'''The Washington Times'''
[2] is a daily
broadsheet newspaper published in
Washington, D.C.,
United States. As of
March 31,
2007, the ''Times'' had an average daily circulation of 102,351
[1]; about one-seventh that of its chief competitor, ''
The Washington Post''.
History
The ''Times'' was founded in 1982 by
Sun Myung Moon, leader of the
Unification Church and the
Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, to be a
conservative alternative to the larger ''
Washington Post''. The Times is widely perceived as maintaining a strongly right-leaning editorial stance. By 2002, the Unification Church had spent about $1.7 billion in subsidies for the ''Times''. The paper has lost money every year of publication since 1982.
[4]
The ''Times'' was founded the year after the ''
Washington Star'', the previous "second paper" of D.C., went out of business. Each day on page 2 the ''Washington Times'' prints a list of all its front page headlines side by side with those of the ''Post'', to let readers compare what stories each paper is emphasizing and how. Some see the ''Times''
' coverage of local politics in particular as stronger than the ''Post's; even ''Post'' veteran
Ben Bradlee has said "I see them get some local stories that I think the ''Post'' doesn’t have and should have had."
[5]
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. ''
USA Today'' used this approach to an even greater degree. It took several years for the ''Washington Post'', ''New York Times'' and others to follow suit. The ''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.
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.”
[6]
Ads fill an average of 35% of the Times' pages, compared to an industry average of 50-60%.
Political leanings
''The Times'' is politically
conservative. It was President
Ronald Reagan's preferred newspaper. Some have cited it along with the
Fox News Channel and
talk radio as epitomizing the
conservative media.
It also prints op-ed and opinion articles that include
liberal and Democratic party voices; liberal columnist
Clarence Page is a regular contributor.
[10] Also featured are
libertarian opinion pieces, almost always from scholars at the DC-located
Cato Institute.
[11][12]
Conservative commentator
Paul Weyrich has called the ''Washington Times'' an antidote to its liberal competitor: "''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."
[13]
Relationship to the Unification Church
''The Times'' is the flagship publication of
News World Communications, Inc. (NWC). NWC was founded by
Sun Myung Moon, and some of its officials are members of the
Unification Church which he leads, a fact that has drawn some criticism and controversy. NWC published ''
Insight Magazine'' and ''
The World & I.'' ''Insight'' ceased hardcopy publication in 2004, moving to the web; and ''The World & I'' became ''The World & I Online'', an educational magazine with four corresponding websites. NWC continues to publish the ''The Washington Times National Weekly Edition'' (a
tabloid compilation, designed for subscribers outside the
metropolitan area, of the previous week's published ''Washington Times'' stories). NWC also owns
United Press International.
NWC is described by the ''Columbia Journalism Review'' as "the media arm of Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church".
[14] The Unification Church calls Moon the "founder" of the ''Times''. In 1997, on the 15th anniversary of the founding of the paper, Rev. Moon gave an address to staff members that began:
Fifteen years ago, when the world was adrift on the stormy waves of the Cold War, I established ''The Washington Times'' to fulfill God's desperate desire to save this world. Since that time, I have devoted myself to raising up ''The Washington Times'', hoping that this blessed land of America would fulfill its world-wide mission to build a Heavenly nation. Meanwhile, I waged a lonely struggle, facing enormous obstacles and scorn as I dedicated my whole heart and energy to enable ''The Washington Times'' to grow as a righteous and responsible journalistic institution.[15]
In 2003, ''
The New Yorker'' reported that a billion dollars had been spent since the paper's inception, as Rev 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"
[16]). In 2002, ''Columbia Journalism Review'' suggested Moon had spent nearly $2 billion on the Times
and in 2006 ''Consortium News'' said that the figure was more than $3 billion.
[17]
Criticism
Editorial independence
Several critics have claimed that the ''Times'' is unfairly biased towards the Unification Church, noting that the paper's op-ed pages are often sympathetic to Unification movement concerns. Media watchdogs
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting asserts that the Church has significant influence on the paper and gives the Church significant credit (or blame) for the ''Times' content and actions.
[18]
In 2002, during the 20th anniversary party for the ''Times'', Rev. Moon declared: "''The Washington Times'' will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world."
The paper's first editor-in-chief,
James Whelan, said that he resigned rather than accepting what he saw as church interference with his operation of the paper. "I have blood on my hands," he declared. The paper's current editor says Whelan was fired because he was difficult to work with and other staffers were threatening to quit because of this.
''Washington Times'' editors deny any Church influence on their news coverage and editorial policy, or that they have any interest in
proselytizing directly for the Unification Church. According to
Wesley Pruden, the current editor-in-chief, the paper's
editorial independence is guaranteed by a contract between him and the owners, and no editor-in-chief has been a member of the Unification Church. He estimated that no more than 10 of the editorial staff of 230 are members of the Unification Church.
Alleged news bias
According to the
Columbia Journalism Review, "Because of its history of a seemingly ideological approach to the news, the paper has always faced questions about its credibility."
[19] Salon.com[20][21] and
The Daily Howler[22][23][24][25] have published analyses of what they believe are serious factual errors and examples of bias in the paper's news coverage. Conservative-turned-liberal writer
David Brock, who worked for the ''Times' sister publication ''Insight'', said in his book ''
Blinded by the Right'' that the news writers at the ''Times'' were encouraged and rewarded for giving news stories a conservative slant. In ''Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy'' Brock wrote "the [''Washington Times''] was governed by a calculatedly unfair
political bias and that its journalistic ethics were close to nil."
