The Washington Times: Difference between revisions

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 (company)|conglomerate]] founded by Moon. It is currently owned by Operations Holdings, which is a part of the Unification Church movement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.operationsholdings.com/about-us/|title=Operations Holdings Inc. – About Us|publisher=Operations Holdings|access-date=March 19, 2018|archive-date=July 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718205913/http://www.operationsholdings.com/about-us/|url-status=live}}</ref>

 

 

 

==History==

===1980s===

[[File:The Washington Times headquarters on New York Ave. NE in Washington, D.C.jpg|thumb|The headquarters of ''The Washington Times'' on [[New York Avenue (Washington, D.C.)|New York Avenue]] NE in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]

 

 

''The Washington Times'' was founded one year after ''[[The Washington Star]]'', a [[Washington, D.C.]] daily newspaper, went out of business, leaving the city with ''[[The Washington Post]]'' as its only daily newspaper. A large percentage of the newspaper's news staff came from the ''Star''.

Unusual among daily newspapers when ''The Washington Times'' was founded, the newspaper published full color front pages in all its sections and color elements throughout. It also used ink that it advertised as being less likely to come off on the reader's hands than the type used by ''The Washington Post''.<ref name="'70s 146">{{cite book|last=Frum|first=David|url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/146|title=How We Got Here: The 70's|publisher=Basic Books|year=2000|isbn=978-0-465-04195-4|location=New York City|page=146|chapter=God Moves to Dallas|lccn=00271770|author-link=David Frum|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/howwegothere70sd00frum/page/146|url-access=registration}}</ref> At its start, it had 125 reporters, 25 percent of whom were members of the [[Unification Church of the United States]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bumiller|first=Elisabeth|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/unification/wtimes.htm|title=The Nation's Capital Gets A New Daily Newspaper|date=May 17, 1982|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906184720/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/unification/wtimes.htm|archive-date=September 6, 2008|page=C01|author-link=Elisabeth Bumiller}}</ref>

 

 

After a brief editorship under [[Smith Hempstone]], [[Arnaud de Borchgrave]], a former UPI and ''[[Newsweek]]'' reporter, became executive editor, serving from 1985 to 1991.<ref name="Gamarekian">{{cite news|last=Gamarekian|first=Barbara|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/18/us/washington-times-editor-resigns-but-will-stay-on-to-write-articles.html|title=''Washington Times'' Editor Resigns, But Will Stay On to Write Articles|date=May 18, 1991|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525230439/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/18/us/washington-times-editor-resigns-but-will-stay-on-to-write-articles.html|archive-date=May 25, 2015|url-access=limited}}</ref> Borchgrave was credited with encouraging energetic reporting by staff but was known to make unorthodox journalistic decisions. During his tenure, ''The Washington Times'' mounted a fundraising drive for [[Contras|Contra]] rebels in [[Nicaragua]] and offered rewards for information leading to the arrest of [[List of Axis personnel indicted for war crimes|Nazi war criminals]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Roberts|first=Sam|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/business/media/arnaud-de-borchgrave-a-journalist-whose-life-was-a-tale-itself-dies-at-88.html|title=Arnaud de Borchgrave, Journalist Whose Life Was a Tale Itself, Dies at 88|date=February 16, 2015|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 11, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030080029/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/business/media/arnaud-de-borchgrave-a-journalist-whose-life-was-a-tale-itself-dies-at-88.html|archive-date=October 30, 2019|author-link=Sam Roberts (newspaper journalist)|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Langer|first=Emily|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/arnaud-de-borchgrave-swashbuckling-newsweek-foreign-correspondent-dies/2015/02/15/52609204-b552-11e4-a200-c008a01a6692_story.html|title=Arnaud de Borchgrave, swashbuckling Newsweek foreign correspondent, dies|date=February 15, 2015|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200428225436/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/arnaud-de-borchgrave-swashbuckling-newsweek-foreign-correspondent-dies/2015/02/15/52609204-b552-11e4-a200-c008a01a6692_story.html|archive-date=April 28, 2020|url-access=limited|access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref>

===2010s===

[[File:2008 07 The Washington Times newsroom 02.jpg|thumb|''The Washington Times'' newsroom]]

 

In November 2010, Moon and a group of former editors purchased ''The Washington Times'' from News World Communications for $1. This ended a conflict within the Moon family that had been threatening to shut down the paper completely.<ref>{{cite news|last=Shapira|first=Ian|title=Moon group buys back ''Washington Times''|date=November 3, 2010|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|page=C1}}</ref> In June 2011, Ed Kelley, formerly of ''[[The Oklahoman]]'', was hired as editor overseeing both news and opinion content.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181220033850/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/washington-times-names-ed-kelley-as-editor-will-oversee-news-coverage-and-opinion-content/2011/06/10/AGP2gqOH_story.html ''Washington Times'' names Ed Kelley as editor; will oversee news coverage and opinion content], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', June 10, 2011</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/06/10/washington-times-names-ed-kelley-as-editor/|title=Washington Times Names Ed Kelley As Editor|date=June 10, 2011|access-date=April 28, 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909234311/https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/06/10/washington-times-names-ed-kelley-as-editor/|archive-date=September 9, 2015|publisher=[[CBS Baltimore]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

