History UsefulNotes / AmericanNewspapers

->'''President Bob''': Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads and watches what. CNN is watched by people who think they run the country, ''The New York Times'' is read by people who think they ''ought'' to run the country, ''The Washington Post'' is read by the people who actually ''do'' run the country, ''USA Today'' is read by the wives of the people who run the country,[[note]]Not surprising, since they're always in some hotel in a warm location. Apologies for comparisons to the ''Mail'' -- it's less a matter of inflammatory nature than mindlessness.[[/note]] CNBC is watched by people who think they own the country, ''The Wall Street Journal'' is read by the people who actually ''do'' own the country, MSNBC is watched by people who think the country ought to be run by another country,[[note]] UsefulNotes/{{France}} and/or {{Canada|Eh}}, to be exact[[/note]] and Fox News is watched by people who think it already is.[[note]]{{China|TakesOverTheWorld}}, {{Mexico|CalledTheyWantTexasBack}}, [[{{Qurac}} Saudi Arabia]], and/or [[OneWorldOrder the UN]], to be exact.[[/note]]

These two papers are widely considered to be the top of the journalistic profession in America, and you can expect any young reporter in fiction to dream of working at either one. In general, the ''Times'' does better in reporting international news, as well as arts and culture, while the ''Post'' is considered to be the go-to for political news. Both are often cited as being proof of the liberal bias of the press. The accuracy of this accusation is debated, and some observers disagree with it. The reporting of both is claimed by some to have a liberal (or at the very least, neoconservative) bias, but no one disputes that the editorial and op-ed pages do. (Case in point: the ''Times'' has not endorsed a Republican for President since 1956. The ''Post'' has ''never'' endorsed a Republican for President, although the paper did not generally make political endorsements prior to TheSeventies). On that front the ''Times'' has several columnists, such as Paul Krugman and Maureen Dowd, who do tend to make conservatives' blood pressure rise.[[note]]What's often forgotten is that Dowd also caused ''liberal'' hypertension back in TheNineties thanks to her constant yammering about how UsefulNotes/{{Bill|Clinton}} was cheating on UsefulNotes/{{Hill|aryRodhamClinton}} and how she was either too ambitious or weak-willed to do anything about it.[[/note]] On the other hand, they also boast right-of-center writers such as Ross Douthat, and the late William Safire, who in addition to his political column wrote a highly regarded column on the American English language for the Sunday edition for many years.[[note]]He occasionally dipped into other languages, as well; for instance, he thoroughly chastised the French Academy for adopting "Poutine" as the official French transcription of UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's name; see EitherWorldDominationOrSomethingAboutBananas for details.[[/note]] Oh, and David Brooks. Both the ''Times'' and the ''Post'' (generally) try to play the role of the centrist voice of reason/Loyal Opposition in their editorial coverage (a role that the ''WSJ'' and ''USA Today'' have tended to fill sometimes as well in recent years), with the results that they irritate conservatives when a Republican president is in power and annoy liberals when a Democrat holds the White House. The ''NYT'' attracted [[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/us/politics/historians-critique-of-obama-foreign-policy-is-brought-alive-by-events-in-iraq.html international attention in 2014]] when one editorial openly criticized Obama's policies. The ''Post'' did get into a bit of a flap when several bloggers accused columnist Jennifer Rubin of being a Romney campaign mouthpiece in 2012, but this was understood to be an anomaly.

->'''President Bob''': Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads and watches what. Creator/{{CNN}} is watched by people who think they run the country, ''The New York Times'' is read by people who think they ''ought'' to run the country, ''The Washington Post'' is read by the people who actually ''do'' run the country, ''USA Today'' is read by the wives of the people who run the country,[[note]]Not surprising, since they're always in some hotel in a warm location. Apologies for comparisons to the ''Mail'' -- it's less a matter of inflammatory nature than mindlessness.[[/note]] CNBC is watched by people who think they own the country, ''The Wall Street Journal'' is read by the people who actually ''do'' own the country, Creator/{{MSNBC}} is watched by people who think the country ought to be run by another country,[[note]] UsefulNotes/{{France}} and/or {{Canada|Eh}}, to be exact[[/note]] and Creator/{{Fox News|Channel}} is watched by people who think it already is.[[note]]{{China|TakesOverTheWorld}}, {{Mexico|CalledTheyWantTexasBack}}, [[{{Qurac}} Saudi Arabia]], and/or [[OneWorldOrder the UN]], to be exact.[[/note]]

* ''The New York Sun'', which was founded in 2002 by Canadian media mogul Conrad Black as an intentionally right-wing five-day daily (much like the Canadian ''National Post'', which he founded in 1997), taking its name from an older paper that went under in 1950 (best known today for its classic ''[[SantasExistenceClause "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus"]]'' editorial). Circulation was never high, being unable to compete with the ''Times'' and also being hit by Black's prosecution for embezzlement and tax fraud (which forced him to withdraw within a year) and the paper operated at a loss to try and build for several years. In a letter to readers published on the front page of the September 4, 2008 edition, it was announced that the paper would "cease publication at the end of September unless we succeed in our efforts to find additional financial backing." They didn't and publication ceased on September 30, becoming an online portal largely focusing on political news and conservative commentary (including from former owner Conrad Black).

* ''The Atlantic'' (formerly ''The Atlantic Monthly''): Founded by no lesser minds than Creator/RalphWaldoEmerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (with the motto "of no party or clique") in ''[[LongRunners 1857]]''--so old that it was the vehicle for the original publication of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (you know, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5mmFPyDK_8 the one that goes]] "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord..."). It's had something of a turbulent history and its political position has varied wildly. ''The Atlantic'' circa 2021 is owned by Laurene Powell Jobs (the widow of UsefulNotes/SteveJobs) and has a broadly left-of-center perspective, though it publishes a pretty diverse range of writers (Elizabeth Bruenig is pretty much the only Catholic conservative socialist you'll read in a major American publication) and is ''mostly'' respected across the political spectrum for the quality of its writing. Its coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, won a Pulitzer Prize.

* ''The UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Inquirer'' -- Note it's an "I," not an "E" like the tabloid. The ''Inky'' to its friends, it's the third-oldest surviving newspaper in the US (founded 1829 as ''The Pennsylvania Inquirer''). It's had a roller-coaster history, cycling between national prominence and local rag status. It's currently in a local-rag phase; its last period of major national prominence was the period from about 1975 to 1995, when it won a number of Pulitzers and broke all kinds of significant national stories (one of the last major ones being a scandal about a charity supposedly providing care packages to soldiers in the UsefulNotes/GulfWar being used to scam donors). The ''Inquirer'' also owns the ''Philadelphia Daily News'', a populist tabloid (explicitly calling itself "The People's Paper" and advertising itself as "Philadelphia's pain in the a** since 1925") that nevertheless manages to be half-way respectable (probably because of its more-or-less common editorial line with the ''Inquirer''; it's also definitely more like the New York ''Daily News'' than the ''New York Post'' in other aspects as well). Both papers' contents appear on Philly.com, which has a surprisingly high profile nationwide for a locally-based news website.

