Washington Times

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Not to be confused with The Times.
The printing and distribution center of The Washington Times

The Washington Times is an American daily newspaper. Published as a broadsheet at 3600 New York Avenue NE, Washington, D.C., the paper covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on American politics. Its slogan is "America's Newspaper."

Founded on May 17, 1982, by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon, the Times was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the church until 2010, in which Moon and a group of former executives purchased the paper. It is currently owned by diversified conglomerate Operations Holdings, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the church.[1]

One of the first broadsheets in the United States to adopt color photography, The Washington Times daily edition is distributed throughout the District of Columbia and sections of Maryland and Virginia. A weekly tabloid edition aimed at a national audience is also published.[2] A typical issue includes sections for world and national news, business, politics, editorials and opinion pieces, local news, sports, entertainment, and travel. Periodically, the paper publishes large, 30–40 page special sections devoted to specific policy topics that include reports and commentary from a variety of experts on the subject. Politically conservative, The Washington Times offers a needed alternative to The Washington Post which was previously the only major newspaper published in Washington DC.

History

Beginnings

The Washington Times was founded in 1982 by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the Unification Church, which also owns newspapers in South Korea, Japan, and South America, as well as the news agency United Press International.[3] Bo Hi Pak, the chief aide of church founder and leader Sun Myung Moon, was the founding president and the founding chairman of the board.[4] Moon asked Richard L. Rubenstein, a rabbi and college professor who had written on the Holocaust, to serve on the board of directors.[5] The newspaper's first editor and publisher was James R. Whelan.

At the time of founding of the The Washington Times, Washington had only one major newspaper, the Washington Post. Massimo Introvigne, in his 2000 book The Unification Church, said that the Post had been "the most anti-Unificationist paper in the United States."[6] In 2002, at an event held to celebrate the Times's 20th anniversary, Moon said: "The Washington Times is responsible to let the American people know about God" and "The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world."[7]

The Times was founded the year after the Washington Star, the previous "second paper" of D.C., went out of business after operating for over a hundred years. A large percentage of the staff came from the Washington Star. When the Times began, it was unusual among American broadsheets in publishing a full color front page, along with full color front pages in all its sections and color elements throughout. Although USA Today used color in the same way, it took several years for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and others to do the same.

The Washington Times originally published its editorials and opinion columns in a physically separate Commentary section, rather than at the end of its front news section as is common practice in U.S. newspapers. It ran television commercials highlighting this fact. Later, this practice was abandoned (except on Sundays, when many other newspapers, including the Post, also do it). The Washington Times also used ink that it advertised as being less likely to come off on the reader's hands than the Post's. This design and its editorial content attracted "real influence" in Washington.[8]

Container bags of The Washington Times newspaper

Home delivery of the paper in its local area was made in bright orange plastic bags, with the words "Brighter. Bolder. The Washington Times" and a slogan that changes.

When the Times began it had 125 reporters, 25 percent of them Unification Church members.[9] In 1982 the Post criticized the Times for killing critic Scott Sublett's negative review of the movie Inchon, which was also sponsored by the Unification Church.[10]

A former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, David Frum, in his 2000 book How We Got Here: The '70s, wrote that Moon had granted the Times editorial independence.[8] But some former employees, including the newspaper's first editor and publisher, James R. Whelan, have insisted that the paper was under Moon's control from the beginning. Whelan, whose contract guaranteed editorial autonomy, left the paper when the owners refused to renew the contract, asserting that "I have blood on my hands" for helping Moon acquire legitimacy.[11] Three years later, editorial page editor William P. Cheshire and four of his staff resigned, charging that, at the explicit direction of Sang Kook Han, a top official of the Unification Church, then-editor Arnaud de Borchgrave had stifled editorial criticism of political repression in South Korea.[12]

De Borchgrave years

After a brief editorship under Smith Hempstone, Arnaud de Borchgrave, an American journalist with an extensive career with the United Press International and Newsweek was named executive editor on March 20, 1985.

During his tenure, de Borchgrave made The Times a must-read for conservatives in the nation’s capital. He was credited with encouraging energetic reporting by staff. Most notably, de Borchgrave mounted a fund-raising drive for Nicaraguan rebels and helped obtain information leading to Nazi war criminals.[13]

U.S. President Ronald Reagan is said to have read The Washington Times every day during his presidency.[14] In 1997, he said:

The American people know the truth. You, my friends at The Washington Times, have told it to them. It wasn't always the popular thing to do. But you were a loud and powerful voice. Like me, you arrived in Washington at the beginning of the most momentous decade of the century. Together, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. And—oh, yes—we won the Cold War.[15]

