WaPo Ombudsman Goes Undercover as Tyra

In that case, was Sunday’s piece by WaPo‘s Patrick Pexton a letdown or not?

On one hand, perhaps channeling talk show host Tyra Banks in a column about whether the publication has recently been offensive to first ladies is not the best way to go. And sure, maybe it is not the most highbrow way to reach a tightly wound Washington audience when you’re talking about gender and journalism, which tends to attract a prickly gaggle of women to begin with.

At issue are a recent blog post on first lady Michelle Obama’s 1,700 calorie-jaunt to Shake Shack in Dupont Circle and a story by new WaPo columnist and Jezebel founder Anna Holmes in which she talks about Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush like they were Kardashians.