The Washington Times newspaper slashed its staff by more than 40 percent and will eliminate its sports section and most local coverage, shifting its focus to politics and investigative reporting. The 27-year-old newspaper announced the latest round of layoffs in its Thursday edition and said the last sports section would appear Friday. Among staff laid off was the newsroom leader, managing editor David Jones. A previous round of job cuts was made earlier in December, and the newspaper published its last Sunday edition last weekend. The Times will publish a new weekday print edition starting Monday. It will focus on the newspaper's core strengths, including politics and cultural issues, publisher Jonathan Slevin said Wednesday in a statement. “Our market-based forward-looking plan is both a response to the recessionary economy, continued downward financial pressures on the news industry, and our transition into a 21st century multimedia enterprise,” Slevin said.