=== Science coverage ===

==== Climate change denial ====

 

 

In 1993, ''The Washington Times'' published articles purporting to debunk climate change.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stevens|first=William K.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/14/science/scientists-confront-renewed-backlash-on-global-warming.html|title=Scientists Confront Renewed Backlash on Global Warming|date=September 14, 1993|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 28, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410203331/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/14/science/scientists-confront-renewed-backlash-on-global-warming.html|archive-date=April 10, 2019|url-access=limited}}</ref> It headlined its story about the [[1997 Kyoto Protocol]] on climate change: "Under the deal, the use of coal, oil and other fossil fuel in the United States would be cut by more than one-third by 2002, resulting in lower standards of living for consumers and a long-term reduction in economic growth."<ref name=":822">{{Cite book|last=Ritchie|first=Donald A.|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/reportingfromwas00ritc#page/262/mode/2up|title=Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corps|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=9780195178616|pages=262–263|chapter=Company Town Papers|lccn=2004018892|chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref>

 

==== Ozone depletion denial====

 

==== Second-hand smoke denial====

In 1995, Francis resigned or was forced out after [[Dinesh D'Souza]] reported on racist comments that Francis made at a conference hosted by ''[[American Renaissance (magazine)|American Renaissance]]'' the previous year.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Murphy|first=Paul V.|url=https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807849606/the-rebuke-of-history|title=The Rebuke of History: The Southern Agrarians and American Conservative Thought|date=September 2001|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|isbn=9780807849606|page=247|lccn=2001027128|access-date=December 25, 2018|archive-date=December 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226084423/https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807849606/the-rebuke-of-history/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" /><ref name="Kurtz.1995.RW">{{Cite news |last=Kurtz |first=Howard |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/10/19/washington-times-clips-its-right-wing/dd009c93-883b-446c-bbbf-94c0a0570a1a/ |title=Washington Times Clips its Right Wing|date=October 19, 1995 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200429073257/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1995/10/19/washington-times-clips-its-right-wing/dd009c93-883b-446c-bbbf-94c0a0570a1a/ |archive-date=April 29, 2020 |author-link=Howard Kurtz |url-access=limited |access-date=December 24, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Frantz|first1=Douglas|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/23/us/politics-on-the-move-buchanan-drawing-extremist-support-and-problems-too.html|title=Politics: On the Move; Buchanan Drawing Extremist Support, and Problems, Too|date=February 23, 1996|work=[[The New York Times]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225130121/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/23/us/politics-on-the-move-buchanan-drawing-extremist-support-and-problems-too.html|archive-date=December 25, 2018|last2=Janofsky|first2=Michael|author-link=Douglas Frantz|url-access=limited}}</ref> At the conference, Francis called on whites to: "reassert our identity and our solidarity, and we must do so in explicitly racial terms through the articulation of a racial consciousness as whites... The civilization that we as whites created in Europe and America could not have developed apart from the genetic endowments of the creating people."<ref name="Kurtz.1995.RW" />

 

 

In June 1995, editor-in-chief [[Wesley Pruden]] "had cut back on Francis' column" after ''The Washington Times'' ran his essay criticizing the [[Southern Baptist Convention]] for its approval of a resolution which apologized for [[slavery]].<ref>Timothy Stanley, ''The Crusader: The Life and Tumultuous Times of Pat Buchanan'' ([[New York City]]: [[St. Martin's Press]], 2012), p. 358; {{ISBN|978-0-312-58174-9}}</ref> In the piece, Francis asserted that "The contrition of the Southern Baptists for slavery and racism is a bit more than a politically fashionable gesture intended to massage race relations"<ref>Samuel T. Francis, "All those things to apologize for," ''The Washington Times'', June 27, 1995.</ref> and that "Neither slavery' nor racism' as an institution is a sin."<ref name="Kurtz.1995.RW" />

 

=== Coverage of Barack Obama ===

 

