What I like about Washington, DC?  The Washington Post.  The newspaper is like a trusted friend.  It’s always here and I can always rely on it.  It feels comfortable and it feels like family.

Some friends in DC insist on the superiority of the NY Times or the Wall St Journal.  Those are great publications … and I read them too.  But, in terms of what I prefer — and what gives me the most information for a Washingtonian, I much prefer the Washington Post.

Ever since we moved back to DC from Tokyo in the late 70’s, we’ve been subscribers to the Post.  I also have fond memories of one of my first mentors, the great Mr. Joe Bouchard.  He was a late-night editor of the Washington Post.   And, we used to visit him sometimes at the Post office after midnight – where he insisted we have some doughnuts.  🙂   But, the reason I really connected with him is that he was a former sportswriter (in Baltimore where he covered the legendary Colts and Orioles teams in the ’50’s and ’60’s).  He used to regale me with stories.  I also loved when he used to bring me the black and white photos (they had so many extra photos – and, of course, well before the digital age).

During my 14 years at AOL, I didn’t take time to ready the print version since I was rushing to get to work but I would also go to http://www.washingtonpost.com at the office.  It’s also my go-to website when I travel.  I do a fair amount of business travel — but I now access the site via my laptop, iPad and iPhone.  I always get a snapshot of what’s going on back home — whether I’m in Japan, China, Brazil, Europe, wherever.

Since I left AOL in ’09, one big difference is I now try to read the print version every morning (along w/ my morning coffee).   Since I no longer have the 45-minute commute to the AOL campus, I use that time to peruse the paper on a daily basis.  And, one of my favorite things to do is to take a couple of hours on Sunday morning to read the paper from cover to cover.   Thanks, Washington Post, for being a dear and trusted companion.