Shoe Drops: Solomon Out as 'Wash Times' Editor

By: E&P Staff He'd been missing in action since the top level shakeup at The Washington Times and now it's official -- John Solomon is out as executive editor. In fact, he's been out for about six days.

A one-line statement came late today from a public relations office. Don Meyer, a spokesman for the Washington Times and a partner at Rubin Meyer Communications, emailed the Web site Talking Points Memo, which has been covering the upheaval at the paper, closely: " Effective November 6, 2009, John Solomon has resigned his position as the Executive Editor of The Washington Times."

Solomon had a three-year contract that began in January 2007.

Talking Points Memo said that after receiving the emailed it "phoned top newsroom staffers -- who weren't aware of the resignation.

"No kidding?! That explains a lot," one staffer responded.

E&P had tried to reach Solomon for several days.

After this news came out, a well-known columnist for the paper, and rare Democrat-leaner, Lanny Davis, said he was quitting, too.

The paper is owned by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. According to many reports, feud between Moon's sons sparked the tensions this month.

Talking Points Memo late tonight said it obtained the Washington Times' internal email following up on Solomon's resignation. It was sent to Times staffers from Managing Editor David Jones:

"For those who were not in the newsroom for our impromptu meeting a few minutes ago, let me just say that we have been assured by Jonathan Slevin that despite the resignation of John Solomon, the company remains as committed as ever to keeping The Washington Times going as a robust multi-media company. He noted the huge strides we have all made over the past two years and asked Jeff Birnbaum and me to carry on 'business as usual' while the new management carries out its review of all our operations. Slevin also expressed his respect and appreciation to the newsroom for your efforts of the past week, in which you all have continued to put out a first-rate product in a very difficult time."