The Washington Times – New Website, originally uploaded by Rob Bluey.

Today marked a new era for the Washington Times. For too long the city’s other daily newspaper played second fiddle to the Washington Post’s website. That’s no longer the case.

New executive editor John Solomon pulled back the curtain on the newspaper’s revamped website at a meeting with conservative bloggers at The Heritage Foundation. Solomon gave us a tour of the new site this afternoon, from its innovative news “Cube” on the homepage to its communities, complete with a “mayor” for each. (See more coverage from David All on TechRepublican.)

Most impressive, however, was the success he’s enjoyed with the newsroom staff, which he’s turned from ink-loving reporters to digital journalists, who are now recording videos, filing reports more often and doing all sorts of tasks that come with backpack journalism these days.

Kudos to web designer Roger Black for his excellent creation. If Black’s previous work is a guide — he turned the Houston Chronicle website into a major online news player — then good days are ahead for the Washington Times.

Across town at another Washington newspaper, The Examiner, the website is about to get a big boost with the addition of Mary Katharine Ham, who was named online editor last week. Mary Katharine, a good friend and Heritage alum, currently works as managing editor of Townhall.com, a site she helped relaunch in 2006 as part of Salem Communications Corp.

In her new job, Mary Katharine will oversee the Examiner’s news and editorial content and develop new features and functionality. She starts in about two weeks. Not only did the Examiner make an excellent move by hiring someone with excellent knowledge of the web, but the paper also grabbed a budding TV star who appears regularly on “The O’Reilly Factor.”

After years of online domination by the Washington Post, it’s nice to finally see the competition making the right moves.