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129-667: Free Republic has been involved in several organized conservative campaigns including against CBS anchor Dan Rather after Rather reported on documents about President George W. Bush 's service record which turned out to be forgeries, and against the Dixie Chicks for their antiwar statements. Freepers were instrumental in raising the question of a lack of authenticity in the so-called " Killian memos ". There are local chapters "unconnected with Free Republic ", organized through ping lists, e-mail , and Free Republic mail. Some are only "ping list" groups, members who include their names in

258-652: A Free Republic membership as "NCPAC," into contact. MD4Bush then allegedly brought up the O'Malley rumors, and baited Steffen into giving responses on the Free Republic "private message" system, appearing to take credit for spreading the rumors. Ehrlich fired Steffen when the contents of these messages were published in The Washington Post on February 9, 2005. "Kristinn Taylor, a spokesman for FreeRepublic.com, said [Maryland Democratic Party communications director] Ryan O'Doherty's Democratic Party address

387-588: A Republican lawyer going by the pseudonym of "Buckhead" mentioned the memos' proportional spacing and made the claim that such printing was "not widespread until the mid to late 90s". Buckhead's post and some responses spread across the blogosphere rapidly, and were picked up by the Drudge Report the following afternoon. Within minutes of Buckhead's post, there was some dispute as to whether the Executive line of IBM typewriters had proportionally spaced fonts at

516-475: A broadcast ending more suitable to his tastes. For one week in September 1986, with CBS the target of potentially hostile new ownership, Rather tried ending his broadcasts with the word "courage", and was roundly ridiculed for it. For nearly two decades, Rather ended the show with: "That's part of our world tonight." Rather also held other positions during his time as anchor. In January 1988, he became host of

645-612: A columnist. In 2018, Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agents in Istanbul . In October 2023, the Post announced it would cut 240 jobs across the organization by offering voluntary separation packages to employees. In a staff-wide email announcing the job cuts, interim CEO Patty Stonesifer wrote, "Our prior projections for traffic, subscriptions and advertising growth for the past two years — and into 2024 — have been overly optimistic". The Post has lost around 500,000 subscribers since

774-636: A conservative family audience." "Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government. Free Republic advocates a return to constitutionally limited government, reserving all government powers not expressly delegated by the constitution to the United States to the States respectively, or the people, emphasizing sovereign state governments, local government, self-government and self-rule, while restricting government powers to only those enumerated in

903-405: A fever pitch after 60 Minutes II ran his 2004 report about President Bush's military record . Numerous critics questioned the authenticity of the documents upon which the report was based. Rather subsequently admitted on the air that the documents' authenticity could not be proven. In the aftermath, CBS fired several members of CBS News staff but temporarily retained Rather, until his contract

1032-496: A former Democratic congressman from Ohio. To promote the newspaper, the new owners requested the leader of the United States Marine Band , John Philip Sousa , to compose a march for the newspaper's essay contest awards ceremony. Sousa composed " The Washington Post ". It became the standard music to accompany the two-step, a late 19th-century dance craze, and remains one of Sousa's best-known works. In 1893,

1161-519: A front-page story which advertised the location at which white servicemen were planning to meet to carry out attacks on black Washingtonians. In 1929, financier Eugene Meyer , who had run the War Finance Corp. since World War I , secretly made an offer of $ 5 million for the Post, but he was rebuffed by Ned McLean. On June 1, 1933, Meyer bought the paper at a bankruptcy auction for $ 825,000 three weeks after stepping down as Chairman of

1290-574: A list to be "pinged" on news articles of a certain nature. Some cover presidential events (daily picture, prayer, and speech threads), some focus on contemporary conservative issues such as the Second Amendment , the anti-abortion movement, or opposing gay marriage . The more active chapters organize live protests, which they call "Freeps." Since the 2000 election , these are often counter-protests, responses to protests by opposition groups, or small rallies. As concerns policies and purpose,

1419-481: A lot of the people—most of the people—I knew that were on it left." On March 1, 2008, a Free Republic poster made the earliest recorded report of a rumor that then-candidate Barack Obama was secretly born outside the United States, and was falsely claiming to have been born in Hawaii. The poster may have been inspired by a legal hypothetical expressing a similar fact pattern posted at the law blog The Volokh Conspiracy

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1548-497: A major role in the resignation of President Richard Nixon , won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize in 1973. In 1972, the "Book World" section was introduced with Pulitzer Prize-winning critic William McPherson as its first editor. It featured Pulitzer Prize-winning critics such as Jonathan Yardley and Michael Dirda , the latter of whom established his career as a critic at the Post . In 2009, after 37 years, with great reader outcries and protest, The Washington Post Book World as

1677-429: A pseudonym. His wife Agnes Ernst Meyer was a journalist from the other end of the spectrum politically. The Post ran many of her pieces including tributes to her personal friends John Dewey and Saul Alinsky . In 1946, Meyer was appointed head of World Bank , and he named his son-in-law Phil Graham to succeed him as Post publisher. The post-war years saw the developing friendship of Phil and Kay Graham with

1806-524: A rehash on Iran . How would you like it if I judged your career by those seven minutes when you walked off the set in New York? Shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait , Rather secured an interview with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein . There is no powerful and quick strike that a people could deliver, whatever their overall power. The United States depends on the Air Force. The Air Force has never decided

1935-453: A series of individual stories..." He has been described as a "hands-off owner", holding teleconference calls with executive editor Martin Baron every two weeks. Bezos appointed Fred Ryan (founder and CEO of Politico ) to serve as publisher and chief executive officer. This signaled Bezos' intent to shift the Post to a more digital focus with a national and global readership. In 2015,

2064-523: A sole proprietorship by Founder, Chairman and President James C. "Jim" Robinson of Fresno, California , Free Republic opened to the general public in February 1997. Robinson filed for LLC status on September 11, 1998. It has always been a for-profit company and thus donations have never been tax exempt . Free Republic gained popularity during the Clinton impeachment from 1997 till 1999, a time when it