* ''Magazine/TheNewYorker'': A nearly-weekly (published 47 times a year). The classic journal of American culture and politics, with a definite lean to the former; it operates in a space closer to the monthlies listed below than the rest of the more news-focused weeklies. Widely respected as an outlet for journalism and analysis. Quite liberal, but not too. Dissimilar to other magazines in that it has a substantially larger readership with over a million subscribers. The magazine is famous for its editorial cartoons, which often feature ComedicSociopathy; it's said that a successful ''New Yorker'' cartoon can be captioned with "Christ, what an asshole!"

In the United States, over and over again (with one very narrow exception we'll explain in the next paragraph), the courts have held that anything a reporter finds in public reports or in the audience in open court is fair game to report, and when courts have issued orders to the press not to publish things happening in the open courtroom – or found newspapers in contempt for publishing what they were told not to publish – the appeals courts have consistently found those restrictions to violate the First Amendment.

Note that when the term "licensing" is used in this article, it is in the sense that you have to have a license to be a doctor, or to be a hairdresser, or to [[UsefulNotes/AmericanDrivingLaws drive a car]]. But a newspaper can't be required to have that sort of a license. They can still be required to have a business license (such as is used for local taxes) and to operate their newspaper according to building codes and zoning laws (so no putting your big industrial press on a high wooden platform in a residential neighborhood). These laws requiring a license must basically be what is called "ministerial" in nature; as long as they pay a reasonable business license tax they can't be refused a license. Some places, such as UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, don't even require newspapers to have a business license in order to avoid a potential First Amendment challenge, although one suspects that if a newspaper ''did'' try to put a big industrial press on a high wooden platform in a residential zone, the city would find a way to stop that.

In the United States, over and over again (with one very narrow exception we'll explain in the next paragraph), the courts have held that anything a reporter finds in public reports or in the audience in open court is fair game to report, and when courts have issued orders to the press not to publish things happening in the open courtroom -- or found newspapers in contempt for publishing what they were told not to publish -- the appeals courts have consistently found those restrictions to violate the First Amendment.

About the only restriction on publishing material which is in public sources has generally been related to the identities of spies, what is referred to as the "national security" exception. Because a magazine did some research where they combined various public documents and open publications (what would be called "data mining" today when done using computers) to discover who they were, and outed the names of a number of undercover U.S. spies (known as "NOC"s or "Non-Official Cover" agents, i.e. agents whose cover was not governmental[[note]]Remember, for real spies, "cover" doesn't mean lying about who you are. It means [[CovertGroupWithMundaneFront lying about your job]]. If you're a CIA officer and your name is Dave Wallace, you're from Normal, Illinois, and you love ''Franchise/StarTrek'', you don't need to to lie about that. What you ''do'' need to lie about is that you work for the CIA. Instead, you say you work for some company--maybe it's a front organization, but maybe it's a real U.S. corporation or NGO with business abroad. Either way, the like is easier to maintain. [[/note]] and thus did not grant them diplomatic immunity), some of whom were executed by the countries they were spying on, the U.S. Congress passed, the President signed, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, a law that makes it illegal to "out" or identify a covert spy, even if you find out from openly published government records. This was why there was such an outcry when that happened in the case of Valerie Plame, a woman who ended up being publicly identified as a CIA employee by columnist Robert Novak, although in this case no charges were ever filed (basically because Novak (1) was a highly respected conservative pundit, (2) did not realize he was blowing Plame's cover, (3) was almost certainly working as an UnwittingPawn for UsefulNotes/DickCheney, and (4) was possibly going senile--he died six years later of brain cancer). This rule regarding secret intelligence agents is the one and only exception to the rule that reporters in the U.S. may freely, legally report and publish, without fear of reprisal, anything they find in public records.

As a result, newspapers (and other media) in the United States are extremely vigilant in covering crimes, political misconduct and scandal, free in the knowledge that, ''absent malice'' they can basically say almost anything about a politician and not only will they not be shut down, it's highly unlikely that they'll be sued. If you are a public figure and sue a newspaper for defamation/libel in its reporting, you have to be able to prove that it either knowingly printed false information, or recklessly disregarded the possibility that what they printed was false.[[note]]The distinction is this: Suppose John Doe is running for Congress in 2016, and a newspaper prints "John Doe killed six people in 1990." If the newspaper editor knew that John Doe hadn't killed anyone, they knowingly printed a falsehood. If they printed that without even caring whether or not he had done so, but realizing that printing it would cause damage to his reputation, it's reckless disregard. In contrast, if the newspaper editor was relying on a source whom he/she thought was telling the truth about John Doe killing people (but was actually lying his/her ass off), or if John Doe was already known to have killed four people in 1989 and it seemed plausible to the editor that he had killed six more in 1990, then the newspaper was merely negligent--that is to say, careless--at worst, and cannot be held liable for defamation.[[/note]]

Now, what about how they print something, is it enough that something is true, or does it have to be true and not malicious, or does truth even matter? In the United States, ''the truth is an absolute defense'' -- if the newspaper can show that what they reported is factually true, or even that it reasonably believed what they printed was true at the time they printed it, it's pretty much the end of the trial. This standard (which is referred to as ''actual malice'') was established in the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanCourts Supreme Court]] case ''UsefulNotes/{{New York|City}} Times Co. v. Sullivan'', 376 U.S. 254 (1964).

But even actual malice doesn't matter, if it's true. The somewhat (in)famous District Attorney of UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, Jim Garrison - popularized by Creator/OliverStone's movie ''Film/{{JFK}}'' - held a press conference in which he complained that the judges in the [[InsistentTerminology parish]][[note]]The political subdivision known as a "county" in almost every US state is known as a "parish" in Louisiana (and a "borough" in Alaska). Incidentally, New Orleans is both a city and a parish (Orleans Parish).[[/note]] were making it difficult to prosecute crimes because they took too many vacations, and a few other things, and he was convicted of criminal libel. The U.S. Supreme Court, in ''Garrison v. Louisiana'', 379 US 64 (1964), said it agreed with the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, which said in ''State v. Burnham'', 9 N.H. 34,(1837), "If, upon a lawful occasion for making a publication, he has published the truth, and no more, there is no sound principle which can make him liable, even if he was actuated by express malice. . . ."

Below them are high school newspapers that include many school newspaper newshounds, which pretty much will never say one bad word about their administrations,[[note]]Due in part to the 1988 ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazelwood_School_District_v._Kuhlmeier Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier]]'' Supreme Court decision, which essentially established that school districts are technically the publishers of the paper and can therefore have editorial say in what their papers publish[[/note]] though underground student publications and social media have undermined high school journalism somewhat. Elementary and middle-school newsletters are, with the rarest of exceptions, always in the hands of the faculty and administration because they're the only ones who can give access (or work) to the presses and computers.

Below them are high school newspapers that include many school newspaper newshounds, which pretty much will never say one bad word about their administrations,[[note]]Due in part to the 1988 ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazelwood_School_District_v._Kuhlmeier Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier]]'' Supreme Court decision, which essentially established that school districts are technically the publishers of the paper and can therefore have editorial say in what their papers publish[[/note]] though underground student publications and social media have undermined high school journalism somewhat. Elementary and middle school newsletters with the rarest of exceptions are always in the hands of the faculty and administration because they're the only ones who can give access (or work) to the presses and computers.