Wesley Pruden editorship

Wesley Pruden was named executive editor of the newspaper in 1992. Under the editorship of Pruden, the paper took a strongly conservative stance, one that led to controversy. [16] Under Pruden, The Washington Times was also noted for running a full page of stories on the American Civil War every Saturday, the only daily newspaper in the country to do so. Pruden called it "probably our single most popular feature," and noted that "There are more books published on the Civil War than on any other American topic." Pruden said that "the Civil War page has just as many stories about glorifying the Union as it does the Confederacy." Soon after Pruden retired as editor-in-chief, the Times announced that the Civil War page would be expanded to include coverage of all America's wars and would be renamed "America at War."[17]

In 1992 the New York Times reported the Washington Times had only one eighth the circulation of the Post (100,000 to 800,000) and that two thirds of its subscribers also subscribed to the Post.[18] In 1994 the Times introduced a weekly national edition. It was published in a tabloid format and distributed nationwide.[19]

In 1997 the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (which is critical of U.S. and Israeli policies), praised the Times (along with The Christian Science Monitor owned by the Church of Christ, Scientist), and the Washington Times sister publication The Middle East Times for what it called their objective and informative coverage of Islam and the Middle East, while criticizing the generally pro-Israel editorial policy of the Times. The Report suggested that these newspapers, being owned by churches, were less influenced by pro-Israel pressure groups in the United States.[20]

In 2002, The Washington Times published a story accusing the National Educational Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in the nation, of teaching students that the policies of the U.S. government were partly to blame for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. This accusation was denied by the NEA and by liberal commentators.[21]

The Washington Times newsroom

In 2002 Washington Post veteran Ben Bradlee said, "I see them get some local stories that I think the Post doesn't have and should have had."[22] Dante Chinni wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review:

In addition to giving voice to stories that, as Pruden says, "others miss," the Times plays an important role in Washington's journalistic farm system. The paper has been a springboard for young reporters to jobs at The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, even the Post. Lorraine Woellert, who worked at the Times from 1992 to 1998, says her experience there allowed her to jump directly to her current job at Business Week. "I got a lot of opportunities very quickly. They appreciated and rewarded talent and, frankly, there was a lot of turnover."[23]

In his 2003 book Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, comedian, author, and later Democratic senator Al Franken devoted a chapter to criticizing the Times after executive editor Wesley Pruden rewrote a reporter's story—without the reporter's knowledge—about Franken's performance at a White House party. According to Franken, the rewrite was made to appear as if Franken had received a negative reception, which he says was not the case.[24]

In 2004 the Washington Post reported dissension between some of the Times staff and ownership over the paper's stance on international issues, including support for the United Nations:

Insiders say the church's new line is that with the end of the Cold War, it's important to support international organizations such as the United Nations and to campaign for world peace and interfaith understanding. That stance would be awkward for the Times's hard-line editor in chief, Wesley Pruden, and its stable of neoconservative columnists.[25]

Post-Pruden years

In January 2008, editor in chief Wesley Pruden retired and John F. Solomon began work as executive editor of the Washington Times. Solomon was known for his work as an investigative journalist for the Associated Press and the Washington Post. Within a month, the paper changed some of its style guide to conform more to what was becoming mainstream media usage. The Washington Times announced that it would no longer use words like "illegal aliens" and "homosexual," and in most cases opt for "more neutral terminology" like "illegal immigrants" and "gay," respectively. The paper also decided to stop using "Hillary" when referring to Senator Hillary Clinton, and the word "marriage" in the expression "gay marriage" would no longer appear in quotes in the newspaper. These changes in policy drew criticism from some conservatives.[26] Prospect magazine attributed the Times apparent political moderation to differences of opinion over the United Nations and North Korea, and said: "The Republican right may be losing its most devoted media ally."[27] Also that year, the Times stopped publishing a Saturday print edition.

On November 30, 2009, after Sun Myung Moon's son, Hyun Jin Moon (also known as Preston), became chairman of paper's parent company, the New York Times reported that The Washington Times, would no longer be receiving funds from the Unification Church and might have to cease publication or go to online publication only.[28] In December 2009, the Times announced it would lay off 40 percent of its 370 employees and stop subscription service, instead distributing the paper free in some areas of Washington including branches of the government. The Times said that it would focus on its "core strengths," which it identified as "exclusive reporting and in-depth national political coverage, enterprise and investigative reporting, geo-strategic and national security news and cultural coverage based on traditional values."[29] On December 31, 2009, it announced that it would no longer be a full-service newspaper, eliminating its metropolitan-news and sports sections.[30]

In August 2010, a deal was made to sell the Times to a group more closely related to the church. Editor in chief Sam Dealey said that this was a welcome development among the Times staff.[31] In March 2011, the Times announced that some former staffers would be rehired and that the paper would bring back its sports, metro, and life sections.[32] In June 2011, Ed Kelley, formerly of The Oklahoman, was hired as editor overseeing both news and opinion content.[33]

