Columbus Dispatch

''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 1985.

As of November 2019, Alan D. Miller is the newspaper's interim general manager.

History

The paper was founded in June 1871 by a group of 10 printers with 900 in financial capital. The paper published its first issue as ''The Daily Dispatch'' on July 1, 1871, as a four-page paper which cost 4¢ (¢ in ) per copy. The paper was originally an afternoon paper for the city of Columbus, Ohio, which at the time had a population of 32,000. For its first few years, the paper rented a headquarters on North High Street and Lynn Alley in Columbus. It began with 800 subscribers.

On April 2, 1888, the paper published its first full-page advertisement, for the Columbus Buggy Company. In 1895, the paper moved its headquarters to the northeast corner of Gay and High streets, a larger building on a site which was previously a grocer. On April 10, the paper published a 72-page edition to mark the move. On December 17, 1899, the paper published its first Sunday edition, a 36-page paper which cost 3¢ (¢ in ), and the daily editions were reduced in price to 2¢ (¢ in ). Two years later on March 3, 1901, the paper published its first color comic strips.

The paper, renamed ''The Columbus Evening Dispatch'', changed hands several times in its early years. In 1905, it was purchased by brothers Harry Preston Wolfe and Robert Frederick Wolfe, who originally ran a shoe company. It was not the Wolfes' first entry into journalism; they had purchased the '' Ohio State Journal'' two years before. The ''Dispatch'' would remain in the hands of the Wolfe family for 110 years. On December 16, 1906, the paper published its first color ad, for Beggs Store. On April 9, 1907, the ''Dispatch'' offices were destroyed in a fire, and the building was demolished and rebuilt. In the interlude, the paper ran its offices out of 34/36 North High Street.

The paper's editorial staff traditionally has had a conservative slant.Lucia Moses, ''"The Columbus Dispatch"'', ''Brandweek'', April 30, 2001 "CNN_Sunday_Morning"_ "CNN_Sunday_Morning"_[transcript
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"Wearing Thin: Thanks for your letters! Without you, this page would be, yikes, just me"
''Athens News (Ohio)">Athens News'', January 10, 2005 Until it endorsed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump, the paper's last Political endorsement, endorsement of a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat as a President of the United States, Presidential candidate had been for the re-election of Woodrow Wilson in 1916.Kevin Anderson
"Papers back Kerry — but does that help?"
''BBC News'', October 26, 2004 The ''Dispatch'' endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland in the 2006 Ohio elections,"For governor: Strickland has qualities needed to promote cooperation, progress"
''Columbus Dispatch'', Sunday, October 8, 2006 but endorsed John Kasich, the Republican candidate running against his reelection, in 2010"Endorsement: Kasich for governor"
''Columbus Dispatch'', Monday October 11, 2010.

A competing paper, ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' (known locally as the "C-J", pronounced "See-Jay") was beholden to the ''Columbus Dispatch'' for its printing facilities, and controversy surrounded the C-J's demise in 1985.

In a sale announced on June 3, 2015, ownership of the ''Dispatch'' was transferred to GateHouse Media. The Dispatch Broadcast Group, comprising WBNS-AM- FM- TV in Columbus and NBC affiliate WTHR (channel 13) in Indianapolis, remained in the hands of the Wolfe family until 2019, when it was sold to Tegna, Inc., which promptly absorbed the firm.

On June 16, 2015, the ''Dispatch'' was purchased by the New Media Investment Group

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