Dominant major newspaper in Washington, DC and its metro area, and America's second serious national newspaper (after the New York Times -- I don't consider USA Today a serious newspaper).

Editorial slant is liberal but pragmatic and non-partisan (at least, their editorial masthead reads "The Washington Post -- An Independent Newspaper"), although usually supporting Democratic individuals and initiatives. The counter to this in the Washington area is the Washington Times, a conservative and overtly Republican editorial page.

Man, I hate to ask the obvious question here (since I would hope anyone who reads this node would be asking themselves the same thing I'm about to ask you), but how can an editorial staff which is:

  1. Liberal
  2. Usually supporting Democratic individuals and initiatives

be non-partisan?

You people kill me.

So, we have a balance here: The Times is "overtly Republican," and the Post is "overtly Democratic." Oh, you didn't say that, did you? You spun your writeup just like a good liberal editorial writer. Good work, Bernstein!




And, since my liege has weighed in here, with sword and shield akimbo, I'd just like to add that the reporters who milk this story until this very day continually get on the talking head shows and pontificate about how Watergate was the Big Momma of all scandals in the history of man. This leads them to pooh-pooh any scandal since (such as the ones which would have led any decent man to vacate 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue a long, long time ago) as just a small incident in our history. If Watergate were to be eclipsed, in their minds, they would disappear and go to rot in journalism hell. A very red-faced Lou Grant would be calling them into the very hot little cubicle to chew their asses, literally, daily and forever.

The Washington Post broke the story of Watergate, and rode Richard Nixon mercilessly throughout the scandal. The front page plate of the paper announcing Richard M. Nixon's resignation hangs to this day in the Post's editor's conference room as a kind of ghoulish trophy of their victory over the 37th president.

Reporter Bob Woodward and his partner Carl Bernstein uncovered most of the story, using their mysterious souce, Deep Throat. They ultimately won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for the story. According to the Post's website, then-executive editor Ben Bradlee remembers the 26-month scandal as the "most intense moment of all our lives."

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein milked the scandal for a couple of books and a lot of pathos. Woodward in particular is still milking the story today, like the one-trick pony that he is. Form many years he still held one final card, Deep Throat's identity. I had bet on Haig, myself, but was ultimately proven wrong when William Mark Felt, Sr. was finally, uhm, fingered on May 31, 2005.

A morning daily and Sunday newspaper published in Washington, D.C. The Post maintains 21 foreign, 7 national, and 12 metropolitan news bureaus.

1877
Founded by independent-minded Democrat Stilson Hutchins, The newspaper contained four pages and cost three cents a copy.

1880
Then relatively unknown Theodore Roosevelt contributed a series of western stories to The Post that appeared without his byline.

1889
On June 15, at an essay awards ceremony on the mall, United States Marine Band leader John Philip Sousa introduced "The Washington Post March," which he wrote especially for the newspaper. It became a popular hit and is still a marching band favorite today.

1905
John R. McLean, owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer, bought the newspaper increased its circulation and advertising and boosted its profits, but McLean's loyalty to the Democratic party colored his news judgments and caused the paper to lose much of its credibility and influence.

1916
McLean died and his son, Edward, became publisher. A crony of President Warren G. Harding, young McLean switched the paper's allegiance to the Republican party. Circulation dropped, advertising decreased, and finally The Post stumbled into receivership.

1933
On June 1, a public bankruptcy auction was held on the steps of The Post's E Street Building and the newspaper was sold for $825,000 to Eugene Meyer, a California-born financier. Meyer was not an experienced newspaperman, but he had strong convictions about publishing a newspaper which he expressed in this set of principles:

-- The first mission of a newspaper is to tell the truth as nearly as the truth may be ascertained.

-- The Newspaper shall tell ALL the truth so far as it can learn it, concerning the important affairs of America and the world.

-- As a disseminator of the news, the paper shall observe the decencies that are obligatory upon a private gentleman.

-- What it prints shall be fit reading for the young as well as for the old.

-- The newspaper's duty is to its readers and to the public at large, and not to the private interests of its owners.

-- In the pursuit of truth, the newspaper shall be prepared to make sacrifices of its material fortunes, if such course be necessary for the public good.

-- The newspaper shall not be the ally of any special interest, but shall be fair and free and wholesome in its outlook on public affairs and public men.

1933-1943
In the first ten years after Meyer took over, circulation tripled to 162,000 and advertising soared from 4 million to 12 million lines. However, The Post continued to lose money.

1946
President Harry S. Truman appointed Eugene Meyer the first president of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Meyer was succeeded at The Washington Post by his daughter Katharine Meyer Graham's husband, Philip L. Graham, who had been assistant publisher.

1948
The Washington Post Company acquired controlling interest of WTOP radio in Washington, D.C.

1950
In June, Graham purchased Washington's CBS television station and changed the call letters to WTOP-TV.

1959
Upon the death of Eugene Meyer, Philip L. Graham became president and publisher of the newspaper.

1961
Philip Graham purchased Newsweek magazine for The Washington Post Company.

1962
The Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service was formed to syndicate columns, articles and features appearing in both newspapers. Today, with more than 650 domestic and foreign clients, it is one of the largest supplemental news services in the world.

1963
Katharine Graham became president of The Washington Post Company following the death of her husband, Philip Graham.

1969
The Washington Post Company purchased the ABC-affiliated television station in Miami, Florida, and changed the call letters to WPLG-TV in memory of Philip L. Graham.

1971
On June 15, The Washington Post Company went public with the sale of Class B common stock to the general public. Until then The Post Company had been privately held. Its stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol WPO. Class A shares are privately held by the Graham family.

In ceremonies at Howard University in Washington, D.C., the company donated radio station WTOP-FM to the university, with the new call letters WHUR-FM, the station became the first under black management to broadcast in the Washington metropolitan area.

1976
After working at The Post in various editorial, production and executive capacities, Donald E. Graham, Katharine Graham's son, was appointed executive vice president and general manager of the newspaper.

1978
In July, The Washington Post Company exchanged television station WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C., for WDIV-TV in Detroit.

1979
Donald Graham became publisher of The Post, succeeding his mother.

1984
The Washington Post Company purchased Kaplan Educational Centers offering distance learning programs including Concord University School of Law, the nation's first online law school.

1990
In February, The Post launched Post-Haste, a free telephone service that provides a wide variety of information to callers. The phone number is (202) 334-9000 and is toll-free in the local metropolitan Washington, D.C., area.

1998
In January, washingtonpost.com put 11 years of The Washington Post's archives online.

Katharine Meyer Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post and Chairman of the Board of The Washington Post Company, won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for her memoir, "Personal History."

1999
On January 28, The Washington Post began printing color in photos, art and advertisements on its new presses in the renovated Springfield Plant and the new College Park Plant. The Post ceased printing at its two downtown locations however the news and business offices remain headquartered in Washington, DC.

In November, The Washington Post Company created a new subsidiary, Digital Ink Co. now known as Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, to develop the company's editorial products and businesses on the World Wide Web. WPNI's services, available principally on the Internet, include washingtonpost.com, and Newsweek.com.

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