Washington Post Removes Opinion Piece: ‘We Can’t Verify the Byline’

By: Jeremy Barr | Poynter

The Washington Post was unable to verify the identity of the author of a Jan. 17 opinion piece called “D.C., you’re depressing.” The author of the piece, which trashed Washington, D.C. and its public transportation system, was listed as Jason Huntmann.

“Basically, we can’t verify the byline,” said Post Local Letters and Opinions Editor Michael Larabee in an email. “The writer has not responded to repeated phone and e-mail messages since Saturday afternoon. Also, early this week, the e-mail account he had been using was closed.”