The Washington Post - Overview

Overview

The Post is generally regarded as one of the leading daily American newspapers, along with The New York Times, which is known for its general reporting and international coverage, and The Wall Street Journal, which is known for its financial reporting. 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.

Unlike the Times and the Journal, the Post does not print an edition for distribution away from the East Coast. In 2009, the newspaper ceased publication of its "National Weekly Edition", which combined stories from the week's print editions, due to shrinking circulation. The majority of its newsprint readership is in District of Columbia and its suburbs in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

The paper's weekday and Saturday printings include the following sections:

• Main section, containing the front page, national and international news, business, politics, and editorials and opinions
• Metro section, containing local news
• Style section, with feature writing on pop culture, politics, fine and performing arts, film, fashion, and gossip, along with advice columns and comics
• Sports section
• Classified advertising

Sunday editions largely include the weekday sections as well as Outlook (opinion), Arts, Travel, Comics, TV Week, and the Washington Post Magazine. The "Sunday Style" section differs slightly from the weekday Style section; it is in a tabloid format, and it houses the reader-written humor contest The Style Invitational.

Additional weekly sections appear on weekdays: Health & Science on Tuesday, Food on Wednesday, Local Living (home and garden) on Thursday, and Weekend, with details about upcoming events in the local area, on Friday. The latter two are in a tabloid format.

The Post is one of a few U.S. newspapers with foreign bureaus, located in Baghdad, Bogota, Cairo, Hong Kong, Islamabad, Jerusalem, Kabul, London, Mexico City, Moscow, Nairobi, New Delhi, Paris, Shanghai, Tehran, and Tokyo. In November 2009, it announced the closure of its U.S. regional bureaus — Chicago, Los Angeles and New York — as part of an increased focus on "political stories and local news coverage in Washington." The paper has local bureaus in Maryland (Annapolis, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, Southern Maryland) and Virginia (Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Richmond, and Prince William County).

As of September 2009, its average weekday circulation was 582,844, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, making it the fifth largest newspaper in the country by circulation, behind USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. While its circulation (like that of almost all newspapers) has been slipping, it has one of the highest market-penetration rates of any metropolitan news daily.

The paper is part of The Washington Post Company, a diversified education and media company that also owns educational services provider Kaplan, Inc., Post-Newsweek Stations, Cable One, the online magazine Slate, The Gazette and Southern Maryland Newspapers, and The Herald, a daily paper in Everett, Washington. The company also distributes the free daily Express newspaper in the D.C. area and runs its own syndication service for its columnists and cartoonists, The Washington Post Writers Group. In 2011, the company ranked No 470 on the Fortune 500 annual list of America's largest corporations. It dropped off the list in 2012.

The Post has its main office at 1150 15th St, N.W., and the newspaper has the exclusive ZIP code 20071.