Another d’oh to add to the pile at the Washington Times: A newsroom source tells TPM that the Bloomberg terminal screen in the newsroom says something along the lines of “service canceled for non-payment.” Apparently, the source tells TPM, Bloomberg is just one of many vendors that hasn’t been paid in months.
Another Washington Times staffer also tells TPM that there are still questions about the money-losing paper’s short-term cash flow. The paper is owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church.
“We still have been told nothing more, at least publicly,” the staffer tells TPM. “I heard we will get paid tomorrow, but after that all bets are off.”
The staffer adds:
The “crisis” PR has been ridiculous. I can’t imagine a company handling its affairs like this.
TPM has made calls seeking comment today to the paper’s acting president and publisher, executive editor and spokesman. None have returned our calls.
And for those of you playing catch-up on this story: On Sunday, three newspaper executives were fired. Since then, executive editor John Solomon has been MIA, security on management’s floor was beefed up, and the family that runs the church that runs the paper has been a mess. Staffers are worried about their jobs and the very survival of the paper is in question. Oh, and staffers were told to stop talking to the press.