In October 14, 2012, it was announced that Douglas D.M. Joo, a senior executive, president, and chairman of the Times and affiliated publications for more than two decades, was stepping down.[34] Times president Tom McDevitt took his place as chairman, and Larry Beasley, onetime senior executive at the St. Petersburg Times and the Los Angeles Daily News, had been hired as the company's new president and chief executive officer. Beasley announced a new strategy to reach profitability focusing on expanding digital publishing capabilities and growing a nationwide audience, while making it clear that the print publication would continue.[35]

In March 2013 it was announced that Herring Networks would work with the Washington Times to create a new cable news network that began broadcasting in mid‑2013. The new network was called One America News (OAN).[36][37] In July 2014, OAN relocated its news and production studios out of The Washington Times Building to its new location at 101 Constitution Avenue NW, just steps from the Capitol. The move ended OAN's relationship with The Washington Times.

In July 2013, former executive editor and investigative journalist John F. Solomon returned as editor, and to oversee the newspaper's content, digital, and business strategies. The Times also acquired the Washington Guardian, an online news portal created in 2012 by Solomon and former Associated Press executives Jim Williams and Brad Kalbfeld.[38] In October, the paper announced its new national digital edition specifically designed to work on smartphones and tablets. In addition to the Times' print and online content, the app offered additional content such as exclusive newsmaker interviews and a weekly column from conservative commentator Michelle Malkin.[39]

In 2015, the paper began hosting "US-Russia Crosstalk," a joint initiative between Times and the Center for the National Interest in the United States and the Kommersant newspaper and the Valdai Club in Russia, featuring foreign policy-related discussion regarding relations between the two countries.[40]

On November 16, 2015, the newspaper's website recorded nearly 4.3 million page views, 20 percent higher than the company's previous record. That same month, Christopher Dolan was named as executive editor.[41]

Issues regarding financial stability

On November 13, 2014, The Washington Times President and CEO Larry Beasley announced that it was on course to reach profitability.[42] Since January 2013, the newspaper had increased its revenue by one-third while decreasing expenses by 37 percent. Digital products including The Times website, online videos and email marketing campaigns played a significant role in the revenue increase. Daily print advertising revenues also increased by 58 percent. The Times became profitable in September 2015 after significantly increasing its digital audience, posting three straight months with over 40 million page views and 5 million video views, drawing on a national platform counting California, Texas, New York, Florida and Virginia as its five largest states of readership. CEO Beasley said, "I'm proud of our team for its determined effort to remake their company into a digital-first business that can sustain a print publication that still wields enormous clout inside the Beltway."[43]

The Washington Times had its first profitable month in 2015, after lack of profitability for 33 years.[43]

By 2002, about $1.7 billion had been spent by the Unification Church subsidizing the The Washington Times according to former employees.[7] In 2002, Columbia Journalism Review suggested Moon had spent nearly $2 billion on the Times.[23] In 2003, The New Yorker reported that a billion dollars had been spent since the paper's inception, as founder Sun Myung Moon himself had noted in a 1991 speech, "Literally nine hundred million to one billion dollars has been spent to activate and run the Washington Times."[44]

Political stance

Times dispenser

The political leanings of The Washington Times are often described as conservative.[45][19] The Washington Post reported:

The Times was established by Moon to combat communism and be a conservative alternative to what he perceived as the liberal leanings of The Washington Post. Since then, the paper has fought to prove its editorial independence, trying to demonstrate that it is neither a "Moonie paper" nor a booster of the political right but rather a fair and balanced reporter of the news.[7]

Conservative commentator Paul Weyrich commented:

The Washington Post became very arrogant and they just decided that they would determine what was news and what wasn't news and they wouldn't cover a lot of things that went on. And the Washington Times has forced the Post to cover a lot of things that they wouldn't cover if the Times wasn't in existence.[46]

In 2007, Mother Jones said that the Washington Times had become "essential reading for political news junkies" soon after its founding, and described the paper as a "conservative newspaper with close ties to every Republican administration since Reagan."[47]

In 2009, The New York Times reported:

With its conservative editorial bent, the paper also became a crucial training ground for many rising conservative journalists and a must-read for those in the movement. A veritable who's who of conservatives—Tony Blankley, Frank J. Gaffney Jr., Larry Kudlow, John Podhoretz and Tony Snow—has churned out copy for its pages.[29]

