to every Republican administration since Reagan." In a Harper's Magazine essay in 2008, American historian Thomas Frank linked The Washington Times to the modern American conservative movement, saying: "There is even a daily newspaper—The Washington Times—published strictly for the movement's benefit, a propaganda sheet whose distortions are so obvious and so alien that it puts one in mind of those official party organs one encounters when traveling in authoritarian countries." The New York Times noted in 2009 that it had been "a crucial training ground for many rising conservative journalists and a must-read for those in the movement. A veritable who's who of conservatives—Tony Blankley, Frank J. Gaffney Jr., Larry Kudlow, John Podhoretz and Tony Snow—has churned out copy for its pages." The Columbia Journalism Review noted that reporters for The Washington Times had used it as a springboard to other mainstream news outlets. In 2002, Post veteran Ben Bradlee said: "I see them get some local stories that I think the Post doesn't have and should have had." In January 2011, conservative commentator Paul Weyrich said: "The Washington Post became very arrogant and they just decided that they would determine what was news and what wasn't news and they wouldn't cover a lot of things that went on. And The Washington Times has forced the Post to cover a lot of things that they wouldn't cover if the Times wasn't in existence." Awards Alexander Hunter, designer and editorial illustrator for The Washington Times, has won the 2019 Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists. Thom Loverro, lead sports columnist for The Washington Times, won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for Sports Column Writing in 2014. In 2013, The Washington Times won two Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism from the Society of Professional Journalists for Deadline Reporting (Daily Circulation of 1–50,000) and Investigative Reporting (Daily Circulation 1–50,000). Guy Taylor and Dan Boylan, reporters for The Washington Times, won an Honorable Mention for the 31st annual Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency. The Washington Times Advertising department won first and third place in the 2019 VPA News and Advertising contest in the Special Sections (standalone section non-slick cover) category. Outstanding design and creative artwork for the Qatar and Rolling Thunder Special Section covers landed the department the award. Controversies General controversies Some former employees, including Whelan,