In college towns with terrible commercial newspapers featuring 'wire service regurgitation' or having anti-student/anti-university reputations, the student newspaper can be the top paper in its city; such is the case of New Haven's ''[[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Yale]] Daily News'' being regarded much more highly than the commercial ''Register''.

Nearly every college in America publishes a student newspaper. At the bigger schools, they come out on a Monday-Friday basis during the academic year, with smaller colleges having less frequent publication days. These newspapers do train journalists for professional careers, but are not substitutes for Journalism School educations (though they can be complementary with them - they're where j-school students can get actual real world experience with what they've learned in the classroom). At many schools, the student newspaper is associated in some way with the school itself, usually through a faculty advisor who's a member of the journalism school. These tend run into more free speech issues, due to the pressures of college administrations, hyper-sensitive readerships and unpolished staff. At some colleges, however, the paper is totally independent and run by students with no affiliation with the university at all - prominent examples include ''The Independent Florida Alligator'' at the University of Florida and ''The Badger Herald'' at the University of Wisconsin.

In towns with terrible commercial newspapers featuring 'wire service regurgitation' or having anti-student/anti-university reputations, the student newspaper can be the top paper in their city; such is the case of New Haven's ''[[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Yale]] Daily News'' being regarded much more highly than the commercial ''Register''.

In towns with terrible commercial newspapers with 'wire service regurgitation' or anti-student/anti-university reputations, the student newspaper can be the top paper in their city; such is the case of New Haven's ''[[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Yale]] Daily News'' being regarded much more highly than the commercial ''Register''.

In towns with terrible commercial newspapers with 'wire service regurgitation' or anti-student/university reputations, the student newspaper can be the top paper in their city; such is the case of New Haven's ''[[UsefulNotes/IvyLeague Yale]] Daily News'' being regarded in a much higher way than the commercial ''Register''.

-->'''Smarmy Civil Servant Alice''': Mr. President, what about people who read ''The National Enquirer''?
-->'''President's Body Man [[Series/TheWestWing Charlie]]''': ''National Enquirer'' readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big boobs.

-->'''President Bob''': Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads and watches what. Creator/{{CNN}} is watched by people who think they run the country, ''The New York Times'' is read by people who think they ''ought'' to run the country, ''The Washington Post'' is read by the people who actually ''do'' run the country, ''USA Today'' is read by the wives of the people who run the country,[[note]]Not surprising, since they're always in some hotel in a warm location. Apologies for comparisons to the ''Mail'' -- it's less a matter of inflammatory nature than mindlessness.[[/note]] CNBC is watched by people who think they own the country, ''The Wall Street Journal'' is read by the people who actually ''do'' own the country, Creator/{{MSNBC}} is watched by people who think the country ought to be run by another country,[[note]] UsefulNotes/{{France}} and/or {{Canada|Eh}}, to be exact[[/note]] and Creator/{{Fox News|Channel}} is watched by people who think it already is.[[note]]{{China|TakesOverTheWorld}}, {{Mexico|CalledTheyWantTexasBack}}, [[{{Qurac}} Saudi Arabia]], and/or [[OneWorldOrder the UN]], to be exact.[[/note]]

But even actual malice doesn't matter, if it's true. The somewhat (in)famous District Attorney of New Orleans, Jim Garrison - popularized by Creator/OliverStone's movie ''Film/{{JFK}}'' - held a press conference in which he complained that the judges in the [[InsistentTerminology parish]][[note]]The political subdivision known as a "county" in almost every US state is known as a "parish" in Louisiana (and a "borough" in Alaska). Incidentally, New Orleans is both a city and a parish (Orleans Parish).[[/note]] were making it difficult to prosecute crimes because they took too many vacations, and a few other things, and he was convicted of criminal libel. The U.S. Supreme Court, in ''Garrison v. Louisiana'', 379 US 64 (1964), said it agreed with the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, which said in ''State v. Burnham'', 9 N.H. 34,(1837), "If, upon a lawful occasion for making a publication, he has published the truth, and no more, there is no sound principle which can make him liable, even if he was actuated by express malice. . . ."

That doesn't mean American reporters have ''carte blanche'' to do anything to report on a story. Depending on what has happened, if a reporter breaks a law covering a story, they sometimes will be prosecuted, especially if the incident is embarrassing. There was one case where a reporter showed how weak the Los Angeles County Welfare Department was in checking on the background of applicants that he was able to apply for -- and receive -- welfare checks. The district attorney originally threatened to prosecute the reporter (for welfare fraud), until he realized that it would give even more publicity to the story and make the county look worse. (Plus, since the reporter hadn't actually cashed the checks, it's probably likely a jury would have seen through what it was: a reporter caught the welfare department "with its pants down" and the DA was trying to punish the reporter for catching them acting stupidly.) Furthermore, fabrication and plagiarism are not crimes, but are considered to be two of the biggest breaches of journalistic ethics, and reporters who are caught doing either typically [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor lose their job and reputation]].

Unlike most of the New World, the American colonies had a very vibrant journalistic industry, albeit one hamstrung by Crown restrictions and occasional censorship. Among the most successful newspapermen of the 18th century was none other than Benjamin Franklin. Seeing the press as an essential force, the First Amendment gave it complete freedom. At first, this would lead to highly-partisan rags that carried ''ad hominem'' attacks aimed at political rivals. While less incendiary publications prevailed, most newspapers depended on political parties until the end of the 19th century.

On the first point, this model was was widely criticized by journalism experts and theorists for being too bland and over-reliant on "wire service regurgitation", especially as companies spent the 1990s downsizing newsrooms with the belief newspapers could rely on running mostly syndicated content, leaving less important beats (i.e. school districts) to community weeklies. Ironically, this came at a time people became more opinionated and suspicious of traditional media, and thus, readership fell, although this was offset in the early 2000s with 9/11 and the early years of UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror. It didn't really help that the style-book of the industry had gone almost unchanged since the 1950s if not earlier, which made newspapers look rather prudish in a landscape now dominated by political pundits saying stuff you'd never read in an op-ed page as well as crowdfunded/non-profit journalism not worried about driving away advertisers.

By the time the Great Recession came into full swing in early 2008, most newsrooms had been slashing their staffs for over two years. And by the time the economy began to recover, Facebook and other social media sites rose into prominence, not only competing for the public's attention, but also taking an ever-increasing share of display ad dollars the same way it happened with classified ads years earlier. Newspapers are desperately scrambling to find a workable 21st-century economic model, and some might yet succeed. However, there's little doubt that the halcyon days of the American newspaper are in the past.

