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.
As furor grew in the newsroom, some felt Solomon was abandoning his staff amid a company-wide shakeup and were disappointed he did not call or e-mail, according to TPM’s conversations with Times sources.
Managing editor for digital Jeffrey Birnbaum reportedly told the Times staff that Solomon tendered his resignation Nov. 6 — two days before the announcement of the firing of the three executives — but it’s unclear why the announcement didn’t come for nearly a week amid studied silence.
Editorial employees from the rank-and-file up through top editors have been left in the dark about what’s going on, though they were told to stop talking to the press. One source told TPM that the managing editor for print teared up when asked about Solomon’s absence this week. The Times’ new publisher said in the announcement of the shakeup Sunday that an “assessment team” would be reviewing the paper’s sustainability model.
But the way out of the current crisis — short of some outside solution — will likely also hinge on resolution of the conflict inside the Moon family. A newsroom source told TPM that Preston Moon fired the top executives because they sided against him in the ongoing feud — and a source in contact with high church officials told us that Preston acted alone, against Rev. Moon’s wishes.
Meanwhile, notes of sermons given by Rev. Moon in recent weeks suggest that the paper has been on the mind of the “True Father.” He said at one September event, “The Washington Times has to take responsibility for people going to hell in America.”
We plan to keep on this story, so stay tuned. TPM’s complete coverage is here.
