Washington Post features editor punches colleague over 'charticle'

Times are tough in the news business. Nerves are on edge. Perhaps that explains why a veteran Washington Post editor punched out one of his colleagues on Friday, turning the staid newsroom of the storied paper into a boxing ring.

In the incident, which took place directly in front of executive editor Marcus Brauchli's office, features editor Henry Allen lived up to his reputation of being tough on his beat, issuing a smack-down on feature writer Manuel Roig-Franzia. Brauchli rushed to separate the two journalists.

Allen, nearly 70, a Pulitzer Prize-winner, and a retired Marine who served in Vietnam, was reportedly "revolted" by a feature package put together by one of his writers.