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Why you'll never see an article in the Washington Post critical of Big Pharma...
WAPO Selling Sickness for AstraZeneca
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/brand-connect/wp/tag/astrazeneca/
WAPO Selling Sickness for PhRMA Lobby Interests
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/brand-connect/wp/tag/phrma/
Does taking money to improve the brand image of pharmaceutical companies affect their coverage of the news when it involves Big Pharma? Well, let's see...
Take, for instance, this "safe as aspirin" piece WAPO did when it came to light that Naval Shipyard shooter Aaron Alexis was prescribed the antidepressant Trazadone by the Veterans Administration just days before his deadly shooting rampage that killed 12 people...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trazodone-antidepressant-used-by-aaron-alexis-described-as-very-safe/2013/09/18/4336c044-20ae-11e3-966c-9c4293c47ebe_story.html
WAPO makes no reference to the fact that the FDA has warned patients taking Trazadone to contact their healthcare provider immediately if "acting aggressive, being angry, or violent" or "acting on dangerous impulses"...
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/UCM202202.pdf
Next time you read an article after the next school shooting that essentially says, nothing to see here, move along, these drugs are prescribed to millions and are as safe as aspirin, keep in mind who is ultimately paying that reporter's paycheck.
To put the scale of the problem into perspective, Robert Kennedy, Jr. tells a story of how one network executive told him over dinner that 70 percent of their ad revenue comes from Big Pharma, and that anyone responsible for losing a big account will lose their job.
