The Washington Times
The Washington Times is an American conservative[3][4][5][6] daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout Washington, D.C. and the greater Washington metropolitan area, including suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. It also publishes a subscription-based weekly tabloid edition aimed at a national audience.[7] The Washington Times was one of the first American broadsheets to publish its front page in full color.[8]
For the newspaper with a similar name published from 1894 to 1939, see The Washington Times (1894–1939). For the newspaper with a similar name published from 1939 to 1954, see Washington Times-Herald.Type
Operations Holdings (via The Washington Times, LLC)
Larry Beasley
Christopher Dolan
David Dadisman[1]
Victor Morton
Cathy Gainor
Charles Hurt
David Eldridge
May 17, 1982
English
3600 New York Avenue NE
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Washington, D.C., U.S.
United States
52,059 daily (as of 2019)[2]
The first edition of The Washington Times was published on May 17, 1982. The newspaper was founded by Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon, and it was owned until 2010 by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate founded by Moon. It is currently owned by Operations Holdings, which is a part of the Unification Church movement.[9][10]
The Washington Times has been known for its conservative political stance,[3][4][5][6] supporting the policies of Republican presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.[11][12] Reagan was a daily reader of The Washington Times.[13]
The newspaper has published columns contradicting scientific consensus on multiple environmental and health issues.[14][15][16][17][18][19] It has drawn controversy by publishing conspiracy theories about U.S. president Barack Obama[20][21] and supporting neo-conservative historical revisionism.[22]
In 2008, the consumer research firm MRI-Simmons ranked The Washington Times the fifth-most trusted newspaper in the nation among consumers, and the tenth-most trusted media outlet among all media organizations, including newspapers, online media, radio, and television.[23]
Reactions[edit]
The Washington Times holds a conservative political stance.[3][4][5][6]
In 1995, the Columbia Journalism Review wrote that The Washington Times "is like no major city daily in America in the way that it wears its political heart on its sleeve. No major paper in America would dare be so partisan."[42]
In 2002, The Washington Post reported that the newspaper "was established by Moon to combat communism and be a conservative alternative to what Moon 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."[40]
In October 2002, Ben Bradlee, the veteran editor of The Washington Post, complimented The Washington Times, saying, "I see them get some local stories that I think the Post doesn't have and should have had."[77]
In 2007, Mother Jones reported that The Washington Times had become "essential reading for political news junkies" soon after its founding, and described it as a "conservative newspaper with close ties to every Republican administration since Reagan."[78]
In August 2008, in a Harper's essay, American historian[79] Thomas Frank linked The Washington Times to the modern American conservative movement, saying: "There is even a daily newspaper—The Washington Times—published strictly for the movement's benefit, a propaganda sheet whose distortions are so obvious and so alien that it puts one in mind of those official party organs one encounters when traveling in authoritarian countries."[80]
In January 2011, conservative commentator Paul Weyrich said, "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."[81]
In December 2012, The New York Times wrote that The Washington Times had become "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."[55] The Columbia Journalism Review noted that reporters for The Washington Times had used it as a springboard to other mainstream news outlets.[41]
