History The_Philadelphia_Inquirer

1 history

1.1 civil war 1920s
1.2 annenberg years
1.3 corporate ownership

history

the philadelphia inquirer founded pennsylvania inquirer printer john r. walker , john norvell, former editor of philadelphia s largest newspaper, aurora & gazette. editorial in first issue of pennsylvania inquirer promised paper devoted right of minority voice opinion , maintenance of rights , liberties of people, equally against abuses usurpation of power. pledged support then-president andrew jackson , home industries, american manufactures, , internal improvements materially contribute agricultural, commercial , national prosperity. founded on june 1, 1829, philadelphia inquirer third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in united states. however, in 1962, inquirer-commissioned historian traced inquirer john dunlap s pennsylvania packet, founded on october 28, 1771. in 1850, packet merged newspaper, north american, later merged philadelphia public ledger. finally, public ledger merged philadelphia inquirer in 1930s, , between 1962 , 1975, line on inquirer s front page claimed newspaper united states oldest surviving daily newspaper.

six months after inquirer founded, competition 8 established daily newspapers, lack of funds forced norvell , walker sell newspaper publisher , united states gazette associate editor jesper harding. after harding acquired pennsylvania inquirer, briefly published afternoon paper before returning original morning format in january 1830. under harding, in 1829, inquirer moved original location between front , second streets between second , third streets. when harding bought , merged morning journal in january 1830, newspaper moved south second street. ten years later inquirer again moved, time own building @ corner of third street , carter s alley. harding expanded inquirer s content , paper grew major philadelphian newspaper. expanded content included addition of fiction, , in 1840, harding gained rights publish several charles dickens novels dickens paid significant amount. @ time common practice pay little or nothing rights of foreign authors works.

civil war 1920s

harding retired in 1859 , succeeded son william white harding, had become partner 3 years earlier. william harding changed name of newspaper current name, philadelphia inquirer. harding, in attempt increase circulation, cut price of paper, began delivery routes , had newsboys sell papers on street. in 1859, circulation had been around 7,000; 1863 had increased 70,000. part of increase due interest in news during american civil war. twenty-five thirty thousand copies of inquirer distributed union soldiers during war , several times u.s. government asked philadelphia inquirer issue special edition soldiers. philadelphia inquirer supported union, harding wanted coverage remain neutral. confederate generals sought copies of paper, believing newspaper s war coverage accurate.

inquirer journalist uriah hunt painter @ first battle of bull run in 1861, battle ended in confederate victory. initial reports government claimed union victory, inquirer went painter s firsthand account. crowds threatened burn inquirer s building down because of report. report, time general george meade, angered meade enough punished edward crapsey, reporter wrote it. crapsey , other war correspondents later decided attribute victories of army of potomac, meade s command, ulysses s. grant, commander of entire union army. defeats of army of potomac attributed meade.

during war, inquirer continued grow more staff being added , move larger building on chestnut street. however, after war, economic hits combined harding becoming ill, hurt inquirer. despite philadelphia s population growth, distribution fell 70,000 during civil war 5,000 in 1888. beginning in 1889, paper sold publisher james elverson. bring paper, elverson moved inquirer new building latest printing technology , increased staff. new philadelphia inquirer premiered on march 1 , successful enough elverson started sunday edition of paper. in 1890, in attempt increase circulation further, price of inquirer cut , paper s size increased, classified advertisements. after 5 years inquirer had move larger building on market street , later expanded adjacent property.

the inquirer building, formerly elverson building, home of newspaper 1924–2011

after elverson s death in 1911, son wife sallie duvall, james elverson jr. took charge. under elverson jr., newspaper continued grow, needing move again. elverson jr. bought land @ broad , callowhill streets , built eighteen-story elverson building, known inquirer building. first inquirer issue printed @ building came out on july 13, 1925. elverson jr. died few years later in 1929 , sister, eleanor elverson, mrs. jules patenôtre, took over.

