Photo by afagen

The Washington Times, which last year celebrated its 30th anniversary by announcing a round of editorial bloodletting, announced some of the forthcoming changes in a newsroom memo leaked today.

According to the letter from executive editor David Jackson, who took over the paper in November, the Times’ brand of right-wing commentary will take even more prominence, at the detriment to what was already a fairly thin local section. Jackson’s memo was first reported by Fishbowl D.C..

In particular, Jackson is keen that “Washington Times 3.0” promotes more voices that carry libertarian and Tea Party opinions, despite the arch-conservative movement’s sometimes waning influence within the Republican Party. But the Times is more interested in the GOP’s young turks:

We will develop columns devoted to Libertarian viewpoints, tea party opinions, the latest think tank research, and what young conservatives (particularly those on college campuses) are talking about. We will also add blogger voices to provide online commentary.

Even though the Tea Party is on the proverbial ropes, Jackson’s aspiration certainly bodes well for the likes of Emily Miller, who has been on even more of a tear lately with her pro-gun columns in the wake of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. (Most recently, she has called for Meet the Press host David Gregory to be clapped in leg irons for using a 30-round magazine as a prop.)

As for news content that might actually be of use to local residents, though, Jackson writes that, too, is going for a more national appeal. The Times, he writes “will continue our distinctive coverage of football, baseball, hockey, and other sports that are popular with our readers,” though the sports section was only resuscitated in 2011 with the launch of “Washington Times 2.0.”

The outlook for local D.C. news, however, is far grimmer. Rather than consistent city hall coverage, Jackson wants the stories that will pop outside the Beltway: “In our local coverage, we will favor stories about local issues put in a national context, so that our online audience from California to Florida will also find them informative and useful.”

Such changes are already noticeable. Tom Howell Jr., who until last week covered the John A. Wilson Building for the Times, is now on the national desk, with no apparent replacement on the D.C. government beat. Instead, there are stories like this one about people’s fears of the number 13. (Perhaps because nothing says “Florida” quite like a frightened old person.)

But as City Desk notes, it seems the Times’ local commentators are on board with more overtly conservative bent: Deborah Simmons recently complained that one of the D.C. Council’s principal flaws is a lack of Republicans. And on Monday, she bashed bike lanes and “walkability” endeavors.