The political columnist Dan Froomkin was hired by The Huffington Post last week, two short weeks after being fired by a more traditional Post, the venerable newspaper in Washington.

In his departure from The Washington Post, there may be a lesson for journalists: keep close tabs on Web traffic.

The Washington Post indicated that a slump in visitors to Mr. Froomkin’s well-known Web column, White House Watch, contributed to its decision not to renew his contract in June. The popularity of Mr. Froomkin’s column was tied in part to its consistent critiques of the Bush administration, and he acknowledges that his page views declined after President Obama took office.

Still, the rationale — even if it was masking other reasons for Mr. Froomkin’s departure — surprised some writers who are uncomfortable being judged by their Web traffic. The Washington City Paper, in an analysis of Mr. Froomkin’s departure, called it a historical marker for The Post, “the first time that a major personnel decision has hinged so squarely on Web hits.”

“It’s an unusual public rationale for serious newspaper people, that’s for sure,” said Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University.

Mr. Froomkin, a contract employee who worked from home, wrote more than 1,000 columns for The Post’s Web site, beginning in 2004. He filtered the news media’s coverage of Mr. Bush through a critical lens, writing in his farewell column that when he thinks of the Bush years, “I think of the lies. There were so many.” Read more…

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