2193-540: A standalone insert was discontinued, the last issue being Sunday, February 15, 2009, along with a general reorganization of the paper, such as placing the Sunday editorials on the back page of the main front section rather than the "Outlook" section and distributing some other locally oriented "op-ed" letters and commentaries in other sections. However, book reviews are still published in the Outlook section on Sundays and in

2322-572: A story about his past ties to a phone hacking scandal, have further shaken the newsroom's morale. Lewis continues to grapple with declining revenue and audience on the business front, seeking strategies to regain subscribers lost since the Trump era. Later that month, the paper ran a story allegedly exposing a connection between incoming editor Robert Winnett and John Ford, a man who "admitted to an extensive career using deception and illegal means to obtain confidential information." Winnett withdrew from

2451-539: A war in the history of wars. On February 24, 2003, Rather conducted another interview with Hussein before the United States' 2003 invasion of Iraq . In the interview, Hussein invited Rather to be the moderator of a live television debate between himself and George W. Bush. The debate never took place. On June 2, 1988, Rather hosted a CBS News special, The Wall Within . In it, he interviewed six veterans, each of whom said he had witnessed horrible acts in Vietnam . Two of

2580-417: A way of getting around our system that only allows one vote, and they're voting hundreds of times. It's not thousands of people voting one way; it's one or two people voting hundreds of times." As evidenced by past threads with over 10,000 posts each, Free Republic posters have had a particular interest in "prepping," from growing gardens to surviving varying periods of lack of access to supplies to living "off

2709-580: Is in Washington, D.C., and its suburbs in Maryland and Northern Virginia. The newspaper's 21 current foreign bureaus are in Baghdad , Beijing , Beirut , Berlin , Brussels , Cairo , Dakar , Hong Kong , Islamabad , Istanbul , Jerusalem , London , Mexico City , Moscow , Nairobi , New Delhi , Rio de Janeiro , Rome , Seoul , Tokyo , and Toronto . In November 2009, the newspaper announced

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2838-654: Is only one solution to the Klintons, two 45 rounds and a nice little spot in Marcy Park." When the bar manager of an Austin, Texas restaurant called 9-1-1 to notify authorities that an underage Jenna Bush had attempted to purchase liquor in June 2001, the bar manager's personal information including her home address, date of birth, driver's license number and physical description was posted on FreeRepublic, along with calls for punitive action. The Clinton threat and some of

2967-600: The Houston Chronicle (1954–1955). Around 1955, Rather wrote a piece on heroin . Under the auspices of the Houston Police, he tried a dose of the drug, which he characterized as "a special kind of hell". He worked for four seasons as the play-by-play announcer for the University of Houston football team. During the 1959 minor league baseball season, Rather was the play-by-play radio announcer for

3096-695: The Los Angeles Times , and The Wall Street Journal . The Post has distinguished itself through its political reporting on the workings of the White House, Congress, and other aspects of the U.S. government. It is considered a newspaper of record in the U.S. The Washington Post does not print an edition for distribution away from the East Coast . In 2009, the newspaper ceased publication of its National Weekly Edition due to shrinking circulation. The majority of its newsprint readership

3225-505: The Dixie Chicks , speaking about Free Republic. The band Dixie Chicks and lead singer Natalie Maines claim that Free Republic was instrumental in fueling a nationwide boycott of their music, which was organized by some former fans and radio stations after Maines made anti-Bush comments in 2003. In their 2006 documentary Shut Up and Sing as well as in interviews, the Dixie Chicks have often mentioned Free Republic in reference to

3354-647: The East Coast . His first report for CBS included radio coverage of the crash of American Airlines Flight 1 in Jamaica Bay , and a story on the accidental deaths of newborns who were served salt in their formula at Binghamton General Hospital in Binghamton, New York , referred to years later as the Salt Babies. Shortly after, Rather was made chief of CBS's Southwest bureau in Dallas . In August 1963, he

3483-477: The Evening News had fallen to third place of the three major networks. It rose in rankings in 2005, when Bob Schieffer became the interim anchor between Rather and Katie Couric . It briefly moved ahead of ABC World News Tonight in the wake of the death of Peter Jennings, but remained behind NBC Nightly News . Rather was a frequent collaborator with CBS News producer Susan Zirinsky , a leading member of

3612-575: The Post for two years before selling it in 1905 to John Roll McLean , owner of the Cincinnati Enquirer . During the Wilson presidency, the Post was credited with the "most famous newspaper typo " in D.C. history according to Reason magazine; the Post intended to report that President Wilson had been "entertaining" his future-wife Mrs. Galt, but instead wrote that he had been "entering" Mrs. Galt. When McLean died in 1916, he put

3741-524: The Post moved from the building it owned at 1150 15th Street to a leased space three blocks away at One Franklin Square on K Street . Since 2014 the Post has launched an online personal finance section, a blog, and a podcast with a retro theme. The Post won the 2020 Webby People's Voice Award for News & Politics in the Social and Web categories. In 2017, the newspaper hired Jamal Khashoggi as

3870-549: The Post with two remaining local competitors, the Washington Star ( Evening Star ) and The Washington Daily News . In 1972, the two competitors merged, forming the Washington Star-News. Following Graham's death in 1963, control of The Washington Post Company passed to his wife, Katharine Graham (1917–2001), who was also Eugene Meyer's daughter. Few women had run prominent national newspapers in

3999-613: The Post 's average printed weekday circulation is 139,232, making it the third largest newspaper in the country by circulation. For many decades, the Post had its main office at 1150 15th Street NW. This real estate remained with Graham Holdings when the newspaper was sold to Jeff Bezos' Nash Holdings in 2013. Graham Holdings sold 1150 15th Street, along with 1515 L Street, 1523 L Street, and land beneath 1100 15th Street, for $ 159 million in November 2013. The Post continued to lease space at 1150 L Street NW. In May 2014, The Post leased

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4128-569: The United States Marine Corps and was sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego . He was soon discharged, however, because he was found to have had rheumatic fever as a child, a fact he had omitted during the enlistment process. Rather began his journalism career in 1950 as an Associated Press reporter in Huntsville, Texas . Later, he was a reporter for United Press (1950–1952), several Texas radio stations, and

