Media critic Erik Wemple criticized the Washington Post, his employer, for giving the New York Times the opportunity to break the story about an upside-down American flag flying in Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's backyard .
Alito said his wife was responsible for raising the flag in that position amid an argument with a neighbor who had put up a “f— Trump” sign about 50 feet from a children's bus stop . Although the Times broke the story and attached upside-down flags to link the Jan. 6 riots, the Post relayed the information more than three years ago.
“The Post…sat back and watched as the New York Times crafted a valuable exclusive whose epicenter is just a short drive from its K Street newsroom,” Wemple wrote in an editorial Wednesday. He called it a “black eye” for his newspaper and criticized the Post for its “inaction.”
ALITO SAYS HIS WIFE DISPLAYED AN UPSIDE DOWN FLAG AFTER AN ARGUMENT WITH AN INSULTING NEIGHBOR
Erik Wemple criticized the Washington Post for giving the New York Times the opportunity to repeat an article from his outlet on the history of the Alito flag. (Getty Images)
Wemple pointed out that no one from the newspaper appeared to have contacted Emily Baden, the neighbor who had argued with the Alitos, “until the May 16 Times article was published.”
“All signs point to the Post failing to publish anything about this brawl, regardless of its focus or conclusions,” Wemple wrote.
Cameron Barr, editor of the Post at the time he got the scoop, said he regretted not publishing the story. Barr also said the neighborhood dispute allegedly involved the Post's Metro section, but Wemple wrote that he found no evidence that Metro was consulted.
“When I asked Martin Baron, who was editor-in-chief at the time, how things were going, he said, 'I don't know how things were going. I was never aware of 'None of this discussion I only heard about when The Post asked about the story.'”
“In this context, the Times flag affair – and the collapse of the Post – became a big story,” Wemple continued. “This episode left The Post in the position of having to play second fiddle on a story it should have owned all along.”
DEMS IN HOT SEAT FOR ALLEGED ETHICAL VIOLATIONS REGARDING ALITO'S RECUSAL REQUESTS
Wemple argued that “the Alitos were given deference to which they were not entitled,” explaining that the Alitos' neighbor, Emily Baden, said the Alito family's explanation of the neighborhood argument was “absolutely ridiculous and everyone knows it. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Wemple also argued that “the Alitos received deference to which they were not entitled.” He wrote that Baden called the Alito family's explanation of the neighborhood argument “absolutely ridiculous and everyone knows it.”
The Washington Post did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Shannon Bream and Greg Norman of Fox News contributed to this report.