Richmond Times-Dispatch

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The July 27, 2005 front page of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner	Media General
Publisher	Thomas A. Silvestri
Editor	Glenn Proctor
Founded	1850 (as the Richmond Dispatch)
Headquarters	300 E. Franklin Street Richmond, VA 23219 United States
Website: TimesDispatch.com

The Richmond Times-Dispatch (RTD or TD for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia the capital of Virginia, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state. It utilizes reports from the Associated Press. Thomas A. Silvestri is the President and Publisher. Glenn Proctor is executive editor.

Contents 1 Circulation 2 History and Notable Accomplishments 2.1 Development 2.2 December 21, 2004 Mosul Attack 2.3 Tacky Christmas lights tour 3 Controversy 3.1 Style Weekly piece 3.2 Personnel Changes 4 Content 4.1 Commentary, Opinion, and Editorials 4.2 Sports 4.3 Business 4.4 Metro/Virginia 5 Columnists and Editors 6 Syndicated Columnists 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Circulation

Besides Richmond, the Times-Dispatch is a primary daily paper in the Virginia cities of Petersburg, Chester. Hopewell, Colonial Heights, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, and Waynesboro. As the primary paper of the state's capital, the Times-Dispatch is also a default paper for rural regions of the state without large local papers circulating.

[edit] History and Notable Accomplishments

[edit] Development

The RTD has existed in some form for over 100 years. In 1850, a newspaper called Richmond Dispatch was founded. In 1886, 36 years later, a competitor, the Richmond Daily Times was founded by Lewis Ginter and in 1890 was renamed the Richmond Times. In 1896, the Times acquired the Manchester Leader (founded in 1888) and launched the Evening Leader. In 1899, the Richmond News was another paper founded.

In 1903, there was a merger of Richmond's main newspapers. The Times and the Dispatch became the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and a merger of the Leader and the News became the Richmond News-Leader.

Eventually, this conglomeration of media formed Richmond Newspapers, Inc., with a 54 percent ownership by Bryan family. That conglomeration is now known as Media General.

On June 1, 1992, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Richmond News Leader merged into a single morning publication called the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

[edit] December 21, 2004 Mosul Attack

Tragedy brought the Richmond Times-Dispatch into the national spotlight after a suicide bomber penetrated the defenses of an American military base in Mosul, Iraq. The most deadly attack on an American military installation since the war began, the attack injured 69 people and killed 22, 14 of whom were US service members. Four of the 14 were Halliburton employees, four were Iraqi forces allied with the US, and two of the 14 were with the Virginia National Guard's Richmond-based 276th Engineer Battalion, a group that had a Times-Dispatch embedded journalist with them; these were that group's first fatalities. The terrorist group Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack. Naturally, the embedded Times-Dispatch journalist's report and the testimony of hometown Richmond soldiers were read and heard across the nation after the particularly devastating insurgent attack. Like the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, this strike unsettled military leaders and civilians alike, who were surprised at the efficiency and organization demonstrated by an enemy previously thought incapable of staging such an attack.

[edit] Tacky Christmas lights tour

In 1990, The RTD borrowed[1] an idea [2] from a local entrepreneur, Barry "Mad Dog" Gottlieb, to encourage a "Tacky Christmas Lights Tour" tour. Every week, the RTD lists the addresses of houses where the most tacky Christmas lights can be found. This tradition has begun to spread to other cities, like Fairfax, Virginia (DC area) [3] as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles. [4]

[edit] Controversy

[edit] Style Weekly piece

On July 12, 2006, Richmond-based news magazine Style Weekly ran a cover story [5]titled "Truth and Consequences," a piece that took a look at the Times-Dispatch's operations as the paper settled into its first year with new management. The report described new editor Glenn Proctor, who took over Nov. 14, as a "inelegant, blunt and harsh critic — to the point of saying, repeatedly, that some reporters’ work 'sucks.'" The piece described a newsroom teetering on the edge, preparing for promised changes - such as possible layoffs and cut pages and combined sections - that have yet to come. The newspaper's management declined to comment in the piece.

A primary focus of the article, and of articles in the national trade journal Editor & Publisher that followed it, was what some people called the paper's recent "gag rule": a policy of not allowing staffers to comment to the media without approval in advance. The policy orders all T-D staffers to collect information about the interview request and submit it to the paper's marketing manager, editor in chief or publisher for review and possible approval. This is highly unusual in the world of journalism, though not in the corporate world in general, because it seems to run counter to journalists' role of interviewing and collecting information.

[edit] Personnel Changes

On July 31, the TD's managing editor, Louise Seals, a 38-year-veteran of the newspaper, retired with little notice. Seals had held the managing editor position for 12 years. Other recently reported staff changes involve the newspaper's ad director, human resources director and circulation director.

[edit] Content

[edit] Commentary, Opinion, and Editorials

As the most prominent newspaper in the state, the Times-Dispatch frequently features commentary from important figures from around Virginia, such as officials and presidents from Virginia Commonwealth University, The College of William and Mary, and the University of Virginia. Richmond Mayor Douglas Wilder, who had articles published in the paper before he held that position, often outlines policies his young administration is implementing. During the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, its Commentary sections featured some pieces by Retired Admiral Roy Hoffmann, a founding member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and resident of Richmond suburb Chesterfield, against Democratic candidate John Kerry.