* ''USA Today'' -- Famed for its colorful charts and graphs and their sports section's heavy emphasis on college and high school sports polling in association with Creator/{{ESPN}}, otherwise just a bland collection of wire reports, although it's also the only public outlet where the full weekly Nielsen UsefulNotes/{{Ratings}} chart is disseminated in any form. Has the highest circulation of any American newspaper, due to its publisher Gannett owning many local papers around the country (which print digested news sections of ''USA Today'' because of budget cuts which allow Gannett to have their local staffs focus on local news) and adding to its aggressive availability; one technique is to convince hotel chains to deliver one free to each room every day. That adds up to a ''lot'' of newspapers. It is also worth noting that, while it is frequently derided as lightweight journalism (it's sometimes called the "[=McPaper=]"), it has broken a few important stories in recent years. For its first 30 years it rarely editorialized about political issues (which added to its reputation as a "banal" outlet), although beginning in the 2010s it began taking a rather soft liberal slant, condemning the GOP for the 2013 federal shut-down and the 2015 immigration revolt in Congress among other issues. In 2016, it "un-endorsed" presidential candidate Donald Trump, a first for the newspaper. It is also unique for carrying rebuttals to many of its editorials.

* ''The Wall Street Journal'' -- Financial-focused newspaper, though it's tried to expand its reach in recent years. The actual reporting is well-regarded by most people, regardless of political affiliation. The editorial page, however, is a bastion of conservatism. Often uses hand-drawn portraits of news figures called "headcuts" instead of photographs. Published by Dow Jones--yes, the very same Dow Jones that publishes the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dow_Jones_Industrial_Average Dow Jones Industrial Average]], aka the Dow--owned by UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch since 2007.

** The ''Wall Street Journal'' has one very important ''feature''. Because any contract where one party pays interest on borrowed money where the interest rate can change must use a third-party to determine what the interest rate should be, with the exception of contracts involving government guarantees, typically any contract (a credit card, a mortgage, a car loan, etc.) will use the current interest rate of either prime rate or the London Interbank Rate (LIBOR) plus a certain percentage amount as published on the last day of the month in the ''Wall Street Journal''. This means that the WSJ actually has more effect on what several million people pay in interest than the Federal Reserve Bank does.

* ''The New York Times'' -- Founded in 1851. Daily read of the East Coast intelligentsia, known as the "Old Grey Lady" (although since they've started printing in color it doesn't make sense anymore) and the "Newspaper of Record." The ''Times'' is one of the most famous and respected newspapers in the world, and has broken many important and historical stories over the years. Among its biggest scoops was this publication of the "Pentagon Papers," which was a classified government report on how the USA got into and ran the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar. The government tried to stop it from being published, but the courts ruled that the government had to show an extreme danger before the press could be stopped from publishing something. No [[NewspaperComics comics]], but the best crossword in the nation. The ''Times'' also owned the ''Boston Globe'' newspaper and a stake in the Red Sox (with both being sold in 2013). Despite its fame, it's still not recession-proof -- it began running ads on the front page in 2009. The paper is also famous for having long and descriptive headlines for major events, allowing readers to immediately get the gist of a story without having to read the article. Despite nominally being a New York paper, a national edition of it is easily available in most parts of the country, if only by being the paper sold at most Starbucks (which also gives a hint as to [[BourgeoisBohemian its readership]]). It also publishes an international edition, imaginatively titled ''The New York Times International Edition''[[note]]Previously known as the ''International Herald Tribune'' and used to be a joint enterprise with ''The Washington Post''[[/note]] that is readily available around the world. A rarity in today's market, the ''Times'' is still a basically a family business, with a majority of shares controlled by the Ochs/Sulzberger family since 1896, with Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim being the second-largest share-holder, setting a trend for billionaires to invest in (or downright buy) newspapers. They also used to own some TV stations in middle-sized markets, like WNEP 16 (ABC) in Scranton, PA; these stations were sold in 2007 to Oak Hill Capital Partners, forming the core of Local TV, LLC; they also acquired many ex New World/Fox-owned stations that Fox sold, like WJW-8 in Cleveland; as of 2014, Local TV has been bought out by the Tribune Company.

* ''The Washington Post'' -- Main paper of the Beltway Blowhards. For several decades it was a rather unremarkable daily with low readership, before becoming nationally known for its exposes of [[UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy [=McCarthyism=]]], a term coined by editorial cartoonist Herbert Block (Herblock) in 1950. The following years saw the ''Post'' engaging on investigative journalism, leading to the publication of the "Pentagon Papers". Most famous for exposing Watergate, as seen in the movie ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''. Both the ''Post'' and the ''New York Times'' were in competition to be the first to report on Watergate as it unfolded, but the ''Post'' first brought it to light and did most of the exposing. One reason was that they had the informer "Deep Throat" (a top FBI official, the late W. Mark Felt) to help them. Also has good sports coverage: its sportswriters Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are national celebrities from their daily arguments on ESPN's ''Series/PardonTheInterruption''. From 1961 to 2010, The Washington Post Co. was also notable as the publisher of the nationally-circulated magazine ''Newsweek'', and currently also owns the Kaplan education and test-prep company, a chain of television stations (known as Post-Newsweek Stations until 2014, despite both namesakes being sold off; now it's Graham Media Group), the telecommunications provider Cable ONE (prior to 1997, it was Post-Newsweek Cable), and the online magazine company Slate (which it purchased from Microsoft in 2004). In August 2013, the Post was sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by its long-time owners, the Graham family. With that transaction, The New York Times was left as the only large-scale, family-owned newspaper in the country, although it has yet to be seen if Bezos will keep the paper in his family.

* The ''New York Daily News'' -- The arch-rival to the ''Post'', founded in 1919. Notorious as the paper of people who ride the New York City Subway (who found the tabloid format easier to handle in the 1920s). Perhaps slightly less tabloid than the ''Post'', as well as a more liberal counterpart (pretty much an American version of the UK's ''Daily Mirror'', though not as left-wing[[note]]They began as strongly conservative outlets and were briefly under common ownership in the early '90s, and until this day some ''Mirror'' and ''NYDN'' staffers swap papers. Also, there was a completely different New York paper that was actually called the ''Daily Mirror'', published by Hearst from 1924–63 as a diect competitor to the ''Daily News'' [[/note]]), it was known for being as slavishly pro-Bloomberg as the ''Post'' was known for its pro-Giuliani stance ([[EnemyMine they both hate Mayor De Blasio]]). It is also noted for advocating gun control and migrant reform more than any other paper in the country. The paper is also famous for its photography (for decades its nameplate touted it as "New York's Picture Newspaper"), its gigantic, almost full-page headlines--which are usually rather humorous, due to terseness and/or a {{pun}}--and more recently for its provocative and scathing front-page reports on tragedies, atrocities and controversial figures and statements (most infamously their [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1514.jpeg iconic front page]] on the execution of BlackWidow "Ruthless" Ruth Snyder, featuring the first image of someone being executed by electric chair to ever be printed). Despite being a regional paper, the ''Daily News'' has a surprisingly wide publishing range since New Yorkers can be found all over the country (they actually had a daily national edition in the 1990s). It was owned by the Tribune company until 1993 (except for a brief period in 1991 when it was co-owned by Robert Maxwell) when it was sold to real estate mogul... Mortimer Zuckerman, who in 2017 sold it back to Tribune Publishing for ''one dollar'', although Zuckerman briefly continued as publisher.\\\

* ''Newsday'' is the newspaper for Long Island and Queens, but can be found throughout the metropolitan area. Was owned by Times-Mirror, then Tribune, and currently owned by local cable company Cablevision (also owner of the Madison Square Garden and most of its tenants), with their website only available to paper and Cablevision subscribers and those who don't mind paying $40 a month to access it online. Has recently developed a self-important streak: articles on ongoing news stories are often accompanied by thumbnail-sized shots of their own covers illustrating "How ''Newsday'' covered the story". Then again, given how many papers on this list have been suffering in the economy, perhaps the public needs reminding that they publish more than a comics section and movie listings. Ray Barone of ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' was a sports columnist for the paper.