annenberg years

eleanor elverson patenôtre ordered cuts throughout paper, not interested in managing , ownership put sale. cyrus curtis , curtis-martin newspapers inc. bought newspaper on march 5, 1930. curtis died year later , stepson-in-law, john charles martin, took charge. martin merged inquirer paper, public ledger, great depression hurt curtis-martin newspapers , company defaulted in payments of maturity notes. subsequently, ownership of inquirer returned patenôtre family , elverson corp. charles a. taylor elected president of inquirer co. , ran paper until sold moses l. annenberg in 1936. during period between elverson jr. , annenberg inquirer stagnated, editors ignoring of poor economic news of depression. lack of growth allowed j. david stern s newspaper, philadelphia record, surpass inquirer in circulation , become largest newspaper in pennsylvania.

under moses annenberg, inquirer turned around. annenberg added new features, increased staff , held promotions increase circulation. november 1938 inquirer s weekday circulation increased 345,422 280,093 in 1936. during same period record s circulation had dropped 204,000 328,322. in 1939, annenberg charged income tax evasion. annenberg pleaded guilty before trial , sent prison died in 1942. upon moses annenberg s death, son, walter annenberg, took over. not long after, in 1947, record went out of business , philadelphia inquirer became philadelphia s major daily morning newspaper. while still trailing behind philadelphia s largest newspaper, evening bulletin, inquirer continued profitable. in 1948, walter annenberg expanded inquirer building new structure housed new printing presses inquirer and, during 1950s , 1960s, annenberg s other properties, seventeen , tv guide. in 1957 annenberg bought philadelphia daily news , combined daily news facilities inquirer s.

a thirty-eight-day strike in 1958 hurt inquirer and, after strike ended, many reporters had accepted buyout offers , left newsroom noticeably empty. furthermore, many current reporters had been copyclerks before strike , had little experience. 1 of few star reporters of 1950s , 1960s investigative reporter harry karafin. during career harry karafin exposed corruption , other exclusive stories inquirer, extorted money out of individuals , organizations. karafin claim had harmful information , demand money in exchange information not being made public. went on late 1950s 1960s before karafin exposed in 1967 , convicted of extortion year later. end of 1960s, circulation , advertising revenue in decline , newspaper had become, according time magazine, uncreative , undistinguished.

corporate ownership

in 1969, annenberg offered us$55 million inquirer samuel newhouse, having earlier promised john s. knight right of first refusal of sale offer, annenberg sold knight instead. inquirer, along philadelphia daily news, became part of knight newspapers , new subsidiary, philadelphia newspapers inc. (pni). 5 years later, knight newspapers merged ridder publications form knight ridder.

when inquirer bought, understaffed, equipment outdated, many of employees underskilled , paper trailed chief competitor, evening bulletin, in weekday circulation. however, eugene l. roberts jr., became inquirer s executive editor in 1972, turned newspaper around. between 1975 , 1990 inquirer won seventeen pulitzers, 6 consecutively between 1975 , 1980, , more journalism awards other newspaper in united states. time magazine chose inquirer 1 of ten best daily newspapers in united states, calling roberts changes paper, 1 of remarkable turnarounds, in quality , profitability, in history of american journalism. july 1980 inquirer had become circulated paper in philadelphia, forcing evening bulletin shut down 2 years later. inquirer s success not without hardships. between 1970 , 1985 newspaper experienced eleven strikes, longest lasting forty-six days in 1985. inquirer criticized covering karachi better kensington . did not stop paper s growth during 1980s, , when evening bulletin shut down, inquirer hired seventeen bulletin reporters , doubled bureaus attract former bulletin readers. 1989, philadelphia newspapers inc. s editorial staff reached peak of 721 employees.

