The Washington Examiner is a political journalism publication based in Washington, D.C., that distributes its content via daily online reports and a weekly magazine. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz and which also owns the influential conservative opinion magazine The Weekly Standard. From 2005 to mid-2013, the Examiner published a daily tabloid-sized newspaper, distributed free throughout the Washington, D.C., metro area, largely focused on local news and conservative commentary. The local newspaper ceased publication on June 14, 2013, and its content began to focus exclusively on national politics, switching its print edition from a daily newspaper to a weekly magazine format.
History
The publication now known as the Washington Examiner began its life as a handful of suburban news outlets known as the Journal Newspapers, distributed only in the suburbs of Washington, under the titles of Montgomery Journal, Prince George's Journal, and Northern Virginia Journal. Anschutz purchased the parent company, Journal Newspapers Inc., in October 2004. On February 1 of the following year, the paper's name changed to The Washington Examiner, and it adopted a logo and format similar to that of another newspaper then owned by Anschutz, the San Francisco Examiner. “Despite the right-wing tilt of its editorial pages and sensationalist front-page headlines, it also built a reputation as one of the best local sections in D.C.,†the website DCist wrote in March 2013. The newspaper’s local coverage also gained fame, including a write-up by the New York Times, for helping bring to justice more than 50 fugitives through a weekly feature that spotlighted a different individual wanted by the authorities. It was announced in March 2013 that the paper would stop its daily print edition in June and refocus on national politics. The Examiner's editor is Hugo Gurdon, and its executive editor is Mark Tapscott.
Distribution
The target market for the weekly magazine is the “45,000 government, public affairs, advocacy, academia and political professionals in Washington, DC, and state capitals."
Political views
When Anschutz started the Examiner in its daily newspaper format, he envisioned creating a conservative competitor to The Washington Post. According to Politico, "When it came to the editorial page, Anschutz’s instructions were explicit â€" he 'wanted nothing but conservative columns and conservative op-ed writers,' said one former employee." The Examiner's conservative writers include Byron York (National Review), Michael Barone (American Enterprise Institute, Fox News Channel), and David Freddoso (National Review, author of The Case Against Barack Obama).
The daily newspaper endorsed John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and Adrian Fenty in the Democratic primary for mayor in 2010. On December 14, 2011, it endorsed Mitt Romney for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, saying he was the only Republican who could beat Barack Obama in the general election, releasing a series of articles critical of Obama.
References
External links
- Official website
- Today's The Washington Examiner front page at the Newseum website
- The Washington Examiner at the Wayback Machine (archived August 30, 2005)
- The Washington Examiner at the Wayback Machine (archived September 10, 2005)