* The ''Village Voice'', founded in 1955 and so named for its long-time home in the Greenwich Village and East Village neighborhoods of Manhattan, was the United States' first alternative weekly newspaper and pioneered the magazine-style writing and culture coverage that would be found in later papers of that style. The ''Voice'' was the home of a cadre of well-known and respected culture writers, including influential music critic Robert Christgau, political columnist Nat Hentoff, food critic Robert Sietsema, nightlife and gossip writer Michael Musto, media critic Erik Wemple, sex columnist Rachel Kramer Bussel, film critic J. Hoberman, and music writers Chuck Eddy and Maura Johnston. Nearly all of those writers were laid off by the paper between 2006 and 2013 during a period of volatility and changing owners, and the paper itself saw its once sterling reputation in the journalism industry crater as new owners filled its pages with more dubious content. The ''Voice'' was closed in 2018 and its website very rarely published new material for several years. It was revived as a monthly publication under new ownership in April 2021, with only Musto returning from its best-known stable of writers.

* ''The UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Inquirer'' -- Note it's an "I," not an "E" like the tabloid. The ''Inky'' to its friends, it's the third-oldest surviving newspaper in the US (founded 1829 as ''The Pennsylvania Inquirer''). It's had a roller-coaster history, cycling between national prominence and local rag status. It's currently in a local-rag phase; its last period of major national prominence was the period from about 1975 to 1995, when it won a number of Pulitzers and broke all kinds of significant national stories (one of the last major ones being a scandal about a charity supposedly providing care packages to soldiers in the UsefulNotes/GulfWar being used to scam donors). The ''Inquirer'' also owns the ''Philadelphia Daily News'', a populist tabloid (explicitly calling itself "The People's Paper" and advertising itself as "Philadelphia's pain in the a** since 1925") that nevertheless manages to be half-way respectable (probably because of its more-or-less common editorial line with the ''Inquirer''; it's also definitely more like the ''New York Daily News'' than the ''New York Post'' in other aspects as well). Both papers' contents appear on Philly.com, which has a surprisingly high profile nationwide for a locally-based news website.

* ''The UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} News'' and the ''Detroit Free Press'' -- Once, all major and many minor American cities were blessed with multiple daily papers; today, Detroit is one of the few "two-paper towns" left. Formerly rivals, they have a 100-year joint-venture structure in which business and journalistic busywork are shared while retaining separate editorial staffs. As a result, the ''News'' is more right-leaning while the ''Free Press'' leans left. Mainly local and regional stories, plus the sort of focus on the auto industry that the ''Washington Post'' puts on politics or the ''[=LA=] Times'' puts on Hollywood. As Detroit has fallen on hard times, so have both papers, and both now only deliver home/office subscriptions towards the tail end of the week, with lighter papers on Monday-Wednesdays only available through retail channels and a heavy emphasis on their websites.

* ''The Boston Globe'' -- The paper of record for the entirety of New England. It is currently owned by John Henry, the owner of the Boston Red Sox.[[note]]And much else; Henry's Fenway Sports Group also owns [[UsefulNotes/BritishFootyTeams Liverpool F.C.]], half of a UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} team, and UsefulNotes/LeBronJames' marketing rights, plus a whole bunch of other stuff besides.[[/note]] Well known for its Spotlight investigative journalism team, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning work investigating the sex abuse scandal in the city's Catholic churches was turned into an [[Film/{{Spotlight}} Oscar-winning film]]. In recent years, the ''Globe'' became one of the first major newspapers to publish a regular section dedicated to marijuana coverage, which launched alongside its recreational legalization in Massachusetts in 2018. Boston is also one of the last remaining two newspaper cities; The ''Globe'' shares Beantown with the older but less-read tabloid ''Boston Herald'' (It used to be considered a ''three''-paper town, with the alt-weekly ''Boston Phoenix'' being equally highly regarded, but it was shuttered in 2013).

* The ''Des Moines Register'' is likewise another local paper that enters national news consciousness due to the Iowa caucuses being the first chance ''anyone'' gets to vote in the death-march to the White House. They're also known for sponsoring the only long-distance event in all of cycling where riders can expect to ''gain'' weight.

* The ''Tampa Bay Times'' is a long-running paper previously known as the ''St. Petersburg Times'', owned by the Poynter Institute journalism school. Since its 2012 revamp, it's gained national prominence, wide admiration and a truckload of Pulitzer Prizes for a series of long-form, investigative pieces about the education system, politics and housing in Florida; it's also done a ''lot'' of stories about the ChurchOfHappyology's influence in the state, almost to the point of being one of the church's foremost enemies. A front-runner for "Best Medium-Sized Newspaper in the Country," going back to its ''St. Petersburg Times'' days.

* ''The National Enquirer'' -- The king of the trashy supermarket tabloids. Brits, think of ''The Sunday Sport'' without (much of) the porn. Founded as a Sunday evening paper espousing an arch-conservative editorial line, being quite sympathetic to the KKK, it became the first paper to break the news of the Pearl Harbor attack. Its owner from 1952 to 1988 allegedly had Mob ties, and thus refrained from discussing anything pertaining to their activities. Unlike most newspapers, it will pay sources for tips, a practice that is frowned upon by journalists. Generally read for entertainment value, as [[LuridTalesOfDoom little of what is inside can genuinely be classified as news]]; the main reason why it took so long for the mainstream media to catch onto the news of John Edwards' affair was because it was the ''Enquirer'' that broke the story, causing many to dismiss it out of hand (''New York'' Magazine was the only one that followed it up at the time). One of their exposes -- which proved to be false -- also managed to get themselves [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calder_v._Jones enshrined in the legal history of the United States]]. Bizarrely, its publisher's Boca Raton offices were one of the targets of a anthrax attack in 2001, which killed a photo editor.

* ''Globe'' -- A rival tabloid to the ''Enquirer''. Gained some notoriety in the '90s for publishing the autopsy photos of Mexican pop singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez and child beauty queen [=JonBenét=] Ramsey (the latter issue was pulled from newsstands in a number of Boulder, Colorado stores). Generally more oriented towards political news than its celebrity-focused tabloid rivals, albeit with the same degree of sensationalism; during the UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush administration it ran articles claiming that Bush was a cocaine addict cheating on his wife Laura, and during the UsefulNotes/BarackObama administration it has given its endorsement to "birther" conspiracy theories.

* ''National Review'': A conservative biweekly magazine founded by Creator/WilliamFBuckleyJr in 1955. It played a major role in shaping much of the policy of the "New Right" coalition that would eventually bring UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan into power, while simultaneously helping to purge American conservatism of its more odious elements (the anti-Semites, the Birchers and, starting in the '70s, the segregationists). It remains one of the most influential conservative news outlets around, though some of its editorial stances – notably against police brutality and in favor of Black Lives Matter – sets it apart from its kin.

