the Courier-Journal
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 The July 27, 2005 front page of The Courier-Journal |
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Broadsheet |
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| Owner | Gannett Company, Inc. |
| Publisher | Denise Ivey |
| Editor | Bennie Ivory |
| Founded | 1868 |
| Headquarters | 525 West Broadway Louisville, Kentucky 40201  United States |
| Circulation | 218,796 Daily 266,594 Sunday[1] |
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| Website: courier-journal.com | |
The Courier-Journal, nicknamed the "C-J", is the main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the paper is the 48th largest daily paper in the United States and the single largest in Kentucky.
The Courier-Journal also owns the alternative weekly paper Velocity, which is provided free of charge.
History
Pre-History
The Courier-Journal was created from the merger of several newspapers introduced in Kentucky in the 1800s.
Pioneer paper The Focus of Politics, Commerce and Literature, was founded in 1826 in Louisville when the city was an early settlement of less than 7,000 individuals. In 1830 a new newspaper, The Louisville Daily Journal, began distribution in the city and, in 1832, absorbed The Focus of Politics, Commerce and Literature. The Journal was an organ of the Whig Party and edited by George D. Prentice, a New Englander who initially came to Kentucky to write a biography of Henry Clay. Prentice would edit the Journal for more than 40 years.
In 1844, another newspaper, the Louisville Morning Courier was founded in Louisville by Walter N. Haldeman. The Louisville Daily Journal and the Louisville Morning Courier were the news leaders in Louisville and were politically opposed throughout the Civil War; The Journal was against slavery while the Courier was pro-Confederacy. The Courier was suppressed by the Union and had to move to Nashville, but returned to Louisville after the war.
Watterson era
In the mid-1860s, near the end of the Civil War, Henry Watterson became the editor of The Journal. During secret negotiations in 1868, The Journal and the Courier merged and the first edition of The Courier-Journal was delivered to Louisvillians on Sunday morning, 8 November, 1868.
Watterson, the son of a Tennessee congressman, had written for Harper's
Magazine and the New York Times before enlisting in the
Confederate Army. He became nationally known for his work as the
Courier-Journal emerged as the region's leading paper. He supported the Democratic Party and pushed for the industrialization of
Kentucky and the South in general, notably through urging the Southern Exposition be
held in Louisville. He attracted controversy for attempting to prove that Christopher
Marlowe had actually written the works of
The Courier-Journal founded a companion afternoon edition of the paper, The Louisville Times, in May 1884. Haldeman had owned the papers until his death in 1902, and by 1917 they were owned by his brother, William, and Henry Watterson.
Bingham ownership
In 1918, Judge Robert Worth Bingham purchased two-thirds interest in the newspapers and acquired the remaining stock in 1920. In 1933, the newspapers passed to his son, Barry Bingham, Sr., and in 1971, Barry Bingham, Jr. succeeded his father as the newspapers' editor and publisher. The Binghams were well-liked owners popularly credited with being more concerned with publishing quality journalism than making heavy profits. They also owned the WHAS TV and radio station and the Standard Gravure company which printed, among other things, the Courier-Journal.
In 1974, Carol Sutton became managing editor of the Courier-Journal, the first woman appointed to such a post at a major US daily newspaper. During her tenure at the paper, it was awarded the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for its coverage of school desegregation in Louisville.
Barry Bingham, Jr. served as editor and publisher until he resigned in 1986, shortly after his father announced that the newspaper company was for sale.
Gannett ownership
In July 1986, Gannett Company, Inc. purchased the newspaper company and appointed George N. Gill President and Publisher. Gill had been with the newspaper and the Binghams for over two decades, working his way up from reporter to Chief Executive Officer of the Bingham Companies. In 1993, Gill retired and Edward E. Manassah became President and Publisher.
In early 1987, publication of The Louisville Times, an afternoon publication that had experienced declining readership, ceased.
As of 2005, the C-J has received ten Pulitzer Prizes and is read by an estimated 492,000 people daily and 670,900 people on Sundays.[1]
Awards
Pulitzer Prize
| Year | Category | Recipient | For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | Editorial Writing | Henry Watterson | For his two World War I editorials "War Has Its Compensation" (10 April, 1918), and "Vae Victis" (17 May, 1918). |
| 1926 | Reporting | William Burke "Skeets" Miller |
For his coverage of the attempts to rescue Floyd Collins trapped in Sand Cave, |
| 1956 | Editorial Cartooning | Robert York | For his cartoon "Achilles" showing a bulging figure of American prosperity tapering to a weak heel labeled "farm prices". Appeared in The Louisville Times, (16 September, 1955). |
| 1967 | Public Service | The Courier Journal | For its "meritorious public service" during 1966 in its fight against the ravages of Kentucky strip mining. |
| 1969 | Local General or Spot News Reporting | John Fetterman | For coverage of the funeral for a Vietnam casualty from Kentucky, "PFC Gibson comes home" (28 July, 1968). |
| 1976 | Feature Photography | The Courier Journal and The Louisville Times |
For photo coverage of court-ordered busing in Jefferson County in 1975. |
| 1978 | Local General or Spot News Reporting | Rich Whitt | For his coverage and three months of investigation of the disastrous 28 May, 1977 fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club, Southgate, Kentucky in Campbell County. |
| 1980 | International Reporting | Joel Brinkley and Jay Mather | For international reporting in a series of articles, "Living the Cambodian Nightmare," their vivid account of refugees in Southeast Asia (December, 1979). |
| 1989 | General Reporting | The Courier Journal | For its exemplary initial coverage of a bus crash in Carroll County, Kentucky that claimed 27 lives and its subsequent thorough and effective examination of the causes and implications of the tragedy (1988). |
| 2005 | Editorial Cartoon | Nick Anderson | For his portfolio of twenty editorial cartoons.[2] |
See also
- Samuel C. Brightman, Courier-Journal reporter and Washington correspondent
References
- ^ 2007 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U.S. by Circulation (PDF). BurrellesLuce (2007-03-31). Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
Further reading
- Towles, Donald B. (1994). The Press of Kentucky: 1787-1994. Kentucky Press Association.
- Pearce, John Ed (1997). Memoirs: 50 Years at the Courier-Journal and other places. Sulgrave Press.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
