CAN THE WASHINGTON TIMES SURVIVE?

[seemslikeadream]

http://georgearchibald.typepad.com/george_archibald/2006/12/can_the_washing.html

The Washington Times gets picked up every day on C-SPAN, and by other major news organizations when it scores a big hit.

But for a paper that only has a daily circulation of just 90,000 with inflated numbers, can that marvelous respectability continue?

The paper for years has been a beacon for both conservative and liberal readers for its own take on the news of the day and the direction of our culture.

Conservatives love it, liberals may hate it, but as President Bill Clinton told me personally when I was still a reporter for The Times, “I read you every day to see what you’re saying about me.” That was respect from a man who hated The Washington Times, but he said he felt he had to read The Washington Times every day to find out what the other side was thinking and doing.

But can that conservative-liberal, love-hate scenario that once made the low-circulation Washington Times work as a pacesetting newspaper continue?

Can The Washington Times survive and continue to be a beacon of the conservative view of America, its politics and culture, that all can look to with respect for a complete daily report from its own perspective?

[NYCGirl]

1. If rightwing rag The New York Post can survive despite bleeding money,

so can The Washington Times.

[aquart]

2. It's a Moonie-subsidized propaganda sheet.

Doesn't matter if it turns a profit.

[yellowcanine]

3. I hope not. However, the WP could use some legitimate competition.

They have been getting damn complacent of late and focused on the bottom line rather than on the news, imo. What we need is a legitimate newspaper to compete with the WP.

[LeftyMom]

4. As long as Moon is happy to flush the money of his followers, it will.

He could care less if the circulation is 90,000 or 90, as long as it keeps his viewpoint out in front of the public and promotes his political allies.

[kevinbgoode]

5. If unethical reporting is considered representative of

the "con-servative" viewpoint, then by all means, survive. The Times only reinforces the understanding that all the wingnut complaints about liberal bias in the media only meant that the Right wanted to control and manufacture an even more extremist bias of its own - not show the public what real balance meant in news production.

As with everything else con-servatives have done to destroy this nation, the Times has done its part to help destroy any credibility our free press had in acting as a watchdog over our government. Of course, that was exactly the intent of the con-servative movement anyway - to establish a government which had no checks and balances and which controlled and manufactured its own propaganda.

[Robbien]

6. MoonieTimes has always lost money

They print the rag to influence opinion, not to sell papers.

[SoCalDem]

7. Propaganda does not "have" to make money. It just is what it is.

They don;t need to make money. Their goal was always to just infiltrate the "mainstream" and pollute the thought process.

These propaganda venues (think Fox) give the right wingers the loving embrace they need whenever they have something to say and don't want to be subject to difficult questioning.

By appearing to be a "regular newspaper", they put into print stuff that they hope will be read by, and commented on by "real" news media.

and there are always those gullible people who will say "its gotta be true..I read it in the paper"..

[Gormy Cuss]

8. Read the whole link. This guy is burning his bridges with a flamethrower.

His descriptions of the scum in charge are worth the read.

[valerief]

9. It's like a cockroach. Nothing will kill it. nt

[regnaD kciN]

10. "Pacesetting" apparently means...

..."willingness to concoct the most outrageous stories without any factual basis whatsoever." :eyes:

(If there's anyone here who would doubt that description, I would recommend to them David Brock's Blinded by the Right for a glimpse at the inside workings of the MoonieTimes.)

[TheWebHead]

11. yeah, it'll survive

if the right can support dozens of conservative think tanks to push the ideology expressed in the Times, they can find another deep pocketed group to fund it if Moon were to die or throw in the towel.