Yikes! Somebody at the storied Washington Post–nobody’s admitting who–came up with the no-so-bright idea to have a gala event at the publisher’s house, provide attendees with access both to news staff (who would not be allowed to ask tough questions or use material on the record) and Obama administration staffers–and charge a quarter-million a pop to attend.

Yeah, newspapers have a financial crisis AND great connections–but when you build a brand based on journalistic integrity, this isn’t going to fly very prettily. Both the publisher and key newsroom folks are saying nobody ran this by them first, and the event is canceled. Guess we’ll have to take them at their word about that. Good thing they caught it and snuffed it before it went too far, or the organization that uncovered Watergate and the Pentagon Papers might have been caught on the hinges of “WashPoGate.”

Shel Horowitz’s award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, spends a lot of time examining how to incorporate integrity into your business, and how to leverage that commitment for success.