Washington Post 2007 Annual Report Download - page 70

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Board of Directors and
Shareholders of The Washington Post Company:
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to under Item 15 (1) on page 37 and listed in the index on page 39 present fairly, in all
material respects, the financial position of The Washington Post Company and its subsidiaries at December 30, 2007 and December 31, 2006,
and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 30, 2007 in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. In addition, in our opinion, the financial statement schedule listed in the
accompanying index presents fairly, in all material respects, the information set forth therein when read in conjunction with the related consolidated
financial statements. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting asof
December 30, 2007, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements and financial
statement schedule, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting, included in Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting appearing under Item 9A. Our responsibility is to
express opinions on these financial statements, on the financial statement schedule, and on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting
based on our integrated audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
(United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements
are free of material misstatement and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audits of
the financial statements included examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing
the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our audit
of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a
material weakness exists and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits
also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable
basis for our opinions.
As discussed in Notes I and J to the financial statements, The Washington Post Company changed the manner in which it accounts for share-based
compensation and the manner in which it accounts for defined benefit pensions and postretirement plans, both in fiscal 2006.
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial
reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A
company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in
reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that
transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles
and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the
company and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the
company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation
of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of
compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
McLean, Virginia
February 26, 2008
54 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY