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The Washington Post

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The Washington Post
Thewashingtonpost.png
Basic facts
Location:Washington, D.C.
Top official:Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., Publisher[1]
Founder(s):Stilson Hutchins[2]
Year founded:1877[2]
Website:Official website


The Washington Post is a daily newspaper covering national and international news and events serving residents of Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas in Maryland and Virginia.[3] The Washington Post is owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos and is published under the umbrella of Bezos' private investment company, Nash Holdings.[1][4]

Circulation

As of March 2016, the paper's circulation was 507,615 copies, making The Washington Post the largest newspaper by circulation in Washington, D.C., and the seventh-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States.[3][5]

History

Front page of The Washington Post

The first edition of The Washington Post was published in December 1877 by founder Stilson Hutchins. The paper's initial circulation was 10,000 units, containing four pages of copy at three cents per paper. In 1880, the Post published its first Sunday edition. During this time, Theodore Roosevelt and Joseph Pulitzer contributed pieces to the paper. Roosevelt's articles about "Western stories" had no byline or attribution. In 1889, Hutchins sold the paper to "Frank Hatton, a Republican Cabinet member, and Beriah Wilkins, a former Democratic congressman."[2]

In 1905, John R. McLean, who also owned The Cincinnati Enquirer, acquired the paper. The paper was put up for auction in June 1883. California-based financier Eugene Meyer won the auction with a bid of $825,000. In the first decade of Meyer's ownership, both circulation and advertising tripled, but the paper continued to lose money. Upon Meyer's 1946 appointment by Harry Truman (D) as president of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development -- what is today known as the World Bank -- Meyer's son-in-law, Philip Graham, was named publisher.[6] Graham served as publisher until 1961 and president of The Washington Post Company until his death in 1963.[2]

In 1963, Katharine Graham, daughter of Eugene Meyer and widow of Philip Graham, became president of The Washington Post Company. Graham took the company public in 1971 "with sale of Class B common stock to the general public for $26 per share."[2] In 1973, while serving as publisher of the Post, Graham was elected chair of the board and chief executive of The Washington Post Company. Her son, Donald E. Graham was named executive vice president and general manager of the newspaper in 1976 and was named publisher three years later. Katharine Graham remained chairman and CEO of The Washington Post Company.[2]

By 1991, Donald E. Graham was named CEO of The Washington Post Company. He continued to serve as publisher of the Post as well. In 2000, Graham was named chairman of the newspaper. Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr., was named the Post's publisher and chief executive. In 2008, Katharine Weymouth was named chief executive of Washington Post Media, comprised of The Washington Post, Express and El Tiempo Latino. She was also named publisher of the Post. In 2013, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos purchased the Post for $250 million dollars under the umbrella of his private holdings firm, Nash Holdings.[4][7] In September 2014, Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. was named publisher of the Post.[1]

Editorial positions

The following list is a sampling of the paper's editorial positions available on Ballotpedia:

Presidential endorsements

2016 presidential endorsement

✓ The Washington Post endorsed Hillary Clinton for the 2016 presidential general election.[8]

See also: Endorsements for Hillary Clinton

The editorial board of The Washington Post has endorsed Democratic nominees in recent presidential elections including Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, former Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in 2004 and former Vice President Al Gore in 2000.[9][10][11]

State ballot measures

Maryland


Virginia

Candidates


Maryland


Virginia

Noteworthy events

The Pentagon Papers

In 1971, The Washington Post, along with The New York Times, published excerpts of the Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, which was commissioned by then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in 1967.[14] The government sought to enjoin the newspapers from further publication of the leaked document. Both newspapers sought relief in federal court from the government's prior restraint claim. The United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit agreed with the government and enjoined the Times from further publication, however the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the Post. The cases were merged and brought before the Supreme Court of the United States. The cases were argued on June 26, 1971, and the Court issued a per curiam opinion four days later against the government.[15] Upon receiving the Court's ruling in what is now known as "The Pentagon Papers" case, the publisher of the Post, Kathleen Graham, said, "we are extremely gratified not only from the point of view of newspapers, which was not the least of our concerns, but gratified from the point of view of government, and the public's right to know, which is what we were concerned with."[16]

