More Trouble at The 'Washington Times'

Times are getting worse. The Washington Times, that is.

Last month, there was a major shakeup at the paper, with three top executives, President and Publisher Thomas P. McDevitt, CFO Keith Cooperrider, and Chairman Dong Moon Joo, departing in what was described by some as a family feud with the paper's owners, members of the Unification Church. About a week later, John Solomon, the Times' executive editor, resigned as well. Then Richard Miniter, the paper's former editorial page editor, filed a discrimination suit against the paper's owners for allegedly forcing him to attend a Unification Church religious ceremony.

Yesterday, Politico's Michael Calderone reported that acting Publisher and President Jonathan Slevin has alerted employees to "significant staff reductions" and other major changes ahead.

What's significant? How about 40 percent of the staff, which could be let go in the coming months.

Calderone also notes that the paper will go free in some parts of Washington. Calderone quotes a release that described the move as follows: "No-cost distribution will focus on targeted audiences in branches of the federal government as well as at other key institutions."

The company will also be focusing on theconservatives.com, a website whose slogan is "Reinventing the Right." ("Fair and Balanced," this site isn't.) From the looks of it, it's a blog with a Twitter feed and some news aggregation from the Times and other right-leaning sources.

According to the release, all of this is aimed at making the Times "a 21st Century Multimedia Company." If the ongoing decline of multimedia companies in this century is their model, that's not a very promising boast.