4257-595: The Washington metropolitan area and has a national audience. As of 2023, the Post  has 135,980 print subscribers and 2.5 million digital subscribers, both of which are the third-largest among U.S. newspapers after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal . The Post was founded in 1877. In its early years, it went through several owners and struggled both financially and editorially. In 1933, financier Eugene Meyer purchased it out of bankruptcy in 1933 and revived its health and reputation; this work

4386-578: The Watergate scandal and the 1974 resignation of President Richard Nixon . In October 2013, the Graham family sold the newspaper to Nash Holdings , a holding company owned by Jeff Bezos , for $ 250 million. As of 2024, the newspaper had won the Pulitzer Prize 76 times for its work, the second-most of any publication after The New York Times . It is considered a newspaper of record in

4515-477: The documentary series CBS Reports . In December 1975, he became a correspondent of the long-running Sunday night news show 60 Minutes — at the time the program was moved from a Sunday afternoon time-slot to primetime . Success there helped Rather pull ahead of longtime correspondent Roger Mudd , who was in line to succeed Walter Cronkite as anchor and Managing Editor of The CBS Evening News . Good evening. President Reagan, still training his spotlight on

4644-429: The "MD4Bush" account was created to investigate the source of false rumors that Democratic Mayor of Baltimore Martin O'Malley had committed adultery . These rumors were suspected to be coming from the camp of Governor of Maryland Robert Ehrlich . O'Malley was a likely (and eventual) opponent of Ehrlich in the 2006 gubernatorial race . Using this alias, MD4Bush allegedly lured Joseph Steffen, aide to Ehrlich, who had

4773-494: The 1980s, Rather gained further renown for his forceful and direct reporting of the Iran–Contra affair . He questioned Vice President George H. W. Bush in an on-air interview during the latter's presidential campaign. Bush referred to Rather's " dead air incident " saying: I want to talk about why I want to be President, why those 41 percent of the people are supporting me. And I don't think it's fair to judge my whole career by

4902-518: The Federal Reserve . He had bid anonymously, and was prepared to go up to $ 2 million, far higher than the other bidders. These included William Randolph Hearst , who had long hoped to shut down the ailing Post to benefit his own Washington newspaper presence. The Post 's health and reputation were restored under Meyer's ownership. In 1946, he was succeeded as publisher by his son-in-law, Philip Graham . Meyer eventually gained

5031-706: The Kennedys, the Bradlees and the rest of the " Georgetown Set", including many Harvard University alumni that would color the Post's political orientation. Kay Graham's most memorable Georgetown soirée guest list included British diplomat and communist spy Donald Maclean . The Post is credited with coining the term " McCarthyism " in a 1950 editorial cartoon by Herbert Block . Depicting buckets of tar, it made fun of Sen. Joseph McCarthy 's "tarring" tactics, i.e., smear campaigns and character assassination against those targeted by his accusations. Sen. McCarthy

5160-475: The MD4Bush account was later changed to rodoherty@mddems.org, then changed for a third time. Anyone who had the password to the MD4Bush account could change the e-mail registration address at any time. It is not known how many people may have had access to that password. The e-mail address information obtained does not shed light on the actual users of the MD4Bush account, nor does it reveal whether someone attached

5289-815: The Ryan O'Doherty e-mail address to the account without his knowledge. In January 2005, Free Republic organized an unofficial Inaugural Ball at the Washington Plaza Hotel to celebrate the reelection of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and to honor the men and women serving in the United States Armed Forces . The event was promoted to feature then Arkansas Republican Governor Mike Huckabee and his rock band Capitol Offense . It's scary how much power they do have. They can take down someone single-handedly and I don't think Americans are aware of that." — Natalie Maines of

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5418-614: The Silverware Ball". It was attended by radio personality James Golden, who was one of the first high-profile conservatives to invest in the site and the Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson of B.O.N.D. During the 2004 election , Jerome Corsi , a Swift Boat Vet and co-author of the book Unfit for Command that attacked the Vietnam War record of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, apologized in

5547-542: The Style section the rest of the week, as well as online. In 1975, the pressmen's union went on strike . The Post hired replacement workers to replace the pressmen's union, and other unions returned to work in February 1976. Donald E. Graham , Katharine's son, succeeded her as a publisher in 1979. In 1995, the domain name washingtonpost.com was purchased. That same year, a failed effort to create an online news repository called Digital Ink launched. The following year it

5676-590: The Texas League Houston Buffs . In 1959, Rather began his television career as part of a weekly Coaches Show for the University of Houston on KTRK-TV , the ABC affiliate in Houston . In 1960 , he was hired as the 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. news anchor and director of news for KHOU-TV , the local CBS affiliate. In September 1961, Rather covered Hurricane Carla for KHOU-TV, broadcasting from

5805-503: The U.S. Post journalists have received 18 Nieman Fellowships and 368 White House News Photographers Association awards. The paper is well known for its political reporting and is one of the few remaining American newspapers to operate foreign bureaus , with international breaking news hubs in London and Seoul . The Washington Post is regarded as one of the leading daily American newspapers along with The New York Times ,

5934-495: The United States. In her autobiography, Katharine Graham described her own anxiety and lack of confidence when she stepped into a leadership role. She served as publisher from 1969 to 1979. Graham took The Washington Post Company public on June 15, 1971, in the midst of the Pentagon Papers controversy. A total of 1,294,000 shares were offered to the public at $ 26 per share. By the end of Graham's tenure as CEO in 1991,

6063-625: The Vietnam War in 1971 when it published the Pentagon Papers . In the mid-1970s, some conservatives referred to the Post as " Pravda on the Potomac " because of its perceived left-wing bias in both reporting and editorials. Since then, the appellation has been used by both liberal and conservative critics of the newspaper. In the PBS documentary Buying the War , journalist Bill Moyers said in

