Nick Wass / AP PhotoYesterday, we noted that the Washington Times was on its death bed, having only been saved by a last-minute offer to purchase the paper. This morning, the City Paper’s Dave McKenna postulated that perhaps the shadowy figure behind the bid was none other than Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder:
My spidey sense is tingling: Could Dan Snyder be the guy who stepped in to save the Times? Is he ready to throw money at the Moons?
Don’t rule it out, and not just because Snyder has a track record of making horrible business decisions.
I’ve been suspicious about Snyder and the Washington Times since the spring. He attended the White House Correspondents Dinner and brought Bruce Allen, Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb along with him. They all sat at the Washington Times table.
Pure speculation from McKenna, of course. Samuel Chamberlain over at TBD followed up with the Redskins to see if Snyder had any interest; a club official got back to him within minutes and denied the rumor with extreme prejudice, stating “That is not true. [Snyder] has no interest whatsoever.” Of course, that doesn’t mean that Snyder isn’t thinking about purchasing the paper, but it’s the best source we’ve got to work with at the moment.
Sure, Snyder’s record in business ventures is spotty, to say the least, and he does have a penchant for tossing around a lot of cash — both prerequisites for anyone legitimately thinking about an attempt to turn around the Times. Does it makes sense that Snyder would have interest in purchasing a newspaper on the cheap and wielding editorial control over the end product? Sure. But on the other hand, is it too much to believe that he has actually learned something from his ill-fated foray into Six Flags? The days of the Times being a legitimate investment have passed — Snyder would probably be better off starting his own paper from scratch at this point.
Though as a person who has a hobby of poking fun at the local media, I will happily admit that I’d really, really like to see this happen.