* ''The Weekly Standard'': Another conservative magazine, this one published weekly and founded by UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch in 1995. Its adherence to the Right is primarily due to its association with Neoconservatism, with an international focus (being an aggressively anticommunist and interventionist one); its domestic opinions are mostly centered on libertarian-ish economics, but you get the feeling the ''Standard'' doesn't care quite as much about that. During Murdoch's ownership, it lost over a million dollars a year, though Murdoch wouldn't sell it until 2009. Since then, it has become more successful. Noted for its editor, conservative opinion leader William Kristol[[note]]Son of noted conservative Irving Kristol, who coined the term "neoconservative" in the first place. Not to be confused with Creator/BillyCrystal[[/note]]--it would be fair to say that were this a British publication, it would have the nickname ''The Weekly Kristol''.

* ''Mother Jones'': A left-wing publication, named after labor organizer Mary Harris Jones. Based in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco, it is the largest left-wing news magazine in the country, though its bimonthly model means that it prints far fewer issues than ''The Nation'' does. Creator/MichaelMoore worked as an editor for it for a few months in 1986. During the '80s, it was notable for its staunch feminist stance and its support for various Central American leftist movements, including the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. In the 2012 election it gained a rather large amount of prominence for being the source to which Mitt Romney's infamous "47%" remarks were leaked (by UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter's grandson, no less). Today, it is probably most famous for the work of its political analyst/blogger Kevin Drum and investigative journalist Shane Bauer.

* ''The Atlantic'' (formerly ''The Atlantic Monthly''): Founded by no lesser minds than Creator/RalphWaldoEmerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (with the motto "of no party or clique") in ''[[LongRunners 1857]]''--so old that it was the vehicle for the original publication of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (you know, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5mmFPyDK_8 the one that goes]] "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord..."). It's had something of a turbulent history and its political position has varied wildly. ''The Atlantic'' circa 2021 is owned by Laurene Powell Jobs (the widow of Steve Jobs) and has a broadly left-of-center perspective, though it publishes a pretty diverse range of writers (Elizabeth Bruenig is pretty much the only Catholic conservative socialist you'll read in a major American publication) and is ''mostly'' respected across the political spectrum for the quality of its writing. Its coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, won a Pulitzer Prize.

* ''Magazine/RollingStone'': Nowhere near as highbrow in its arts coverage as the others, nor as hard to find; its origins as a [[TheSixties '60s]] counterculture magazine is the reason for both. However, it gained a reputation over the course of TheSeventies for good in-depth investigative/political journalism--led by the "National Affairs Desk", aka Creator/HunterSThompson (who remains on the masthead--twice). After an extended AudienceAlienatingEra during which it was much less respected (including an embarrassing association with HairMetal), it gradually gained its reputation back, with reviewers well-respected and the National Affairs Desk being revived to former status with Matt Taibbi and a few others conducting hard-hitting reporting (it is also the only outlet to hire the aforementioned David Foster Wallace to do political reporting, who followed John [=McCain=] around during his first presidential run in 2000). As you might have guessed, center-left to liberal to ''very, very'' left (as in, calling investment banks like Goldman Sachs "a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money" left) in its political/investigative journalism. On the other hand, its music reviews, although good, can be almost embarrassingly behind the curve.

* ''Reason'': A moderate libertarian magazine with a circulation of around 70,000. Generally Center-left and center-right in its reporting, it covers economics, society, science and politics in general. Although its stance was far more to the right its early years, on average it's basically ''The Washington Post'' as done by libertarians.

* ''The National Interest'': Founded by Irving Kristol in 1985, it is a bi-monthly magazine focusing on American politics and international affairs. Originally neo-conservative at its founding, these days it is similar to ''The Atlantic'' in that it's moderately center-right in its political position while also including libertarian and liberal authors. Notably, Francis Fukuyama's (in)famous ''The End of History'' was originally published here.[[note]]He and a number of other editors went on to establish the rival ''The American Interest'' in 2005.[[/note]] Since 2001, it's been published by the Center for the National Interest, a [[{{Realpolitik}} realist]] think-tank formerly known as the [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Nixon]] Center.

About the only restriction on publishing material which is in public sources has generally been related to the identities of spies, what is referred to as the "national security" exception. Because a magazine did some research where they combined various public documents and open publications (what would be called "data mining" today when done using computers) to discover who they were, and outed the names of a number of undercover U.S. spies (known as "NOC"s or "Non-Official Cover" agents, i.e. agents whose cover was not governmental[[note]]Remember, for real spies, "cover" doesn't mean lying about who you are. It means [[CovertGroupWithMundaneFront lying about your job]]. If you're a CIA agent and your name is Dave Wallace, you're from Normal, Illinois, and you love ''Franchise/StarTrek'', you don't need to to lie about that. What you ''do'' need to lie about is that you work for the CIA. Instead, you say you work for some company--maybe it's a front organization, but maybe it's a real U.S. corporation or NGO with business abroad. Either way, the like is easier to maintain. [[/note]] and thus did not grant them diplomatic immunity), some of whom were executed by the countries they were spying on, the U.S. Congress passed, the President signed, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld, a law that makes it illegal to "out" or identify a covert spy, even if you find out from openly published government records. This was why there was such an outcry when that happened in the case of Valerie Plame, a woman who ended up being publicly identified as a CIA employee by columnist Robert Novak, although in this case no charges were ever filed (basically because Novak (1) was a highly respected conservative pundit, (2) did not realize he was blowing Plame's cover, (3) was almost certainly working as an UnwittingPawn for Dick Cheney, and (4) was possibly going senile--he died six years later of brain cancer). This rule regarding secret intelligence agents is the one and only exception to the rule that reporters in the U.S. may freely, legally report and publish, without fear of reprisal, anything they find in public records.

But even actual malice doesn't matter, if it's true. The somewhat (in)famous District Attorney of New Orleans, Jim Garrison - popularized by Creator/OliverStone's movie ''Film/{{JFK}}'' - held a press conference in which he complained that the judges in the county were making it difficult to prosecute crimes because they took too many vacations, and a few other things, and he was convicted of criminal libel. The U.S. Supreme Cout, in ''Garrison v. Louisiana'', 379 US 64 (1964), said it agreed with the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, which said in ''State v. Burnham'', 9 N.H. 34,(1837), "If, upon a lawful occasion for making a publication, he has published the truth, and no more, there is no sound principle which can make him liable, even if he was actuated by express malice. . . ."

That doesn't mean American reporters have ''carte blanche'' to do anything to report on a story. Depending on what has happened, if a reporter breaks a law covering a story, they sometimes will be prosecuted, especially if the incident is embarrassing. There was one case where a reporter showed how weak the Los Angeles County Welfare Department was in checking on the background of applicants that he was able to apply for -- and receive -- welfare checks. The district attorney originally threatened to prosecute the reporter (for welfare fraud), until he realized that it would give even more publicity to the story and make the county look worse. (Plus, since they hadn't actually cashed the checks, it's probably likely a jury would have seen through what it was: a reporter caught the welfare department "with its pants down" and the DA was trying to punish the reporter for catching them acting stupidly.) Furthermore, fabrication and plagiarism are not crimes, but are considered to be two of the biggest breaches of journalistic ethics, and reporters who are caught doing either typically [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor lose their job and reputation]].