6192-528: The War. In 1902, Berryman published another famous cartoon in the Post – Drawing the Line in Mississippi . This cartoon depicts President Theodore Roosevelt showing compassion for a small bear cub and inspired New York store owner Morris Michtom to create the teddy bear. Wilkins acquired Hatton's share of the newspaper in 1894 at Hatton's death. After Wilkins' death in 1903, his sons John and Robert ran

6321-476: The White House!! Do NOT push this crap on FR. Take your business elsewhere!!" Media web sites, including newspapers, television networks, and America Online , run occasional "polls" that do not use the sampling methods of formal opinion polls , but instead invite all Internet users to respond. Some Free Republic forum messages, usually captioned "Freep this poll!", urge Free Republic members to vote en masse in these polls, to deliberately skew results and render

6450-474: The acquisition. The combined newspaper was published from the Globe Building as The Washington Post and Union beginning on April 15, 1878, with a circulation of 13,000. The Post and Union name was used about two weeks until April 29, 1878, returning to the original masthead the following day. In 1889, Hutchins sold the newspaper to Frank Hatton , a former Postmaster General, and Beriah Wilkins ,

6579-477: The appointment of two white men to top editorial positions have sparked internal discontent, particularly given the lack of consideration for the Post's senior female editors. Additionally, Lewis' proposed division for social media and service journalism has met with resistance from staff. Recent reports alleging Lewis' attempts to influence editorial decisions, including pressuring NPR 's media correspondent to drop

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6708-465: The article was then pasted into a thread on Free Republic. The thread was deleted by moderators after the shooting, but later restored when a review found that it had not violated posting guidelines. In July 2009, after Obama's eleven-year-old daughter Malia was photographed wearing a T-shirt with the peace symbol , a Free Republic thread featured racially charged comments about Obama's wife and children, using such terms as " ghetto street trash". After

6837-404: The bar manager's personal information were removed by Robinson when brought to his attention, and the authors' posting privileges were revoked. He said that the site had had to "delete relatively few posts" over time for violations of its "no-violence" policy despite Free Republic's popularity and ease of registration. In January 2001, the forum organized the inaugural "Free Republic Gala and Count

6966-559: The boycott, which sharply reduced sales of their CDs and concert tickets. Maines was quoted as saying: "It's scary how much power they do have. They can take down someone single-handedly and I don't think Americans are aware of that." "And I think it was originally started by the Free Republic. And they were very organized in calling radio stations across the country and telling them that they would never listen to their station, when they didn't even live in that town." Kristinn Taylor of Free Republic's dominant Washington, D.C., chapter attended

7095-455: The bulletin board was virtually unmoderated. This policy was central to the website's " fair use " defense in the copyright infringement litigation, wherein it stated "(t)he website operated by the defendants, www.freerepublic.com, permits anyone who wishes to post news articles or other items and to post commentary about the article as well ... no censorship is made and all views are permitted.". This supposed light moderating hand did not prevent

7224-607: The cable channel AXS TV (then called HDNet), Rather hosted Dan Rather Reports , a 60 Minutes –style investigative news program, from 2006 to 2013. He also hosts several other projects for AXS TV, including Dan Rather Presents , which provides in-depth reporting on broad topics such as mental health care or adoption, and The Big Interview with Dan Rather , in which he conducts long-form interviews with musicians and other entertainers. In January 2018, he began hosting an online newscast called The News with Dan Rather on The Young Turks YouTube channel. Since 2021, he has been writing

7353-470: The closure of three U.S. regional bureaus in Chicago , Los Angeles and New York City , as part of an increased focus on Washington, D.C. –based political stories and local news. The newspaper has local bureaus in Maryland (Annapolis, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, and Southern Maryland) and Virginia (Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Richmond, and Prince William County). As of March 2023,

7482-450: The constitution and maximizing individual rights and liberty as originally envisioned and established by our Founding Fathers and secured and defended by the blood of patriots and statesmen for over two hundred years." The FreeRepublic.com website is funded through individual contributions each quarter through fundraising on the website. The website generates approximately $ 250,000 each year by its own admission. Founded in September 1996 as

7611-441: The debate over the violent death of Bill Clinton's Deputy White House Counsel, Vince Foster . They include Hugh Turley of FBICover-up.com, David Martin of DCDave.com, and Dan E. Moldea of Moldea.com. During and after the 2008 U.S. Presidential election , according to political commentator Sean Hannity , "[E]veryone I knew basically left because of so much childish, immature personal attacks. The propensity there to eat their own. And

7740-420: The documents had been authenticated by experts. CBS was contradicted by some of the experts it originally cited, and later reported that its source for the documents—former Texas Army National Guard officer Lt. Col. Bill Burkett —had misled the network about how he had obtained them. On September 20, 2004, CBS retracted the story. Rather stated, "If I knew then what I know now, I would not have gone ahead with

7869-403: The documents has characteristics that exactly or almost exactly match standard font features of Microsoft Word . This led to claims that the memos were forgeries. The accusations then spread over the following days into mainstream media outlets, including The Washington Post , The New York Times , and The Chicago Sun-Times . Rather and CBS initially defended the story, insisting that

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7998-421: The economy, today signed a package of budget cuts that he will send to Congress tomorrow. Lesley Stahl has the story. Rather succeeded to the news anchor position after Cronkite's retirement, making his first broadcast on March 9, 1981. Rather had a significantly different style of reporting the news. In contrast to the avuncular Cronkite, who ended his newscast with "That's the way it is," Rather searched to find

8127-400: The end of 2020 and was set to lose $ 100 million in 2023, according to The New York Times . The layoffs prompted Dan Froomkin of Presswatchers to suggest that the decline in readership could be reversed by focusing on the rise of authoritarianism (in a fashion similar to the role the Post played during the Watergate scandal ) instead of staying strictly neutral, which Froomkin says places

8256-426: The entire company revenue stream. Executive editor Ben Bradlee put the newspaper's reputation and resources behind reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein , who, in a long series of articles, chipped away at the story behind the 1972 burglary of Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex in Washington. The Post 's dogged coverage of the story, the outcome of which ultimately played

