A Washington Times reporter who spent 14 years at the paper was reportedly fired after she called her employer a “rudderless ship” in a Washington Post story.

“About a month ago, Julia Duin ... did something that journalists admire and many employers abhor. She spoke out about her employer, in print, on the record. In my article on the potential sale of the Times, Duin's remarks -- about the Times feeling like a 'rudderless ship' and about the snake that turned up in the Times newsroom -- stood out for their honesty and wit," Post reporter Ian Shapira wrote in a blog post today. “Duin, 54, said she was fired Tuesday, a decision that she believes came in retaliation for her published comments about the paper. To make matters even more difficult, Duin was given the news while her five-year-old daughter Olivia was visiting the newsroom. On top of that, Duin had to pack up her office belongings while on crutches, the result of a recent foot injury”

Shapira said Times editors did not return calls for comment. This is the latest in a string of changes at the paper going back to last year that have included the departure of the publisher, editor and a radical change in distribution to fewer readers.

“Duin's departure comes as Times executives are considering selling the financially strapped newspaper, which was created in 1982 as a politically conservative organ by the founder of the Unification Church, Rev. Sun Myung Moon,” Shapira added. “According to current and former Times executives, one group of investors has offered about $15 million; under the terms of the offer, the investors would also assume the paper's debt, which is believed to be more than $6 million. The sources said they did not know or could not reveal the identities of the investors.”