Journalism worth fighting for

A veteran editor at the Washington Post popped one his staffers in the cheek after the staffer allegedly called him a "cocksucker." The disagreement centered on an error-riddled "charticle" about "famous incidents in which key actors in history have unwittingly coughed up sensitive information to the wrong people."

Perhaps it was the very idea that words like "charticles" had entered into the vocabulary of the modern newsroom, which once prided itself on snuffing out silly jargon. Or maybe this is a case of an old dog pissed off at the rising influence, and snark, of the young pups - after all, the veteran editor, Henry Allen, is a short timer, having agreed to take a buyout. And the punched staffer, Manuel Roig-Franzia, seemed intent on poking and prodding Allen before he left, having called him a "dick" and having yanked a page from the editor's notebook, according to a detailed account of the precipitating events in the Washington City Paper.

Or maybe Allen was simply exasperated that someone would send him a story with so many errors in this late hour of his career.

Whatever it was, Post columnist Gene Weingarten is just happy to know there's enough passion left in the newsroom that someone would be willing to throw a punch.