8385-677: The father of Republican front-runner George W. Bush to drug-dealing by the CIA ." Robinson "famously blasted George W. Bush's presidential candidacy back in 2000, before a dramatic late-campaign about-face that saw him emerge as one of the GOP ticket's biggest supporters." These shifts signalled internal battles comparable to the nomination controversies of 2007 "as its founder and chief administrator first cleansed commenting ranks of Bush supporters, then, later, rallied to his support." White House Press Secretary and former Fox News commentator Tony Snow

8514-444: The first to describe it on television. Rather reported the fatal headshot as forcing Kennedy's head forward, but it was thrown backward. Later, he reported that some Dallas schoolchildren had applauded when they were notified of the president's death. Administrators said they had announced that school was to be dismissed early, and did not mention the assassination. However, teacher Joanna Morgan confirmed that students had cheered at

8643-542: The former mayor's candidacy claim to have suffered banishment from the site. They were victimized, they say, by a wave of purges designed to weed out any remaining support for the Giuliani campaign... Robinson himself endorsed Fred Thompson and was an enthusiastic backer of his campaign. Robinson has frequently banned fellow conservatives and others who don't completely share his political mindset. Among those claiming to have been permanently banned are several participants in

8772-566: The grid." Dan Rather Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. ( / ˈ r æ ð ər / ; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. He began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurricane Carla in September 1961. In his first national broadcast, he helped initiate the successful evacuation of 350,000 people. He reported on some of

8901-588: The last laugh over Hearst, who had owned the old Washington Times and the Herald before their 1939 merger that formed the Times-Herald . This was in turn bought by and merged into the Post in 1954. The combined paper was officially named The Washington Post and Times-Herald until 1973, although the Times-Herald portion of the nameplate became less and less prominent over time. The merger left

9030-604: The latest on today's high-tech low comedy. On January 28, Challenger' s explosion and destruction occurred 73 seconds after launch. During the Soviet–Afghan War , Rather was filmed reporting near the front lines while wearing a traditional mujahideen headdress and garments. Rather attracted an Evening News audience (and was nicknamed "Gunga Dan"). The American comic strip Doonesbury spoofed his actions. Rather's reports were later revealed to have influenced Congressman Charlie Wilson (D-Texas), who led an effort to help

9159-445: The main page of Free Republic states, "Opinions expressed on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Free Republic or its operators. Please enjoy our forum, but also please remember to use common courtesy when posting and refrain from posting personal attacks, profanity, vulgarity, threats, racial or religious bigotry, or any other materials offensive or otherwise inappropriate for

9288-476: The men said that they had killed civilians, and two others said that they had seen friends die. Each talked about the effects the war had upon their lives—including depression , unemployment , drug use , and homelessness . In 2004, National Review ran an article by Anne Morse entitled "The First Rathergate". She said that almost nothing claimed by participants in The Wall Within was true. Citing

9417-681: The most significant events of the modern age, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall , the Gulf War , 9/11 , the Iraq War , and the war on terror . Rather also famously reported from Dallas in November 1963 at the time that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated . Based on such reporting, he was promoted at CBS News , where he served as White House correspondent beginning in 1964. He served as foreign correspondent in London and Vietnam over

9546-713: The mujahideen which included the Taliban . The Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in the late 1980s, shortly before the collapse of the USSR. Rather was promoted to the anchor spot on the Evening News . He was competing with Roger Mudd , a more senior correspondent and a frequent substitute anchor for Walter Cronkite on Evening News . Mudd had also anchored the Sunday evening broadcast, but Rather traveled through Afghanistan when news led there. A few years into his service as anchor, Rather began wearing sweaters beneath his suit jacket to soften his on-air appearance for viewers. During

9675-417: The national media for comments that he made on Free Republic under the user name "jrlc." One of the first responses to " Memogate ", the controversy surrounding CBS News ' use of documents of questionable origin during the 2004 presidential campaign, came on Free Republic the night of the broadcast. When the "Killian memos" (which were allegedly created during the 1970s) were shown during a CBS News broadcast,

9804-526: The new President Lyndon B. Johnson , "I don't have much influence with the Post because I frankly don't read it. I view it like the Daily Worker ." Ben Bradlee became the editor-in-chief in 1968, and Kay Graham officially became the publisher in 1969, paving the way for the aggressive reporting of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandals . The Post strengthened public opposition to

9933-491: The newly created 48 Hours , and in January 1999, Rather joined the new 60 Minutes II as a correspondent. Ratings for the Evening News with Rather at the helm fluctuated wildly, at a time when more alternatives to TV news were developing. After a dip to second place, Rather regained the top spot in 1985 until 1989, when he ceded the ratings peak to rival Peter Jennings at ABC's World News Tonight . By 1992, however,

10062-498: The news division's staff. In 1987, new CBS owner Laurence Tisch oversaw layoffs of hundreds of CBS News employees, in a major shake-up of the network. Among those to go were correspondents such as David Andelman , Fred Graham , Morton Dean , and Ike Pappas . Fewer videotape crews were dispatched to cover stories, and numerous bureaus were closed. Critics cited the cutbacks as a major factor in CBS News' fall into third place in

10191-478: The news that Kennedy was shot. This story infuriated local journalists at then-CBS affiliate KRLD-TV (now Fox-owned-and-operated KDFW-TV ). Rather's reporting during the national mourning period following the Kennedy assassination and subsequent events impressed CBS News management. In 1964, they selected him for the network's White House correspondent position. When White House correspondent, he contributed to

10320-660: The newsletter "Steady" on the Substack platform. In April 2024, Rather was interviewed by correspondent Lee Cowan on Sunday Morning , his first return to CBS News since his 2006 departure. Rather was born on October 31, 1931, in Wharton County, Texas , the son of Daniel Irvin Rather Sr., a ditch digger and pipe layer, and the former Byrl Veda Page. Neither of his parents completed high school; however, they were avid readers. The Rathers moved to Houston when he

10449-458: The newspaper in a trust, having little faith that his playboy son Edward "Ned" McLean could manage it as part of his inheritance. Ned went to court and broke the trust, but, under his management, the newspaper slumped toward ruin. He bled the paper for his lavish lifestyle and used it to promote political agendas. During the Red Summer of 1919 the Post supported the white mobs and even ran

