The surreal dismantling of the Washington Times

A new publisher, Jonathan Slevin, was brought in as part of a change in strategy, and from his arrival had signaled that big cuts were coming. No one knew when they would come or how they would be announced, but on Wednesday the staff found out.

Called together in a staff meeting, every employee was given an envelope whether the employee was staying or going, along with a second paper that ironically listed some job openings for the relaunched paper.

By the time all the envelopes were opened, the newspaper no longer had any senior editors. “Monday begins a new chapter in the history of The Washington Times as a 21st-century multimedia enterprise,” a press release had trumpeted.

Now that enterprise won’t even have anyone in charge.