Watergate

Over a two year period, The Washington Post, particularly reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as well as editor Ben Bradlee, broke the story that the Nixon White House authorized a break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters located in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. in June 1972. The Post's reporting prompted a Congressional investigation which confirmed that the Administration had a secret recording system to record Oval Office conversations. The special prosecutor investigating Watergate presented a motion to subpoena the recordings, which the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted. Nixon claimed executive privilege as grounds for immunity from compliance with the subpoena, but both the D.C. Circuit Court and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected that argument. On July 24, 1974, Chief Justice Warren Burger delivered the Court's opinion in United States v. Nixon, ordering the Administration to comply with the District Court's subpoena.[17] On July 27, 1974, the United States House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary passed three articles of impeachment, charging obstruction of justice. Nixon resigned the Presidency on August 8, 1974.[18][19] The Washington Post received the 1973 Pulitzer Prize Public Service Medal "for its investigation of the Watergate case."[20]

2016 presidential election

March 9, 2016 Democratic debate

See also: Univision Miami Democratic debate (March 9, 2016)

Univision and The Washington Post hosted the sixth and final Democratic presidential debate on March 9, 2016, at Miami-Dade College in Miami, Fla. The debate aired in Spanish on Univision and was simulcast in English on CNN and Univision's Fusion network. Univision also live streamed the debate at univision.com. The debate was moderated by Maria Elena Salinas and Jorge Ramos of Univision as well as Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post. Facebook provided social media information throughout the debate, including comments and questions from viewers.[21][22][23][24]

Recognition

The Washington Post and its staff have been awarded 63 different Pulitzer prizes since 1936. The paper and its staff have been finalists for a Pulitzer prize an additional 77 times.[25]

Contact

The Washington Post News Service & Syndicate
1301 K Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20071
Phone: (800) 879-9794

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Washington Post, "Post names Frederick J. Ryan, Jr. as new publisher," September 2, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The Washington Post, "Washington Post Co. timeline," accessed March 2, 2016
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mondo Times, "Washington Post," accessed March 2, 2016
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Washington Post, "Washington Post closes sale to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos," October 1, 2013
  5. ↑ Mondo Times, "The highest circulation newspapers in the United States," accessed March 2, 2016
  6. ↑ World Bank, "International Bank for Reconstruction and Development," September 30, 2014
  7. ↑ Columbia Journalism Review, "Brick by brick," July/August 2014
  8. ↑ The Washington Post, "Hillary Clinton for president," October 13, 2016
  9. ↑ The American Presidency Project, "2012 General Election Editorial Endorsements by Major Newspapers," November 5, 2012
  10. ↑ George Washington University, "Endorsements by Newspapers and Magazines," accessed March 2, 2016
  11. ↑ George Washington University, "Endorsements by Newspapers & Magazines," accessed March 2, 2016
  12. ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 The Washington Post, "The Washington Post's endorsements for the 2014 elections," October 20, 2014
  13. ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 The Washington Post, "Washington Post endorsements for 2012 ballot," November 5, 2012
  14. ↑ National Archives and Records Administration, "Pentagon Papers," accessed March 3, 2016
  15. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, New York Times Company v. United States; United States v. The Washington Post Company et al., June 30, 1971
  16. ↑ The Washington Post, "Court Rules for Newspapers, 6-3," July 1, 1971
  17. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, United States v. Nixon, July 24, 1974
  18. ↑ The Washington Post, "The Watergate Story: Timeline," accessed March 3, 2016
  19. ↑ The Washington Post, "Watergate," accessed March 3, 2016
  20. ↑ The Pulitzer Prizes Archive, "1973 Winners," accessed March 3, 2016
  21. ↑ The Washington Post, "Washington Post and Univision to host Democratic debate," October 8, 2015
  22. ↑ Politico, "Univision/Washington Post Democratic debate to be held March 9," November 2, 2015
  23. ↑ CNN, "CNN to simulcast Democratic presidential debate," February 29, 2016
  24. ↑ The Washington Post, "Credentialing information now available for The Washington Post and Univision News DNC-Sanctioned Debate in Miami, Florida," March 2, 2016
  25. ↑ The Pulitzer Prizes Archive, "Search: The Washington Post," accessed March 3, 2016
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