The Washington Times is about to become a drastically smaller newspaper, reports Howard Kurtz in today’s Washington Post.
Kurtz’s front-page story notes that the Times said it planned to lay off at least 40 percent of its staff; slash its coverage of local news, sports and features; and shift mainly to free distribution.
“The company plans to leverage its conservative pages by expanding its recently launched Web site, TheConservative.com, and continuing to syndicate its conservative radio program, which is aired in 70 market,” Kurtz wrote.
Kurtz also wrote that the plan for mostly free distribution mirrors that of the Washington Examiner, which also has conservative opinion pages, and Politico, which publishes a print edition when Congress is in session but draws its national influence from its Web site. The Times plans to work closely with its sister company, United Press International, which is a shadow if its former self.
Circulation at The Washington Times “has recently hovered around 85,000, compare with 583,000 for The Washington Post,” wrote Kurtz.
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