Washington Times to Slash Staff, Move to Free Distribution

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 4, 2009 - 9:36am.

Washington - Amid turmoil in its ownership and facing a changing media landscape, The Washington Times has announced drastic plans to cut more than 40% of its 370-person staff and drop its current subscription-based model.

Acting Publisher Jonathan Slevin said that the right-leaning paper will switch to a controlled circulation model -- much like The Examiner -- in which copies will be distributed for free in targeted locations.

Current subscribers will have the option to pay a premium price to continue their home delivery.

"We are reshaping operations to keep pace with the news business," said Slevin.

The company, which is owned by the Unification Church of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, said that it plans to make specific cuts following a 60-day evaluation period.

"At this point, you should consider this reduction-in-force to be permanent," Sonya Jenkins, vice president of human resources for The Times, told employees in a memo.

"Depending on the nature of the planned streamlining of our company, some employees will be retained or recalled to work."

With the staff cuts, readers also can expect certain coverage to be trimmed, as the paper focuses on what it calls its "strengths" of "in-depth reporting, politics, enterprise stories, geostrategic and national news."

The news comes less than a month after The Times fired Thomas McDevitt, its president and publisher, as well as CFO Keith Cooperrider and Chairman Dong Moon Joo. Days later, John Solomon resigned as its executive editor.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tjnx1 (Washington Times)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/business/media/03paper.html

http://snipurl.com/tjnyk (Washington Post)