10578-555: The newspaper moved to a building at 14th and E streets NW, where it would remain until 1950. This building combined all functions of the newspaper into one headquarters – newsroom, advertising, typesetting, and printing – that ran 24 hours per day. In 1898, during the Spanish–American War , the Post printed Clifford K. Berryman 's classic illustration Remember the Maine , which became the battle-cry for American sailors during

10707-402: The newspaper's coverage during the run-up to the 2008 presidential election , former Post ombudsman Deborah Howell wrote: "The opinion pages have strong conservative voices; the editorial board includes centrists and conservatives; and there were editorials critical of Obama. Yet opinion was still weighted toward Obama." According to a 2009 Oxford University Press book by Richard Davis on

10836-470: The next two years before returning to the White House correspondent position. He covered the presidency of Richard Nixon , including Nixon's trip to China , the Watergate scandal , and the president's resignation. In 1981, Rather was promoted to news anchor for the CBS Evening News , a role he occupied for 24 years. Along with Peter Jennings at ABC News and Tom Brokaw at NBC News , he

10965-433: The organization would embrace artificial intelligence to improve the paper's financial situation, telling staff it would seek "AI everywhere in our newsroom." In June 2024, Axios reported the Post faced significant internal turmoil and financial challenges. The new CEO, Lewis, has already generated controversy with his leadership style and proposed restructuring plans. The abrupt departure of executive editor Buzbee and

11094-440: The other side of the railroad tracks, beyond the triple underpass, thirty yards from a grassy knoll that would later figure in so many conspiracy theories". His job was to fetch a film drop from a camera truck at that location, and take it to the station for editing. He did not witness the shooting of Kennedy, and knew nothing of the events until he reached KRLD, having run through Dealey Plaza. He later wrote: The moment I cleared

11223-420: The paper into an undistinguished secondary role in competition with other contemporary media. As part of the shift in tone, in 2023 the paper closed down the "KidsPost" column for children, the "Skywatch" astronomy column, and the "John Kelly's Washington" column about local history and sights, which had been running under different bylines since 1947. In May 2024, CEO and publisher William Lewis announced that

11352-399: The permanent banishment from the site of such "controversial" contributors as crime author Dan E. Moldea, novelist Todd Brendan Fahey, "What Really Happened" website host Mike Rivero, and Internet poet David Martin. Salon.com 's Jeff Stein observed in 1999 that: "[A] swelling number of haters have turned up the volume of death threats, gay-bashing , name-calling and conspiracy theories tying

11481-478: The personal files of Lt. Bush's former commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jerry B. Killian . Once copies of the documents were made available on the Internet, their authenticity was quickly called into question. Much of this was based on the fact that the documents were proportionally printed and displayed using other modern typographic conventions usually unavailable on military typewriters of the 1970s. The font used on

11610-530: The polls useless. Members are also urged to "'Freep' C-Span's 'Washington Journal' with telephone calls pointing out media bias." "Whenever a poll is posted on Free Republic.com, everybody goes and votes the right way, and there's nothing wrong with that," says Marinelle Thompson, Freeper and founder of gun rights group Second Amendment Sisters. "We just do it for a laugh. It doesn't really mean anything." The polls can also be manipulated, said Vlae Kershner, SF Gate News Director (and poll writer): "People are finding

11739-465: The position shortly thereafter. In 1933, financier Eugene Meyer bought the bankrupt Post , and assured the public that neither he nor the newspaper would be beholden to any political party. But as a leading Republican who had been appointed Chairman of the Federal Reserve by Herbert Hoover in 1930, his opposition to Roosevelt 's New Deal colored the paper's editorials and news coverage, including editorializing news stories written by Meyer under

11868-508: The preparations to launch the Space Shuttles Columbia and Challenger in close sequence. Rather described the January 10 delay of Columbia as: star-crossed space shuttle Columbia stood ready for launch again today, and once more, the launch was scrubbed. Heavy rain was the cause this time. The launch has been postponed so often since its original date, December 18, that it's now known as mission impossible. This

11997-668: The presidency of Richard Nixon . In 1970, he was also assigned as anchor for the CBS Sunday Night News (1970–73; 1974–75), and later for the CBS Saturday Evening News (1973–76). Rather was among those journalists who accompanied Nixon to China. He later covered the Watergate investigation, as well as the impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon in Congress. After President Nixon's resignation in 1974, Rather became chief correspondent for

12126-503: The presumptive Republican nominee, Robinson posted: "FR will never support the abortionist, homosexualist, socialist, mandate loving, constitution trampling liar Mitt Romney," and indeed, initially, Robinson, the Free Republic site, and many 'Freepers' did not embrace the candidacy of presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Robinson posted to the site, "I'd rather shut the place down than be involved in any effort to install abortionist/gay rights pushing RINO S like Romney or Giuliani into

12255-505: The previous day. The Free Republic poster's claim was then promulgated across other blogs in the months that followed, eventually developing into the birther movement. James von Brunn , the white supremacist who killed a security guard at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., on June 10, 2009, posted an article on another site questioning the citizenship of President Barack Obama (a view held by so-called " birthers ");

12384-504: The previous hurricane, which had killed 6,000 to 12,000 people. Rather's live coverage of Carla was broadcast by New York and national stations. Ray Miller , news director of KPRC-TV , the NBC affiliate in Houston, also mentored Rather in his early years. On February 28, 1962, Rather left Houston for New York City for a six-month trial initiation at CBS . Rather did not fit in easily on

12513-475: The railroad tracks I saw a scene I will never forget. Some people were lying on the grass, some screaming, some running, some pointing. Policemen swarmed everywhere and distinctly above the din, I heard one shout, 'DON'T ANYBODY PANIC.' And of course, there was nothing but panic wherever you looked. In his autobiography, Rather said he was one of the first to view the Zapruder film showing the assassination, and