* The ''New York Daily News'' -- The arch-rival to the ''Post'', founded in 1919. Notorious as the paper of people who ride the New York City Subway (who found the tabloid format easier to handle in the 1920s). Perhaps slightly less tabloid than the ''Post'', as well as a more liberal counterpart (pretty much an American version of the UK's ''Daily Mirror'', though not as left-wing[[note]]They began as strongly conservative outlets and were briefly under common ownership in the early '90s, and until this day some ''Mirror'' and ''NYDN'' staffers swap papers. Also, there was a completely different New York paper that was actually called the ''Daily Mirror'', published by Hearst from 1924–63 as a diect competitor to the ''Daily News'' [[/note]]), it was known for being as slavishly pro-Bloomberg as the ''Post'' was known for its pro-Giuliani stance ([[EnemyMine they both hate Mayor De Blasio]]). It is also noted for advocating gun control and migrant reform more than any other paper in the country. The paper is also famous for its photography (for decades its nameplate touted it as "New York's Picture Newspaper"), its gigantic, almost full-page headlines--which are usually rather humorous, due to terseness and/or a {{pun}}--and more recently for its provocative and scathing front-page reports on tragedies, atrocities and controversial figures and statements. Despite being a regional paper, the ''Daily News'' has a surprisingly wide publishing range since New Yorkers can be found all over the country (they actually had a daily national edition in the 1990s). It was owned by the Tribune company until 1993 (except for a brief period in 1991 when it was co-owned by Robert Maxwell) when it was sold to real estate mogul... Mortimer Zuckerman, who in 2017 sold it back to Tribune Publishing for ''one dollar'', although Zuckerman briefly continued as publisher.\\\

* ''Newsday'' is the newspaper for Long Island and Queens, but can be found in the metropolitan area. Was owned by Times-Mirror, then Tribune, and currently owned by local cable company Cablevision (also owner of the Madison Square Garden and most of its tenants), with their website only available to paper and Cablevision subscribers and those who don't mind paying $40 a month to access it online. Has recently developed a self-important streak: articles on ongoing news stories are often accompanied by thumbnail-sized shots of their own covers illustrating "How ''Newsday'' covered the story". Then again, given how many papers on this list have been suffering in the economy, perhaps the public needs reminding that they publish more than a comics section and movie listings. Ray Barone of ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' was a sports columnist for the paper.

* The ''New York Daily News'' -- The arch-rival to the ''Post'', founded in 1919. Notorious as the paper of people who ride the New York City Subway (who found the tabloid format easier to handle in the 1920s). Perhaps slightly less tabloid than the ''Post'', as well as a more liberal counterpart (pretty much an American version of the UK's ''Daily Mirror'', though not as left-wing[[note]]They began as strongly conservative outlets and were briefly under common ownership in the early '90s, and until this day some ''Mirror'' and ''NYDN'' staffers swap papers. Also, there was a completely different New York paper that was actually called the ''Daily Mirror'', published by Hearst from 1924–63 as a diect competitor to the ''Daily News'' [[/note]]), it was known for being as slavishly pro-Bloomberg as the ''Post'' was known for its pro-Giuliani stance ([[EnemyMine they both hate Mayor De Blasio]]). It is also noted for advocating gun control and migrant reform more than any other paper in the country. The paper is also famous for its gigantic, almost full-page headlines--which are usually rather humorous, due to terseness and/or a {{pun}}--and more recently for its provocative and scathing front-page reports on tragedies, atrocities and controversial figures and statements. Despite being a regional paper, the ''Daily News'' has a surprisingly wide publishing range since New Yorkers can be found all over the country (they actually had a daily national edition in the 1990s). It was owned by the Tribune company until 1993 (except for a brief period in 1991 when it was co-owned by Robert Maxwell) when it was sold to real estate mogul... Mortimer Zuckerman, who in 2017 sold it back to Tribune Publishing for ''one dollar'', although Zuckerman briefly continued as publisher.\\\

* ''The Washington Post'' -- Main paper of the Beltway Blowhards. For several decades it was a rather unremarkable daily with low readership, before becoming nationally known for its exposes of [[UsefulNotes/JosephMcCarthy [=McCarthyism=]]], a term coined by Pulitzer winning editorial cartoonist Herbert Block (Herblock) in 1950. The following years saw the ''Post'' engaging on investigative journalism, leading to the publication of the "Pentagon Papers". Most famous for exposing Watergate, as seen in the movie ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''. Both the ''Post'' and the ''New York Times'' were in competition to be the first to report on Watergate as it unfolded, but the ''Post'' first brought it to light and did most of the exposing. One reason was that they had the informer "Deep Throat" (a top FBI official, the late W. Mark Felt) to help them. Also has good sports coverage: its sportswriters Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are national celebrities from their daily arguments on ESPN's ''Series/PardonTheInterruption''. From 1961 to 2010, The Washington Post Co. was also notable as the publisher of the nationally-circulated magazine ''Newsweek'', and currently also owns the Kaplan education and test-prep company, a chain of television stations (known as Post-Newsweek Stations until 2014, despite both namesakes being sold off; now it's Graham Media Group), the telecommunications provider Cable ONE (prior to 1997, it was Post-Newsweek Cable), and the online magazine company Slate (which it purchased from Microsoft in 2004). In August 2013, the Post was sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by its long-time owners, the Graham family. With that transaction, The New York Times was left as the only large-scale, family-owned newspaper in the country, although it has yet to be seen if Bezos will keep the paper in his family.

* ''The Washington Post'' -- Main paper of the Beltway Blowhards. For several decades it was a rather unremarkable daily with low readership, before becoming nationally known for its exposes of McCarthyism, a term coined by editorial cartoonist Herbert Block (Herblock) in 1950. The following years saw the ''Post'' engaging on investigative journalism, leading to the publication of the "Pentagon Papers". Most famous for exposing Watergate, as seen in the movie ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''. Both the ''Post'' and the ''New York Times'' were in competition to be the first to report on Watergate as it unfolded, but the ''Post'' first brought it to light and did most of the exposing. One reason was that they had the informer "Deep Throat" (a top FBI official, the late W. Mark Felt) to help them. Also has good sports coverage: its sportswriters Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are national celebrities from their daily arguments on ESPN's ''Series/PardonTheInterruption''. From 1961 to 2010, The Washington Post Co. was also notable as the publisher of the nationally-circulated magazine ''Newsweek'', and currently also owns the Kaplan education and test-prep company, a chain of television stations (known as Post-Newsweek Stations until 2014, despite both namesakes being sold off; now it's Graham Media Group), the telecommunications provider Cable ONE (prior to 1997, it was Post-Newsweek Cable), and the online magazine company Slate (which it purchased from Microsoft in 2004). In August 2013, the Post was sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by its long-time owners, the Graham family. With that transaction, The New York Times was left as the only large-scale, family-owned newspaper in the country, although it has yet to be seen if Bezos will keep the paper in his family.

