The Washington Times The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet published in Washington , D . C . , the capital of the United States . It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon , and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications , an international media conglomerate associated with the church . History . 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 . 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 . Moon asked Richard L . Rubenstein , a rabbi and college professor who had written on the Holocaust , to serve on the board of directors . At the time of founding of the " 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 . " In 2002 , at an event held to celebrate the " Times " ' 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 . " 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 100 years . A large percentage of the staff came from the " Washington Star " . When the " Times " began , it was unusual among American broadsheet s 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 " , " New York Times " and others to do the same . 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 . This design and its editorial content attracted " real influence " in Washington . When the " Times " began it had 125 reporters , 25 % of them Unification Church members . In 1982 the " Post " criticized the " Times " for its negative review of the movie " Inchon " , which was also sponsored by the Unification Church . 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 . 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 . 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 . The " Times " was read every day by President Ronald Reagan during his terms in office . 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 . The " Times " circulation has always been much less than the " Washington Post " . In 1992 the " New York Times " reported the " 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 " . In 1994 , the " Times " introduced a weekly national edition , especially targeted to conservative readers nationwide . In 1997 , the " Washington Report on Middle East Affairs " ( which is critical of United States and Israeli policies ) , praised the " Times " ( along with " The Christian Science Monitor " owned by the Church of Christ , Scientist ) , and the " Times " ’ sister publication " The Middle East Times " for their objective and informative coverage of Islam and the Middle East , while criticizing the " Times " generally pro - Israel editorial policy . The " Report " suggested that these newspapers , being owned by churches , were less influenced by pro - Israel pressure groups in the United States . In 1998 the Egyptian newspaper " Al - Ahram " wrote that the " Times " ' editorial policy was " rabidly anti - Arab , anti - Muslim and pro - Israel . " In 2002 , the " Times " published a story accusing the National Educational Association ( NEA ) , the largest teachers ' union in the United States , of promoting teaching students that the policies of the United States government were partly to blame for the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center . This was denied by the NEA and by other commentators . In 2002 , " Post " veteran Ben Bradlee said , " I see them get some local stories that I think the " Post " doesn ’ t have and should have had . " 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 . ” In his 2003 book , " Lies ( And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them ) : A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right " , comedian , author , and later senator Al Franken devoted a chapter to criticizing the " Times " after executive editor Wesley Pruden re - wrote 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 . In 2004 the " Washington Post " reported dissention between some of the " Times " staff and ownership over the paper ' s stance on international issues , including support for the United Nations . In 2006 , Max Blumenthal writing in " The Nation " reported that the Rev . Moon ' s youngest son Hyun - jin " Preston " Moon - - who by this time had become president and CEO of parent company News World Communications - - was in the process of ousting Coombs because of his racist editorializing . Blumenthal , quoting veteran " Times " news reporter George Archibald and others , reported that Coombs had made a number of racist and sexist comments , and was in the process of being sued by his colleagues for his remarks . , 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 . Two of the slogans are " The voice and choice of discerning readers " and " You ' re not getting it all without us " . In January 2008 , editor - in - chief Wesley Pruden retired and John F . Solomon began work as executive editor of the " Times " . Solomon is known for his work as an investigative journalist for the Associated Press and the " Washington Post " , and was most recently head of investigative reporting and mixed media development at the " Post " . Within a month the " Times " changed some of its style guide to conform more to mainstream media usage . The " 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 " will no longer appear in quotes in the newspaper . These changes in policy drew criticism from some conservatives . " Prospect " magazine attributed the " Times " ' apparent move to the center to differences of opinion over the United Nations and North Korea , and said : " The Republican right may be losing its most devoted media ally . " In 2009 , the " Manila Times " criticized the " Washington Times " for an editorial which it said interfered with the political process in the Philippines , while the " New York Times " criticized it for an editorial linking proposed health care reform in the United States to policies of Nazi Germany . On November 30 , 2009 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 . In December 2009 the " Times " announced it would lay off 40 % 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 . " A subscription website owned by the paper , theconservatives . com , continued , as did the " Times " three - hour radio program , “ America ’ s Morning News . ” Later that month the " Times " announced that it would cease publication of its Sunday edition , along with other changes partly in order to end its reliance on subsidies from the Unification Church ownership . On December 31 , 2009 it announced that it would no longer be a full - service newspaper , eliminating its metropolitan - news and sports sections . In July 2010 international leaders of the Unification Church issued a letter protesting the direction the " Times " was taking and urging closer ties between it and the church . 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 . On November 2 , 2010 , Rev . Moon and a group of former " Washington Times " editors purchased the paper from News World Communications for $ 1 . This ended a bitter feud within the Moon family that had been threatening to shut down the paper completely . 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 . In June 2011 Ed Kelley , formerly of " The Oklahoman " , was hired as editor overseeing both news and opinion content . In March 2013 it was announced that Herring Broadcasting will join with the Washington Times to create a new cable news network that is projected to begin broadcasting in the Summer of 2013 ; the new network will be called One America News . Funding . The " Washington Times " has lost money every year that it has been in business . By 2002 , the Unification Church had spent about $ 1 . 7 billion subsidizing the " Times " . In 2003 , " The New Yorker " reported that a billion dollars had been spent since the paper ' s inception , as 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 " " . In 2002 , " Columbia Journalism Review " suggested Moon had spent nearly $ 2 billion on the " Times " . In 2008 , Thomas F . Roeser of the " Chicago Daily Observer " mentioned competition from the " Times " as a factor moving the " Washington Post " to the right , and said that Moon had " announced he will spend as many future billions as is needed to keep the paper competitive . " Political leanings . The political views of " The Washington Times " are often described as conservative . 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 bias of " The Washington Post " . " Conservative commentator Paul Weyrich has called the " 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 . In 1999 the " Times " was criticized by the " Daily Howler " for misquoting vice - president Al Gore . In 2000 the Howler criticized the " Times " again , this time for making unsubstantiated allegations about Gore ' s campaign fundraising . In 2004 the Howler criticized a " Times " ' front page story which made fun of Democratic Party presidential candidate John Kerry ' s vacationing in France . Conservative - turned - progressive writer David Brock , who worked for the " Times " ' sister publication " Insight on the News " , said in his 2002 book " Blinded by the Right " that the news writers at the " Times " were encouraged and rewarded for giving news stories a conservative slant . In his 2004 book " The Republican Noise Machine " , Brock wrote " the " Washington Times " was governed by a calculatedly unfair political bias " and that its journalistic ethics were " close to nil . " In 2007 , the liberal " Mother Jones " news magazine said that the " Times " had become " essential reading for political news junkies " soon after its founding , and quoted James Gavin , special assistant to Bo Hi Pak : We ' re trying to combat communism and we ' re trying to uphold traditional Judeo - Christian values . The " Washington Times " is standing up for those values and fighting anything that would tear them down . Causa is doing the same thing , by explaining what the enemy is trying to do . In a 2008 essay published in " Harper ' s Magazine " , historian Thomas Frank linked the " Times " to the modern American conservative movement , saying : 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 . Though not listed , another conservative writer who trained there was " New York Times " op - ed columnist David Brooks , a " Washington Times " editorial writer in the 1980s . The " Times " has generally opposed gay and transgender rights . In 2010 , the " Times " published an editorial opposing the Employment Non - Discrimination Act because it granted legal protective status for transgender people . The editorial criticized transgender people and said that gender identity can be a choice , not an innate characteristic . Notable current and former writers . " News " " Opinion " " Sports " " Computers " " Metro " " Former "