the 1990s saw gradually dropping circulation , advertisement revenue inquirer. decline part of nationwide trend, effects exacerbated by, according dissatisfied inquirer employees, paper s resisting changes many other daily newspapers implemented keep readers , pressure knight ridder cut costs. during of roberts s time editor, knight ridder allowed him great deal of freedom in running newspaper. however, in late 1980s, knight ridder had become concerned inquirer s profitability , took more active role in operations. knight ridder pressured inquirer expand more profitable suburbs, while @ same time cutting staff , coverage of national , international stories. staff cuts continued until knight ridder bought in 2006, of inquirer s best reporters accepting buyouts , leaving other newspapers such new york times , washington post. late 1990s, of high-level editors had worked eugene roberts in 1970s , 1980s had left, none @ normal retirement age. since 1980s, paper has won 1 pulitzer, 1997 award explanatory journalism. in 1998, inquirer reporter ralph cipriano filed libel suit against knight ridder, philadelphia inquirer, , inquirer editor robert rosenthal on comments rosenthal made cipriano washington post. cipriano had claimed difficult reporting negative stories in inquirer roman catholic archdiocese of philadelphia , rosenthal later claimed cipriano had strong personal point of view , agenda ... never prove [his stories]. suit later settled out of court in 2001.

the paper launched online news desk in 2000s in order compete local radio stations breaking news. knight ridder bought rival mcclatchy company in june 2006. inquirer , philadelphia daily news among twelve less-profitable knight ridder newspapers mcclatchy put sale when deal announced in march. on june 29, 2006, inquirer , daily news sold philadelphia media holdings llc (pmh), group of philadelphian area business people, including brian p. tierney, pmh s chief executive. new owners planned spend us$5 million on advertisements , promotions increase inquirer s profile , readership.

in years following philadelphia media holdings acquisition, inquirer saw larger expected revenue losses, national advertising, , continued loss of circulation. revenue losses caused management cut 4 hundred jobs @ inquirer , daily news in 3 years since papers bought. despite efforts cut costs, philadelphia newspapers llc, filed chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on february 21, 2009. philadelphia media holdings us$390 million in debt, due money borrowed buy inquirer , daily news. bankruptcy beginning of year-long dispute between philadelphia media holdings , creditors. group of creditors, included banks , hedge funds, wanted take control of philadelphia newspapers llc , opposed efforts philadelphia media holdings keep control. philadelphia media holdings received support of paper s unions , launched public-relations campaign promote local ownership. bankruptcy auction held on april 28, 2010. group of lending creditors , group of local investors allied brian tierney both bid philadelphia newspapers, lenders had winning bid. deal fell through after group of lenders, under name of philadelphia media network (pmn), unable reach contract agreement union representing company s drivers. philadelphia newspapers, represented lawrence g. mcmichael of dilworth paxson llp, challenged right of creditors credit bid @ bankruptcy auction. u.s. court of appeals third circuit held credit bidding not permitted. papers went auction again in september , again philadelphia media network (pmn) won bid. after negotiating contract of paper s fourteen unions, us$139 million deal became official on october 8.

the philadelphia inquirer continued struggle make profit, due competition digital media sources. may 2012 combined journalist staff @ of philadelphia media network 320 , of same stories , photographs appear both in inquirer , daily news. on april 2, 2012, group of local business leaders paid $55 million paper, less 15 percent of $515 million spent buy papers in 2006. in june 2014, pmn sold h.f. gerry lenfest, appointed c.z. terry egger publisher , ceo in october 2015. in 2016, lenfest donated pmn philadelphia foundation, inquirer, sister newspaper, daily news, , joint website, philly.com, remain in philadelphia.

in october 2011, philadelphia media network sold inquirer building developer bart blatstein, of tower investments inc., intends turn complex mixed-use complex of offices retail , apartments. next month, publisher , ceo gregory j. osberg announced 600 of 740 philadelphia media network employees of inquirer, daily news, , philly.com move office space in former strawbridge & clothier department store on east market street. remaining employees move offices in suburbs. philadelphia media network moved new location in july 2012, consolidating offices entirely on third floor. cutbacks had left of 525,000 square feet (49,000 m) within inquirer building empty, 125,000-square-foot (12,000 m) east market street location consolidated philadelphia media s departments, including daily news newsroom inquirer s. new location include street-level lobby , event room. plans building included electronic signage such news ticker on corner of high-rise.