'Washington Times' Cuts Staff 40%

It's not a particularly happy New Year in the nation's capital, where The Washington Times is laying off a large proportion of its newsroom staff.

Although no numbers were disclosed during the actual layoffs, in early December the publishers warned that they intended to cut about 40% of the total newsroom staff of 170, or about 65 positions.

The cuts -- part of a strategic repositioning of the newspaper -- fell especially hard on the sports and metro sections, where virtually every employee was laid off. Both stand-alone sections are getting the chop as of Monday.

The layoffs also claimed Managing Editor David Jones, while Digital Managing Editor Jeffrey Birnbaum has resigned, although he will continue to write columns. Executive Editor John Solomon resigned last week, meaning the newspaper's editorial team is effectively decapitated, at least for the time being.

According to management's early December announcement, the repositioning will move the newspaper toward more multimedia distribution and de-emphasize its print content, pushing forward a reorientation that began with the demise of its Saturday edition in 2008. The more recent round of changes has brought the end of the Sunday edition, as well as some stand-alone sections. Now, the paper focuses more narrowly on national politics, international relations, the economy and culture.

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The newspaper will begin distributing a local print edition for free in certain areas, targeting audiences in certain "branches of the federal government and other key institutions." It will also offer delivery at a premium price, presumably to cover increasing circulation costs.

Current subscribers will also be offered subscriptions to The Washington Times digital edition and The Washington Times Weekly. On the digital front, the newspaper will expand its Web site, theconservatives.com, as well as its subscription-based e-briefings and other new digital resources.

In the broadcast arena, it also plans to expand syndication of its three-hour morning program "America's Morning News," through the Talk Radio Network. Finally, it will seek to create cost efficiencies and expand content coverage through closer cooperation with United Press International, including sharing photography and coordinating online sales.

The Washington Times, launched in 1982 by Sun Myung Moon, is one of the more recent additions to the American newspaper industry. It exists, in part, to present a conservative view of domestic politics and international events. While it has often relied on subsidies from Moon, the paper has come under increasing financial pressure as advertisers move dollars from print to digital media.

Last year, another conservative paper, the New York Sun, folded after six years of publication. The publisher cited financial difficulties resulting from the credit crunch, which began in September 2008.

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