A Washington Post piece gets spiked after its publisher expresses a preference for happier stories.

Weymouth is obviously still learning on the job, which has become as painful for me as it must be for her. A newspaper is not a symposium, especially a newspaper that's part of a division that lost $143 million in the first six months of 2009. One of the things she's got to learn is that she can't have it both ways. She can't pretend that the newsroom floats in its own accountable-only-to-Brauchli ether at the same time she is telling editors (plural) enough with dwarf-leg stories.

Like it or not, the ultimate editorial hand is the publisher, which makes it absolutely vital that the right person hold the job.

Addendum, 5:55 p.m.: Don't miss Erik Wemple's take on the controversy in Washington City Paper.

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