Times-Dispatch editors tend to be politically conservative, leading the paper to frequently endorse candidates of the Republican Party. It tends to use more conservative syndicated columnists, and supports many of George W. Bush's policies, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq and a flat income tax. However, the paper is not unilaterally conservative; for example, a recent editorial called for the House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to relinquish his leadership position on ethical grounds. There are also some left-leaning syndicated columnists who appear frequently, especially Paul Krugman and Molly Ivins.

[edit] Sports

Like most major papers, the sports section has MLB, NASCAR, MLS, NBA, NCAA, NFL, and NHL scores and results. The Times-Dispatch sports pages naturally focus on Richmond and Virginia professional and college teams. In addition to Richmond Bandits, Richmond Braves, Richmond Kickers, and Richmond RiverDogs coverage, readers can expect to see in-depth coverage of the Washington Redskins in the fall and the newly-created Washington Nationals in the summer. "Virginians in the Pros" and similar features track all sorts of professional athletes who were born, lived in, or attended college in Virginia. Large automobile racing events like the Nextel Cup ( at the Richmond International Raceway) are often given a separate preview guide.

Catering to the vast array of Virginia hunters, fishers, hikers, and outdoorsmen, somewhere between half a page to a whole page most days is dedicated to outdoors articles, currently written by Lee Graves, who succeeded Garvey Winegar in November 2003. The "Scoreboard," which features minor-league standings, Vegas betting, and other sports scores, also gives tide measurements, river levels, and skiing conditions, depending on the season.

Virginians have traditionally been highly supportive of high school athletics, and its flagship paper is a testament to that. Particular emphasis is given to football and basketball; the Times-Dispatch ranks area teams in these sports, in the style of the NCAA polls, and generally updates them weekly. In the fall, Sunday editions have the scores of all high school football games played that weekend from across the state. Prep games are also receive above-average coverage in baseball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Stories are frequently done on notable prep athletes, such as those from foreign countries, those with disabilities, those who play a multitude of sports, or those who had little or no prior experience in a sport which they now excel in.

[edit] Business

The business pages consist of seven reporters covering topics such as technology, retail, energy, insurance, banking, economics, real estate, manufacturing, tobacco and transportation. Unlike many newspapers, the Times-Dispatch produces a widely-read Monday business section, Metro Business. It contains a center cover story on a regional business-related issue and is filled with events for the coming week, advice columnists and gadget reviews. In June 2006, the decision was made to remove the stock tables from the daily sections beginning July 15 and replace the numerous pages with Markets Review section for subscribers who request it. Many newspapers have done this, as most consumers get their stock information online.

[edit] Metro/Virginia

The Metro section consists of several reporters covering the area. Metro also contains a religion reporter and college and university reporter. The state desk has a political team as well as health, science and prisons beats.

[edit] Columnists and Editors

• The Rev. A.P. Bailey ("Our Daily Bread")
• Peter Bacqué
• John Reid Blackwell
• Meredith Bonny
• Mark Bowes
• Rex Bowman
• Tom Campbell
• Penelope M. Carrington
• Vic Dorr Jr.
• Jim Duncan (local weatherman)
• Douglas Durden (Television critic)
• Pamela S. Feibish (Business editor)
• Gregory J. Gilligan (Sunday business editor)
• Lee Graves (Outdoors)
• Marggie Graves (Flair editor; Flair section contains lifestyle, entertainment, and comics)
• Peter Hardin (Washington Correspondent)
• Michael Hardy
• Mike Harris
• Carol Hazard
• A. Barton Hinkle (Senior Editorial Writer)
• Mark Holmberg
• Osita Iroegbu
• Fred Jeter
• Chip Jones
• Will Jones
• Jeffrey Kelley
• Stephen M. Lewis
• Jerry Lindquist
• Juan Antonio Lizama
• Bill Lohmann
• Ross Mackenzie (Editor of the Editorial Pages)
• John Markon
• Melodie N. Martin
• Bill McKelway
• Cynthia McMullen
• Olympia Meola
• Daniel Neman (Film critic)
• John O'Connor
• Andrew Petkofsky
• Bob Rayner
• David Ress
• Gary Robertson
• Jamie C. Ruff
• Melissa Ruggieri (Music critic)
• Jeff E. Schapiro (Virginia Politics)
• Pamela Stallsmith
• Arthur Utley
• Julian Walker
• Tyler Whitley
• Michael Paul Williams
• Andrew C. Taylor III (Metro & Virginia editor)
• Paul Woody

[edit] Syndicated Columnists

• Anne Applebaum
• Fred Barnes
• William F. Buckley, Jr.
• Zev Chafits
• Stanley Crouch
• Ellen Goodman
• Paul Greenberg
• Victor Davis Hanson
• Molly Ivins
• James Kilpatrick
• Charles Krauthammer
• Paul Krugman
• John Leo
• Kathleen Parker
• Leonard Pitts
• Thomas Sowell
• Mark Steyn
• George Will
• Walter Williams

[edit] See also

• Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman
• Virginius Dabney

[edit] External links

• The Richmond Times Dispatch's official website
• History of Media General