dvorak’s route to the column passed through writing jobs at the Prague Post and the Orange County Register. She’s been covering local news for a decade. Sources say her sample columns had the perspective of a working mom.
In other newsroom shifts, pop-music critic J. Freedom du Lac is giving up his gig to join a newly created team of reporters searching out hot news in the region—with Fisher as editor.
This article first appeared in the July 2009 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Society Photos
Post Watch: More Musical Chairs in Newsroom
The Post needed two writers to replace Metro columnist Marc Fisher. In tapping Robert McCartney and Petula Dvorak, the paper went for experience and comfort, not youth and passion.
McCartney is almost a Post lifer—he went there in 1982. He has covered Central American wars, Wall Street, and Europe and has edited foreign and local news. But what might have best prepared him for a local column is that his son went all the way through Montgomery County public schools.
“I’m looking forward to expressing my point of view,” McCartney says. The styles of the columnists he admires—Steve Pearlstein of the Post, Tom Friedman of the New York Times—suggest that his pieces will be more wonky than gritty.
Dvorak’s route to the column passed through writing jobs at the Prague Post and the Orange County Register. She’s been covering local news for a decade. Sources say her sample columns had the perspective of a working mom.
In other newsroom shifts, pop-music critic J. Freedom du Lac is giving up his gig to join a newly created team of reporters searching out hot news in the region—with Fisher as editor.
This article first appeared in the July 2009 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Society Photos
Must-Reads
Take Our Restaurant Survey and You Could Win Dinner at a Mike Isabella Restaurant
10 Fall Festivals Near DC That You Don’t Want to Miss
Washingtonian’s Great Places to Work Application
DC is Getting an All-Male Burlesque Brunch
September 2016: How to Dress in DC
More from News & Politics
Casa Luca Celebrates Third Anniversary With Rooftop Party (And A Flaming Wheel Of Cheese)
Yelpers Have Renamed Dupont Circle the “Dupont Circle Rat Sanctuary”
Hillary Clinton Supporters Had a Good Time Watching the Debate at Trump’s DC Hotel
The Huffington Post’s Eliot Nelson Doesn’t Mind if You Read His Book on the Toilet
Man Stabbed Over Drunk Food in a Crime Most DC
Presidential Debates Aren’t About Style or Substance. They’re About Pressure
Do Women Have to Talk Like Men to Be Taken Seriously? And Should They?
Photos and Scenes From the African American History Museum’s Opening Day
Most Popular
100 Very Best Restaurants
The Best Cheap Restaurants in Washington, DC
Barton Gellman Hits Washington Post’s “Passive Aggressive Critique” of Its Own Snowden Reporting
5 Ways Brangelina’s Split Affects Washingtonians
Meet 10 Washingtonians Who Are Changing What It Means to Dress Well in DC