* ''The Washington Post'' -- Main paper of the Beltway Blowhards. For several decades it was a rather unremarkable daily with low readership, before becoming nationally known for its exposes of McCarthyism, a term coined by editorial cartoonist Herbert Block (Herblock) in 1950. The following years saw the ''Post'' engaging on investigative journalism, leasing to the publication of the "Pentagon Papers". Most famous for exposing Watergate, as seen in the movie ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''. Both the ''Post'' and the ''New York Times'' were in competition to be the first to report on Watergate as it unfolded, but the ''Post'' first brought it to light and did most of the exposing. One reason was that they had the informer "Deep Throat" (a top FBI official, the late W. Mark Felt) to help them. Also has good sports coverage: its sportswriters Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are national celebrities from their daily arguments on ESPN's ''Series/PardonTheInterruption''. From 1961 to 2010, The Washington Post Co. was also notable as the publisher of the nationally-circulated magazine ''Newsweek'', and currently also owns the Kaplan education and test-prep company, a chain of television stations (known as Post-Newsweek Stations until 2014, despite both namesakes being sold off; now it's Graham Media Group), the telecommunications provider Cable ONE (prior to 1997, it was Post-Newsweek Cable), and the online magazine company Slate (which it purchased from Microsoft in 2004). In August 2013, the Post was sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by its long-time owners, the Graham family. With that transaction, The New York Times was left as the only large-scale, family-owned newspaper in the country, although it has yet to be seen if Bezos will keep the paper in his family.

* ''The Washington Post'' -- Main paper of the Beltway Blowhards. Most famous for exposing Watergate, as seen in the movie ''Film/AllThePresidentsMen''. Both the ''Post'' and the ''New York Times'' were in competition to be the first to report on Watergate as it unfolded, but the ''Post'' first brought it to light and did most of the exposing. One reason was that they had the informer "Deep Throat" (a top FBI official, the late W. Mark Felt) to help them. Also has good sports coverage: its sportswriters Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon are national celebrities from their daily arguments on ESPN's ''Series/PardonTheInterruption''. From 1961 to 2010, The Washington Post Co. was also notable as the publisher of the nationally-circulated magazine ''Newsweek'', and currently also owns the Kaplan education and test-prep company, a chain of television stations (known as Post-Newsweek Stations until 2014, despite both namesakes being sold off; now it's Graham Media Group), the telecommunications provider Cable ONE (prior to 1997, it was Post-Newsweek Cable), and the online magazine company Slate (which it purchased from Microsoft in 2004). In August 2013, the Post was sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos by its long-time owners, the Graham family. With that transaction, The New York Times was left as the only large-scale, family-owned newspaper in the country, although it has yet to be seen if Bezos will keep the paper in his family.

These two papers are widely considered to be the top of the journalistic profession in America, and you can expect any young reporter in fiction to dream of working at either one. In general, the ''Times'' does better in reporting international news, as well as arts and culture, while the ''Post'' is considered to be the go-to for political news. Both are often cited as being proof of the liberal bias of the press. The accuracy of this accusation is debated, and some observers disagree with it. The reporting of both is claimed by some to have a liberal (or at the very least, neoconservative) bias, but no one disputes that the editorial and op-ed pages do. (Case in point: the ''Times'' has not endorsed a Republican for President since 1956. The ''Post'' has ''never'' endorsed a Republican for President, although the ''Post'' did not generally make political endorsements prior to TheSeventies.) On that front the ''Times'' has several columnists, such as Paul Krugman and Maureen Dowd, who do tend to make conservatives' blood pressure rise.[[note]]What's often forgotten is that Dowd also caused ''liberal'' hypertension back in TheNineties thanks to her constant yammering about how UsefulNotes/{{Bill|Clinton}} was cheating on UsefulNotes/{{Hill|aryRodhamClinton}} and how she was too ambitious/weak-willed to do anything about it.[[/note]] On the other hand, they also boast right-of-center writers such as Ross Douthat, and the late William Safire, who in addition to his political column wrote a highly regarded column on the American English language for the Sunday edition for many years.[[note]]He occasionally dipped into other languages, as well; for instance, he thoroughly chastised the French Academy for adopting "Poutine" as the official French transcription of UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's name; see EitherWorldDominationOrSomethingAboutBananas for details.[[/note]] Oh, and David Brooks. Both the ''Times'' and the ''Post'' (generally) try to play the role of the centrist voice of reason/Loyal Opposition in their editorial coverage (a role that the ''WSJ'' and ''USA Today'' have tended to fill sometimes as well in recent years), with the results that they irritate conservatives when a Republican president is in power and annoy liberals when a Democrat holds the White House. The ''NYT'' attracted [[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/us/politics/historians-critique-of-obama-foreign-policy-is-brought-alive-by-events-in-iraq.html international attention in 2014]] when one editorial openly criticized Obama's policies. The ''Post'' did get into a bit of a flap when several bloggers accused columnist Jennifer Rubin of being a Romney campaign mouthpiece in 2012, but this was understood to be an anomaly.

These two papers are widely considered to be the top of the journalistic profession in America, and you can expect any young reporter in fiction to dream of working at either one. In general, the ''Times'' does better in reporting international news, as well as arts and culture, while the ''Post'' is considered to be the go-to for political news. Both are often cited as being proof of the liberal bias of the press. The accuracy of this accusation is debated, and some observers disagree with it. The reporting of both is claimed by some to have a liberal (or at the very least, neoconservative) bias, but no one disputes that the editorial and op-ed pages do. (Case in point: the ''Times'' has not endorsed a Republican for President since 1956, and the ''Post'' has ''never'' endorsed a Republican for President.[[note]]The ''Post'' did not generally make political endorsements prior to TheSeventies.[[/note]]) On that front the ''Times'' has several columnists, such as Paul Krugman and Maureen Dowd, who do tend to make conservatives' blood pressure rise.[[note]]What's often forgotten is that Dowd also caused ''liberal'' hypertension back in TheNineties thanks to her constant yammering about how UsefulNotes/{{Bill|Clinton}} was cheating on UsefulNotes/{{Hill|aryRodhamClinton}} and how she was too ambitious/weak-willed to do anything about it.[[/note]] On the other hand, they also boast right-of-center writers such as Ross Douthat, and the late William Safire, who in addition to his political column wrote a highly regarded column on the American English language for the Sunday edition for many years.[[note]]He occasionally dipped into other languages, as well; for instance, he thoroughly chastised the French Academy for adopting "Poutine" as the official French transcription of UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's name; see EitherWorldDominationOrSomethingAboutBananas for details.[[/note]] Oh, and David Brooks. Both the ''Times'' and the ''Post'' (generally) try to play the role of the centrist voice of reason/Loyal Opposition in their editorial coverage (a role that the ''WSJ'' and ''USA Today'' have tended to fill sometimes as well in recent years), with the results that they irritate conservatives when a Republican president is in power and annoy liberals when a Democrat holds the White House. The ''NYT'' attracted [[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/us/politics/historians-critique-of-obama-foreign-policy-is-brought-alive-by-events-in-iraq.html international attention in 2014]] when one editorial openly criticized Obama's policies. The ''Post'' did get into a bit of a flap when several bloggers accused columnist Jennifer Rubin of being a Romney campaign mouthpiece in 2012, but this was understood to be an anomaly.