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Outlet profile

The Washington Times (Opinion)

U.S. right

Owned byThe Washington Times LLC, owned through TWT Holdings, LLC and Operations Holdings, Inc., which are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) — the corporate arm of the Unification Church, founded by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon
FundingAdvertising and subscriptions; historically subsidized heavily by the Unification Church (estimated $1–2 billion between 1982 and 2006); the paper has reduced but not eliminated its dependence on church-affiliated funding over time
On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

The Washington Times was founded on May 17, 1982, in Washington, D.C., by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, leader of the Unification Church, through his media company News World Communications. Moon explicitly intended the paper to serve as a conservative counterweight to The Washington Post and to build political influence for himself and his movement in the U.S. capital. Between 1982 and 2006, the Unification Church is estimated to have subsidized the paper with $1–2 billion, absorbing chronic operating losses to maintain the outlet's presence and reach. The paper quickly became influential in conservative and Republican political circles during the Reagan era. Multiple editorial controversies marked its early years: founding editor James Whelan resigned publicly in a dispute with Unification Church management, and a later editor alleged he was pushed out for mocking the Church. After Moon's death in 2012, ownership passed through his family and remained within the Unification Church corporate structure, eventually settling under Operations Holdings, Inc. The paper discontinued its Sunday print edition in 2013 as part of cost-cutting measures aimed at reducing church subsidies. Media bias trackers consistently rate the outlet as right to right-center, and fact-checkers have noted a pattern of misleading framing and some failed fact checks, particularly in opinion content. The opinion section in particular is an established platform for conservative columnists, Republican officials, and commentary broadly aligned with the MAGA movement.

Sources

  1. Washington Times – Media Bias/Fact Check
  2. Washington Times Media Bias – AllSides
  3. The Washington Times – Wikipedia
  4. The Washington Times – Operations Holdings
  5. Sun Myung Moon dies at 92; Washington Times owner led the Unification Church – The Washington Post
  6. Washington Times – SourceWatch
  7. Washington Times Bias and Reliability – Ad Fontes Media
  8. Complaint Adds To Tumult At Washington Times – NPR

Profile compiled 2026-07-22; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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