12642-617: The ratings. For a short time from 1993 to 1995, Rather co-anchored the evening news with Connie Chung . Chung had been a Washington, DC correspondent for CBS News, and anchored short news updates on the West Coast during her time as a newscaster for KNXT (now KCBS-TV ) in Los Angeles . On joining the CBS Evening News , she reported "pop news" stories. In one widely cited case, she aggressively pursued Tonya Harding , who

12771-933: The school's football team. When he did not earn an athletic scholarship, Rather turned his focus to journalism and found part-time jobs to pay for tuition. In 1953, Rather earned a bachelor's degree in journalism , and he was editor of the school newspaper, The Houstonian . He was also a member of the Caballeros, the founding organization of the Epsilon Psi chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity . While in college, Rather worked for KSAM-FM radio in Huntsville, calling junior high, high school, and Sam Houston State football games. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Rather briefly attended South Texas College of Law in Houston. In January 1954, Rather enlisted in

12900-540: The screening of the documentary, hosted by the liberal advocacy group Center for American Progress . He was invited to join in a discussion after the screening and complimented the director on the film. In 2007, moderators removed the posting privileges of many members who supported the presidential campaign of then current Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani . The New York Observer reported:      Starting in April 2007 ... members sympathetic to

13029-540: The self-published book Stolen Valor (1998) by veteran B. G. Burkett , and investigative journalist Glenna Whitley, Morse said that military records revealed that the six former servicemen had lied about their experiences. Only one served in combat, and two had never been in Vietnam. On September 8, 2004, Rather reported on 60 Minutes Wednesday that a series of memos critical of President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard service record had been discovered in

13158-423: The site was sued in 1998 by The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times for copyright infringement. The newspapers obtained a permanent injunction , although stipulated damages of $ 1 million were reduced to $ 10,000 during settlement negotiations which allowed the defendants to drop their appeal . The case, often cited when arguing cyberlaw , is called L.A. Times v. Free Republic . From 1996 to 2000,

13287-417: The stock was worth $ 888 per share, not counting the effect of an intermediate 4:1 stock split. Graham also oversaw the Post company's diversification purchase of the for-profit education and training company Kaplan, Inc. for $ 40 million in 1984. Twenty years later, Kaplan had surpassed the Post newspaper as the company's leading contributor to income, and by 2010 Kaplan accounted for more than 60% of

13416-431: The story as it was aired, and I certainly would not have used the documents in question." The controversy has been referred to by some as "Memogate" and "Rathergate". The Washington Post The Washington Post , locally known as The Post and, informally, WaPo or WP , is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. , the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in

13545-551: The subsequent events following the Kennedy assassination. In 1965, he contributed to the reporting of return to Washington from Dallas by Charles von Fremd during a conversation that NBC Director Max Schindler, who directed the coverage of the arrival for the networks, did with President Lyndon B. Johnson , at the White House for the TV networks. In 1965, Rather served as a foreign correspondent for CBS in London , and in 1966 in Vietnam . He served again as White House correspondent during

13674-479: The then National Weather Center in Galveston and showing the first radar image of a hurricane on TV. He conceived of overlaying a transparent map over the radar screen, in order to show the size of Hurricane Carla to the audience. Convinced of the threat, more than 350,000 people evacuated from the area, the largest known evacuation to that time. Their actions are believed to have saved thousands of lives compared to

13803-403: The thread was criticized, it was eventually suppressed and placed under review. It was then restored to the site intact. Only after persistent criticism did site administrators remove it a second time. In an email response to the incident, Jim Robinson called Obama an " American-hating Marxist pig." In April 2012, after Rick Santorum 's suspension of his presidential campaign left Mitt Romney

13932-531: The time, arising from a comment on the Power Line blog. The dispute made headlines when an investigative panel set up to examine authenticity issues with the documents "was not able to reach a definitive conclusion". Canadian journalist Ivor Tossell later opined that Free Republic was "central to the network of websites that uncovered the forged memos about Bush's Vietnam service that appeared on CBS News and ultimately cost Dan Rather his job." In October 2004,

14061-572: The war, while contrary information got lost". On March 23, 2007, Chris Matthews said on his television program, " The Washington Post is not the liberal newspaper it was [...] I have been reading it for years and it is a neocon newspaper". It has regularly published a mixture of op-ed columnists, with some of them left-leaning (including E. J. Dionne , Dana Milbank , Greg Sargent, and Eugene Robinson ), and some of them right-leaning (including George Will , Marc Thiessen , Michael Gerson and Charles Krauthammer ). Responding to criticism of

14190-570: The west tower of One Franklin Square , a high-rise building at 1301 K Street NW in Washington, D.C. Mary Jordan was the founding editor, head of content, and moderator for Washington Post Live , The Post's editorial events business, which organizes political debates, conferences and news events for the media company, including "The 40th Anniversary of Watergate" in June 2012 that featured key Watergate figures including former White House counsel John Dean , Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee , and reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein , which

14319-492: The year prior to the Iraq War there were 27 editorials supporting the Bush administration 's desire to invade Iraq. National security correspondent Walter Pincus reported that he had been ordered to cease his reports that were critical of the administration. According to author and journalist Greg Mitchell : "By the Post 's own admission, in the months before the war, it ran more than 140 stories on its front page promoting

14448-573: The years have also been televised by C-SPAN. Drudge dropped the link to Free Republic by February 1999, "because they were doing racist stuff over the [Clinton love child]... I click on and I see this headline, ' Nigger Baby.'" Drudge quickly restored the link, but later dropped it again for unknown reasons. As of April 2008 the Free Republic link is back on Drudge. In its early years, Free Republic generally allowed its members to post copyrighted news stories in entirety to its forum, regardless of whether permission had been granted by content owners, until

14577-427: Was a child, where Dan attended Lovett Elementary School and Hamilton Middle School. He graduated in 1950 from John H. Reagan High School in Houston where he played football. Rather aspired to be a reporter, and his mother encouraged him to attend college and to become the first person in the family to earn a college degree . He hitchhiked to Sam Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville, Texas and walked on to