[26]
Alleged racial insensitivity
The paper has attracted occasional controversy over its coverage of racially sensitive matters. Editor
Robert Stacy McCain has drawn fire from activist
Michelangelo Signorile and the
Southern Poverty Law Center for his criticism of
Abraham Lincoln and apparent sympathies toward the
Confederacy in the
Civil War. ''Times'' columnist
Samuel Francis was fired by editor-in-chief
Wesley Pruden after speaking at a conference hosted by
American Renaissance, a self-described "pro-white" group, essentially ending his mainstream journalistic career.
Recent changes
In 2006
Max Blumenthal reported in ''
The Nation'' that Sun Myung Moon's son
Hyun Jin Moon (sometimes called Preston Moon) and editor at large
Arnaud de Borchgrave are trying to remove Pruden and take the Times in a more liberal direction.
[27] In February 2007, former Times reporter George Archibald wrote that long time Unification Church leader Tom McDevitt would soon be taking office as President of the Washington Times Corporation and expressed hope that he would bring about needed changes in the ''Times'' organization.
[28]
Notable current and former writers
''News''
★
Stephen Dinan (Immigration and political reporter)
★
Bill Gertz (Defense and foreign policy reporter)
★
Ralph Z. Hallow
★
Donald Lambro
★
John McCaslin
★
Jerry Seper (Investigative reporter)
''Opinion''
★
Lawrence Kudlow
''Sports''
★
Dan Daly (columnist)
★
Dick Heller (columnist)
★
Tom Knott (columnist)
★
Thom Loverro (columnist)
''Computers''
★
Mark Kellner
''Metro''
★
Adrienne T. Washington (columnist)
★
Tom Knott (columnist)
★
Fred Reed (police beat, later took on a broader purview)
''Former''
★
Dave Fay (deceased)
★
Samuel Francis (fired)
★
Jeremiah O'Leary (deceased)
★
Bill Sammon (left the paper)
★
Rowan Scarborough (left the paper)
★
James G. Lakely
''Comics''
★ Wes Johnson (Martini 'n Clyde - 1990-1992)
Executives, editors and managers, present and past
Editors-in-chief
★
James Whelan (1982-1984)
★
Smith Hempstone (1984-86)
★
Arnaud de Borchgrave (1986-1992); currently editor-at-large
★
Wesley Pruden (1992-present)
Managing editors
★
Josette Sheeran Shiner (1992-1997)
★ William Giles (1997-2002)
★ Fran Coombs (2002-present)
Others
★
Tony Blankley - Editor of the Editorial Page
★
Tony Snow - former Editor of the Editorial Page (1987-1990)
★
Robert Stacy McCain - Assistant National Editor
★
Daniel Wattenberg - Arts and Entertainment Editor
Notes and references
1. http://www.accessabc.com/products/top200.htm
2. The paper should not be confused with a previously existing paper of the same name established in 1893, which later became the ''Washington Times-Herald'', and, still later, in 1954, was purchased by the ''Washington Post''. Nor should it be considered the successor to the ''Washington Star'', an afternoon paper which closed in August 1981. The ''Washington Post'' purchased the equipment and plant of the ''Star''. The ''Times'' purchased part of the computer system used by the ''Star'', which it replaced soon afterward.
3. http://www.accessabc.com/products/top200.htm
4. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A60061-2002May22
5. http://www.cjr.org/issues/2002/5/wash-stability.asp
6. http://www.cjr.org/issues/2002/5/wash-chinni.asp
7. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/100030_joel16.shtml
8. http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/gore_fox_times.htm
9. http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/012805.html
10. http://washtimes.com/commentary/
11. http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060930-095009-9419r
12. http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060916-112430-7148r
13. http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/moontranscript.shtml
14. http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/newsworld.asp
15. http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon97/sm970617.htm
16. http://www.unification.net/1991/911223.html
17. http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/122706.html
18. http://www.fair.org/media-outlets/washington-times.html
19. http://archives.cjr.org/year/95/2/times.asp
20. http://www.salon.com/politics/col/spinsanity/2002/09/05/nea/index_np.html
21. http://www.salon.com/politics/col/spinsanity/2002/09/18/nea/print.html
22. http://www.dailyhowler.com/h120899_2.shtml
23. http://www.dailyhowler.com/h092500_1.shtml
24. http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh082702.shtml
25. http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh022504.shtml
26. http://www.thinkingpeace.com/Lib/lib099.html
27. http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061009&s=washington_times
28. http://georgearchibald.typepad.com/george_archibald/2007/02/unhinged.html
External links
★
''The Washington Times'' official website
★
''The Washington Times National Weekly Edition'' official website
★
''InternationalReports.net'' - a periodical informational and advertising section of ''The Washington Times'' focused on one country or region at a time.
★
''Washington's Other Paper: Is the time right for the Times?'', Allan Freedman, Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 1995
★
''Fear and Loathing on the Potomac: The Washington Times at Twenty'', Wesley Pruden, Heritage Lecture No 757, August 15, 2002.
★
Defending Dixie: The Washington Times has always been conservative and error-prone -- now it's helping to popularize extremist ideas'', Heidi Beirich and Bob Moser, Intelligence Report, Southern Poverty Law Center, undated.
★ Max Blumenthal,
"Hell of a ''Times''", ''The Nation'', October 9, 2006 (publication date)
★ Wes Pruden and Fran Coombs,
Response to "Hell of a Times."
★ Robert Parry,
The GOP's $3 Billion Propaganda Organ Special report on Moon's funding of the Washington Times
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