Dave Weigel, the columnist who was sacked by the Washington Post after e-mails he sent on the “Journolist” list-serv were leaked, has a new job – at the Washington Post Company.
Weigel has been hired by WaPo Co.-owned Slate to report on politics and write a yet-to-be-launched blog.
It’s a quick career rebound for Weigel, who said he’s “thrilled” to be working at Slate.
Weigel was hired by WaPo in March to cover the conservative movement. In June, Weigel’s comments about Matt Drudge on Journolist were published by Mediabistro’s FishbowlDC blog.
"This would be a vastly better world to live in if Matt Drudge decided to handle his emotional problems more responsibly, and set himself on fire," Weigel wrote.
He quickly apologized, but was forced to resign soon thereafter.
While it’s ironic that Weigel’s checks will, in essence, continue to be signed by the Washington Post Company, the Slate hiring is not terribly surprising. After Weigel was ousted, Slate Group chairman and editor Jacob Weisberg was critical of the Washington Post for not backing its own columnist.
“Decision to [d]ump Weigel sets such a bad precedent the Post should reverse it,” Weisberg tweeted on June 26. “Honest mistake, but a bad one.”