14706-772: Was a registered member of Free Republic. Snow was not afraid to 'mix it up' with the Freepers who sometimes disagreed with his political philosophy and who called him a "pansy". Free Republic had been criticized during the pre-moderation period for the actions of several of its members. In 1999, FReepers ran a campaign to make fake donations to the legal defense fund of Julie Hiatt Steele, who had been charged with obstruction of justice during then-President Bill Clinton's impeachment trial. Hundreds of fraudulent transactions from this campaign cost Ms. Steele around $ 4000. Some threatened to assassinate Clinton, like this from February 2001: "If he keeps on he's going to make me come up there. There

14835-530: Was abruptly fired. In September 2007, Rather filed a $ 70 million lawsuit against CBS and its former parent company Viacom . Rather accused the network and its ownership and management of making him a " scapegoat " in the Killian story. An intermediate New York state appeals court dismissed the lawsuit in September 2009, and the New York Court of Appeals refused to reinstate it in January 2010. On

14964-403: Was accused of a plot to injure fellow Olympic ice skater Nancy Kerrigan . After Chung left the network, Rather went back to doing the newscast alone. By the 2005–06 season, the end of Rather's time as anchor, CBS Evening News lagged behind NBC Nightly News and ABC World News Tonight in the ratings. But it still drew approximately 5.5 million viewers a night. Criticism of Rather reached

15093-682: Was appointed chief of the Southern bureau in New Orleans , responsible for coverage of news events in the South, Southwest, Mexico and Central America . In his autobiography, Rather noted that he was in Dallas in November 1963 to return film from an interview in Uvalde at the ranch of former Vice President John Nance Garner , who celebrated his 95th birthday on November 22. He happened to be "on

15222-961: Was attempting to do for the Senate what the House Un-American Activities Committee had been doing for years—investigating Soviet espionage in America . The HUAC made Richard Nixon nationally known for his role in the Hiss / Chambers case that exposed communist spying in the State Department . The committee had evolved from the McCormack - Dickstein Committee of the 1930s. Phil Graham's friendship with John F. Kennedy remained strong until their deaths in 1963. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover reportedly told

15351-470: Was considered an example of the "biting sarcasm" the media used related to NASA's scheduling. Columbia launched on January 12. On January 27, Rather's reporting of the expected Challenger launch began as follows: Yet another costly, red-faces-all-around space-shuttle-launch delay. This time, a bad bolt on a hatch and a bad-weather bolt from the blue are being blamed. What's more, a rescheduled launch for tomorrow doesn't look good either. Bruce Hall has

15480-485: Was continued by his successors Katharine and Phil Graham , Meyer's daughter and son-in-law, respectively, who bought out several rival publications. The Post 's 1971 printing of the Pentagon Papers helped spur opposition to the Vietnam War . Reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the investigation into the break-in at the Democratic National Committee , which developed into

15609-497: Was cooperating with the grand jury investigation and House Judiciary Committee in relation to the Watergate scandal. NBC 's Tom Brokaw has said the network considered hiring him to replace Rather as its White House correspondent, but dropped it after word was leaked to the press. Rather was believed to have provided tough coverage of the Watergate scandal , raising his profile. In January 1986, NASA faced repeated delays in

15738-407: Was founded in 1877 by Stilson Hutchins (1838–1912); in 1880, it added a Sunday edition, becoming the city's first newspaper to publish seven days a week. In April 1878, about four months into publication, The Washington Post purchased The Washington Union , a competing newspaper which was founded by John Lynch in late 1877. The Union had only been in operation about six months at the time of

15867-468: Was held at the Watergate hotel. Regular hosts include Frances Stead Sellers . Lois Romano was formerly the editor of Washington Post Live . The Post has its own exclusive Zip Code , 20071. Arc XP is a department of The Washington Post , which provides a publishing system and software for news organizations such as the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times . The newspaper

15996-612: Was linked on the Drudge Report as " Whitewater Archives," when protests and write-in campaigns were organized through the website. Many were also introduced to the site through an impeachment rally in Washington, attended by over 3000 participants, called the "March for Justice," broadcast live on Halloween 1998 by C-SPAN . Featured speakers included Alan Keyes , Bob Barr , Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson of B.O.N.D. and Larry Klayman ; Ann Coulter , Lucianne Goldberg and Matt Drudge also attended. Other Free Republic events over

16125-656: Was one of at least three used to operate the identity of MD4BUSH." Taylor charged that Post reporter Matthew Mosk's access to the MD4Bush account was a violation of the Free Republic users agreement, and they were "looking into whether the Washington Post violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act when Post reporter Matthew Mosk accessed the Free Republic account of MD4Bush." The e-mail address used in October 2004 to open

16254-576: Was one of the " Big Three " nightly news anchors in the U.S. from the 1980s through the early 2000s. He frequently contributed to CBS's weekly news magazine, 60 Minutes . Rather left the anchor desk in 2005 following the Killian documents controversy , in which he presented unauthenticated documents in a news report on President George W. Bush 's Vietnam War –era service in the National Guard . He continued to work with CBS until 2006, when he

16383-400: Was renamed Graham Holdings shortly after the sale. Nash Holdings, which includes the Post , is operated separately from technology company Amazon , which Bezos founded and where he is as of 2022 executive chairman and the largest single shareholder, with 12.7% of voting rights. Bezos said he has a vision that recreates "the 'daily ritual' of reading the Post as a bundle, not merely

16512-410: Was shut down and the first website was launched in June 1996. In August 2013, Jeff Bezos purchased The Washington Post and other local publications, websites, and real estate for US$ 250   million , transferring ownership to Nash Holdings LLC, Bezos's private investment company. The paper's former parent company, which retained some other assets such as Kaplan and a group of TV stations,

16641-584: Was up for renewal the following year, whereupon he was completely ousted. During Richard Nixon 's presidency, critics accused Rather of biased coverage against him. At a Houston news conference in March 1974, Nixon fielded a question from Rather, still CBS's White House correspondent, who said, "Thank you, Mr. President. Dan Rather, of CBS News." The room filled with jeers and applause, prompting Nixon to joke, "Are you running for something?" Rather replied, "No, sir, Mr. President. Are you?" He questioned whether Nixon

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