Washington Times is in financial trouble, family squabble at the Moonies.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Source: Talkingpointsmemo.com

Week-Long Storm At Wash Times Leaves Unanswered Questions In Its Wake
Justin Elliott | November 13, 2009, 5:37PM

A week that began with the ousting of three executives at the Washington Times and ended with the announcement that top editor John Solomon had resigned leaves three questions whose answers will determine the fate of the Times:

How will a newspaper that has never been a profit-making proposition survive in the current brutal media business climate? Will a family feud in the Unification Church, whose founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon created the Times, be resolved in a way auspicious for the future of the paper? And, finally, what will its ideological and journalistic identity be going forward?

Driving home the financial peril the paper finds itself in, today came the news that contributions to employee 401(k) accounts has been suspended. Times employees breathed a sigh of relief when their paychecks came through today.

The newspaper's parent company is controlled by Preston Moon, one of Rev. Moon's 13 children who sources have told TPM is currently locked in a dispute with the rest of his family, particularly a younger brother who Rev. Moon designated as his primary heir.

Originally founded in the early 1980s to toe Rev. Moon's staunchly anti-communist line in Washington, the Times has gone through several phases of ideological identity. But its influence has long exceeded its tiny print circulation numbers. Just today, the Times published a reminder it can be a force for right-leaning investigative journalism in the form of a 2,800-word front-pager purporting to expose wrongdoing by the pro-engagement National Iranian American Council.

Executive editor John Solomon, the public face of the paper for nearly two years and a largely respected figure in the newsroom, has been conspicuously absent this week, reportedly holing up in his cabin in Virginia earlier this week, not appearing at the Times offices, and not commenting to the media. His resignation was announced by the paper's outside PR firm in a terse email Thursday evening. "Purple Nation" opinion columnist Lanny Davis quickly followed Solomon out the door.

Read more: http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/11/storm-at-washington-times-leaves-unanswered-questions.php

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[bemildred]

1. Oh God No! This can't be good!!!!

:popcorn::popcorn:

[Hawkeye-X]

2. Pass the popcorn and the parmensan, please.

:popcorn:

[Garam_Masala]

3. So is NY Times, Chicago Sun Times, and a host of other newspapers

throughout the country. I used to buy newspapers regularly but
now I get my news from the internet. It is more current, there
are numerous sources and it is free!

[FailingParachute]

4. I hate to break this to you,

but exactly WHERE do you think the "internet" gets its news from?

The answer is print reporting and print journalists.

You lose one, you lose the other.

[Garam_Masala]

7. I thought it was AP and Reuters etc where most news originates

Mu understanding is those are news services and not newspapers per say.
And TV is still big in news department since more people
watch TV than read newspapers?

[LTR]

11. The AP gets a lot of its material from members

And that includes many newspapers.

[LTR]

12. I like the Sun-Times

They were a hardcore wingnut paper during the Murdoch/Black years, but recently the paper has reinvented itself as a working-class progressive voice, to counter the more right-wing Chicago Tribune.

Plus, they have Roger Ebert and other good writers, and that's a really good thing.

[GoCubsGo]

14. Good to hear the Sun-Times is going back to its roots!

Before the Murdoch/Black years, they were a good, progressive newspaper. I moved away just before the sale, and was heartbroken to learn they had become a wingnut paper. You just made my day here!

[Warpy]

5. When that old bastard Moon finally kicks the bucket

proving once and for all that he's not only not god but that he's been scamming everybody for years, there is going to be a battle royal in that organization as the family divvies up the spoils.

This is just an early skirmish, proof that he's already losing his grip.

[FreakinDJ]

6. As if that Neo-Con Rag would be missed

what they have a couple of dozen dedicated ditto-head subscribers

[SoCalDem]

17. They probably send FREE papers to every republican in DC

:)

[Tabasco_Dave]

8. .

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

[provis99]

9. the Moonie Times is going under?

[Joe Bacon]

10. Does that mean there will only be one right wing paper left in DC?

Sounds fine to me!

[Octafish]

13. Couldn't happen to a nicer rag.

Know your BFEE: 1984 Death of Outstanding Congressional Staffer Buried Poppy-Moon Relationship

Know your BFEE: Forget Rev. Wright! It’s Bush and His Cronies Who Owe an Apology for Rev. Moon!

Know your BFEE: Rev. Sun Myung Moon OWNS Poppy Bush



Preston? Moon? Heh. Heh.

[SoCalDem]

15. I don;t think that "newspaper" ever made a profit.. It's always been about propping up

lame republican philosophies, administrations, politicians, and to provide a venue for all those think-tank nut-cases who churn out ridiculous position-paper after position-paper.

[Orrex]

16. George Soros should buy it