''Insight's'' story was reported on first by conservative [[talk radio]] and ''[[Fox News Channel]]'', and then by ''The New York Times'' and other major newspapers.<ref name="International Herald Tribune"/> [[CNN]] reporter [[John Vause]] visited [[State Elementary School Menteng 01]], a secular [[Public school (government funded)|public school]] which Obama had attended for one year after attending a [[Roman Catholic]] school for three, and found that each student received two hours of religious instruction per week in his or her own faith. He was told by Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the school, "This is a public school. We don't focus on religion. In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don't give preferential treatment."<ref name="2007debunks-madrassa">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/index.html|title=CNN debunks false report about Obama|work=[[CNN]]|date=January 22, 2007|access-date=January 26, 2007}}</ref> Students at Besuki wore Western clothing, and the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' described the school as "so progressive that teachers wore miniskirts and all students were encouraged to celebrate [[Christmas]]".<ref name="CBS News August 19">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/09/politics/washingtonpost/main6379181.shtml |title=Indonesia Catholic School Promotes Ties to Obama |access-date=August 19, 2010 |date=August 19, 2010 |first=Andrew |last=Higgins |work=[[CBS News]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101116024343/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/04/09/politics/washingtonpost/main6379181.shtml |archive-date=November 16, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="debunked">{{cite news|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-070325obama-islam-story-archive,0,3358809.story|title=Obama madrassa myth debunked|last=Barker|first=Kim|date=March 25, 2007|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=September 4, 2010}}</ref><ref name="wahabi">{{cite news |publisher=[[PolitiFact.com]] |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2007/dec/20/chain-email/obama-attended-an-indonesian-public-school/ |title=Obama attended an Indonesian public school |date=December 20, 2007 |access-date=March 8, 2010}}</ref> Interviews by [[Nedra Pickler]] of the [[Associated Press]] found that students of all faiths have been welcome there since before Obama's attendance. Akmad Solichin, the vice principal of the school, told Pickler: "The allegations are completely baseless. Yes, most of our students are Muslim, but there are Christians as well. Everyone's welcome here ... it's a public school."<ref>{{cite news|title=Obama challenges allegation about Islamic school |first=Nedra |last=Pickler |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20070124-1317-obama-2008.html |work=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |date=January 24, 2007 |access-date=February 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517100058/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20070124-1317-obama-2008.html |archive-date=May 17, 2008 }}</ref>

Gaffney, known for his "long history of pushing extreme anti-Muslim views", wrote weekly columns for ''The Washington Times'' from the late 1990s to 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Clifton|first=Eli|date=December 8, 2015|title=Meet Donald Trump's Islamophobia Expert|work=[[Foreign Policy]]|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/donald-trump-frank-gaffney-islamophobia-poll/|url-status=live|access-date=December 25, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160315145247/http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/donald-trump-frank-gaffney-islamophobia-poll/|archive-date=March 15, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Beinart|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Beinart|date=March 19, 2017|title=Frank Gaffney's Campaign to Denationalize American Muslims|work=[[The Atlantic]]|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/frank-gaffney-donald-trump-and-the-denationalization-of-american-muslims/519954/|url-status=live|url-access=limited|access-date=December 25, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170319230057/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/frank-gaffney-donald-trump-and-the-denationalization-of-american-muslims/519954/|archive-date=March 19, 2017}}</ref> According to [[John Esposito]], a Professor of Religion and International Affairs and of Islamic Studies at [[Georgetown University]], Gaffney's "editorial track record in the ''Washington Times'' is long on accusation and short on supportive evidence."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Esposito|first=John L.|title=The Future of Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780199975778|page=19|chapter=The Many Faces of Islam and Muslims|lccn=2009018732|author-link=John Esposito|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/futureofislam0000espo#page/18/mode/2up|chapter-url-access=registration}}</ref> In columns for the ''Times'', Gaffney helped to popularize conspiracy theories that Islamic terrorists were infiltrating the Bush administration, the conservative movement and the Obama administration.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bail|first=Christopher A.|title=Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2015|isbn=9780691159423|pages=49–51, 99|lccn=2014947502}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Terkel|first=Amanda|date=August 1, 2012|title=Frank Gaffney Plotting To Take Down Grover Norquist With Muslim Brotherhood Accusations|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/frank-gaffney-grover-norquist-muslim-brotherhood_n_1699604|url-status=live|access-date=December 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821135129/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/01/frank-gaffney-grover-norquist-muslim-brotherhood_n_1699604.html|archive-date=August 21, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Swan|first=Betsy|author-link=Betsy Woodruff Swan|date=December 15, 2015|title=Cruz's Cozy Ties To DC's Most Prominent, Paranoid Islamophobe|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/15/cruz-s-cozy-ties-to-dc-s-most-prominent-paranoid-islamophobe|url-status=live|access-date=December 25, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200428222736/https://www.thedailybeast.com/cruzs-cozy-ties-to-dcs-most-prominent-paranoid-islamophobe|archive-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref> In 2015, the ''Times'' published a column describing refugees fleeing the [[Syrian Civil War]] as an "Islamic [[Trojan Horse]]" conducting a "'jihad' by another name".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stuster|first=J. Dana|date=December 14, 2015|title=The paranoid style in Islamophobic politics|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/262953-the-paranoid-style-in-islamophobic-politics|url-status=live|access-date=December 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225101255/https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/262953-the-paranoid-style-in-islamophobic-politics|archive-date=February 25, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Stableford|first=Dylan|date=December 15, 2016|title=Monica Crowley, latest addition to Trump's national security team, believes in fighting Islam 'the way we fought the Nazis'|work=[[Yahoo! News]]|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/monica-crowley-latest-addition-to-trumps-national-security-team-believes-in-fighting-islam-the-way-we-fought-the-nazis-212132606.html|url-status=live|access-date=December 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102154701/https://www.yahoo.com/news/monica-crowley-latest-addition-to-trumps-national-security-team-believes-in-fighting-islam-the-way-we-fought-the-nazis-212132606.html|archive-date=January 2, 2017}}</ref>

 

 

==Staff==