Early Tuesday morning, Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron praised his staff's round-the-clock coverage of Monday's Navy Yard shooting, according to a memo obtained by The Huffington post.
"This was the definition of teamwork, involving every corner of our newsroom," Baron wrote. "This was a model of how we can cover news with both immediacy and in depth, with new tools, traditional skills, and enduring values."
The Navy Yard story dominated Tuesday's front page and website, which had its pay wall dropped after the shooting. (The Boston Globe similarly allowed free access after the marathon bombing in April).
The Post provided extensive coverage as the story unfolded, along with a profile of the shooter Aaron Alexis, details of the victims as they were made available, and a moving front-page story by Ian Shapira on how one family learned of a loved one's death.
Baron's full memo to staff is below:
Subject: thank you
To all who worked so fast, so hard, so tirelessly, so brilliantly, so long -- from early morning and throughout the night -- to cover the Navy Yard story, deepest thanks.
This was the definition of teamwork, involving every corner of our newsroom. This was a model of how we can cover news with both immediacy and in depth, with new tools, traditional skills, and enduring values.
That is why millions of readers turned to The Post. At a moment of incomprehensible tragedy, you served them magnificently and made us all very proud.
Marty