John F. Solomon

John F. Solomon is an American journalist and media executive. He is currently chief creative officer of Circa News. He is known primarily for his tenure as an executive and editor-in-chief at The Washington Times.[1]

Early career

Solomon graduated from Marquette University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and sociology.[2]

From to , Solomon worked at the Associated Press, where he became the assistant bureau chief in Washington, helping to develop some of the organization’s first digital products, such as its online elections offering. He also broke many award-winning stories, including exposes on how federally funded researchers used foster children as test subjects for AIDS drug experiments and what the federal government knew about al Qaeda threats prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks.[3]

In 2007, he served as The Washington Post’s national investigative correspondent. While working at the Post, he led an award-winning project with 60 Minutes that disclosed how the FBI had for decades used faulty science to match bullets to crime scenes. Due to the story, the FBI reviewed hundreds of cases in which defendants might have been convicted due to scientifically flawed evidence.

The Washington Times

Executive Editor

In February 2008, Solomon began his work as editor-in-chief of The Washington Times.[4] During this time, Solomon made a mission to make the paper's coverage more objective while expanding it's reach. Under Solomon, the Times changed some of its style guide to conform to more mainstream media usage. The Times announced that it would no longer use words like "illegal aliens" and "homosexual," and instead opt for "more neutral terminology" such as "illegal immigrants" and "gay," respectively. The paper also decided to stop using "Hillary" when referring to Senator Hillary Clinton, and the word "marriage" in the expression "gay marriage" will no longer appear in quotes in the newspaper.[5] He also oversaw the redesign of the paper's website and the launch of the paper's national weekly edition. A new television studio was built in the paper’s Washington DC headquarters, and the paper also launched a syndicated three-hour morning-drive radio news program.[6]

Solomon left the paper in November 2009 after internal shakeups and financial uncertainty among the paper's ownership.[7]

Return

After a three and a half year hiatus, Solomon returned to the paper in July 2013 to oversee the newspaper’s content, digital and business strategies.[8] He helped to craft digital strategies to expand online traffic, created new products and partnerships, and led a reorganization of the company’s advertising and sales team. He also helped launch a new subscription-only national edition targeted for tablets, cellphones and other mobile devices, and helped push a redesign of the paper's website.

Solomon left the paper in December 2015 to serve as chief creative officer of the mobile news application Circa, which was relaunching at that time.[1]

Other career

Solomon was president of Packard Media Group from November 2009 to December 2015.[9] Solomon also served as journalist in residence at the Center for Public Integrity, a non-profit organization that specializes in investigative journalism, from March 2010 to June 2011.[6]

In 2012, Solomon and former Associated Press executives Jim Williams and Brad Kalbfeld created the Washington Guardian, an online investigative news portal. It was acquired by The Washington Times when Solomon returned to the paper in July 2013.[1]

After leaving The Washington Times, Solomon became chief creative officer for Circa News. Circa is a mobile news application founded in 2011 that streams updates on big news events to users. In June 2015 it shut down, but its relaunch was announced after its acquisition by Sinclair Broadcast Group.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Wemple, Erik (2015-12-07). "John Solomon leaves Washington Times, joins Circa re-launch". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  2. ↑ "John Solomon | LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  3. ↑ http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Solomon returns to lead content, business strategies at The Washington Times". The Washingtion Times. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  4. ↑ "Ex-Washington Post Reporter to Lead a Rival: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance". biz.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  5. ↑ "Playing Center: John Solomon is pushing evenhandedness at the Washington Times. - Washington City Paper". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  6. 1 2 "Something fishy?". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  7. ↑ Kurtz, Howard (2009-11-13). "Washington Times editor John Solomon resigns". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  8. ↑ http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Solomon returns to lead content, business strategies at The Washington Times". The Washingtion Times. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
  9. ↑ "John Solomon | PACKARD MEDIA GROUP LLC | ZoomInfo.com". ZoomInfo. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
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