Notes

  1. ↑ About Us Operations Holdings, Inc. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  2. ↑ Subscribe The Washington Times. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  3. ↑ Sun Myung Moon Paper Appears in Washington The New York Times, May 18, 1982. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  4. ↑ Pak was founding president of the Washington Times Corporation (1982–1992), and founding chairman of the board. Bo Hi Pak, Appendix B: Brief Chronology of the Life of Dr. Bo Hi Pak, in Messiah: My Testimony to Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Vol I (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2000, ISBN 978-0761818151).
  5. ↑ "Rabbi Joins the Board of Moonie Newspaper", The Palm Beach Post, May 21, 1978.
  6. ↑ Massimo Introvigne, The Unification Church Studies in Contemporary Religion (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2000, ISBN 978-15608514550), 25.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Frank Ahrens, Moon Speech Raises Old Ghosts as the Times Turns 20 The Washington Post, May 23, 2002. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 David Frum, How We Got Here: The '70s (New York: Basic Books, 2000, ISBN 978-0465041954).
  9. ↑ Elisabeth Bumiller, The Nation's Capital Gets A New Daily Newspaper, The Washington Post, May 17, 1982. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  10. ↑ Lois Romano, "Review is Killed," The Washington Post, September 18, 1982.
  11. ↑ Susan Rasky, Ex-Publisher Says Moon Church Ran Newspaper, The New York Times, July 23, 1984. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Five Resign from Washington Times," The Washington Post, April 15, 1987. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  13. ↑ Sam Roberts, Arnaud de Borchgrave, Journalist Whose Life Was a Tale Itself, Dies at 88 The New York Times, February 16, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  14. ↑ Fred Clarkson, Behind the Times: Who Pulls The Strings at Washington's No. 2 Daily? Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, August 1, 1987. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  15. ↑ Joseph P. Faso, A Tale of Two Factions: The US Power Structure Since World War II (Independently published, 2020).
  16. ↑ Mariah Blake, The Washington Times takes a giant step—backwards Columbia Journalism Review, February 11, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  17. ↑ Announcement The Washington Times, May 31, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  18. ↑ Alex S. Jones, Washington Times Moves to Reinvent Itself, The New York Times, January 27, 1992. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 William Glaberson, Conservative Daily Tries to Expand National Niche, The New York Times, June 27, 1994. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  20. ↑ Richard H. Curtiss, As U.S. Media Ownership Shrinks, Who Covers Islam? Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  21. ↑ Cathy Young, An unfair attack on teachers union Boston Globe, September 2, 2002. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  22. ↑ Scott Sherman, Washington 2002: Donald Graham's Washington Post Columbia Journalism Review, 2002. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Washington 2002: The Other Paper Columbia Journalism Review, 2002. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  24. ↑ Al Franken, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Plume, 2004, ISBN 978-0452285217).
  25. ↑ David Ignatius, Tension of the Times The Washington Post, June 18, 2004. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  26. ↑ Alex Koppelman, Washington Times updates style guide Salon, February 27, 2008. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  27. ↑ News and Curiosities, Prospect, September 24, 2006. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  28. ↑ Ashley Parker, With Tumult at the Top, Washington Times Faces Uncertainty, The New York Times, November 30, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Ashley Parker, Large Staff Cuts Announced at the Washington Times, The New York Times, December 2, 2009. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  30. ↑ Dan Daly, Eulogy for sports, The Washington Times, January 3, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  31. ↑ Deal in Works for The Washington Times, The New York Times, August 25, 2010. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  32. ↑ Keach Hagey, Washington Times relaunching Monday. Politico, March 16, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  33. ↑ Jennifer Harper, Ed Kelley named new top editor at The Washington Times. The Washington Times, June 10, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  34. ↑ David R. Sands, Longtime Times executive Joo resigns, takes job in Korea The Washington Times, October 14, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  35. ↑ New Times CEO moves quickly to name leadership team, set path to profitability The Washington Times, October 16, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  36. ↑ Jennifer Harper, The Washington Times extending reach with cable network The Washington Times, March 13, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  37. ↑ David Freedlander, One America News Network, New Conservative Cable Channel, Sets Launch Daily beast, March 14, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  38. ↑ Solomon returns to lead content, business strategies at The Washington Times The Washington Times, July 8, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  39. ↑ Times launches its National Digital Edition app The Washington Times, October 31, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  40. ↑ US-Russia Crosstalk The Washington Times. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  41. ↑ Jennifer Harper, Chris Dolan named executive editor at The Washington Times The Washington Times, November 24, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  42. ↑ Jennifer Harper, Turnaround! Washington Times poised to post first profit in 32-year history The Washington Times, November 13, 2014. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 Jennifer Harper, Washington Times reaches profitability after 33 years, $1 billion in losses Washington Times, October 14, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  44. ↑ Sun Myung Moon, Our Mission During the Time of World Transition Belvedere, Tarrytown, NY, December 23, 1991. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  45. ↑ Mimi Hall, Bush, aides boost access of conservative media USA Today, March 22, 2001. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  46. ↑ Frontline: The Resurrection Of Reverend Moon January 21, 1992. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  47. ↑ James Ridgeway, Bush Sr. To Celebrate Rev. Sun Myung Moon—Again Mother Jones, April 29, 2007. Retrieved December 28, 2021.

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