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Joseph Medill Patterson (January 6, 1879 – May 26, 1946) was an American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
,
publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
and founder of the '' Daily News'' in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. At the time of his death the ''Daily News'' maintained a Sunday circulation of 4.5 million copies, the largest circulation of any paper in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
.


Early life and education

Joseph Medill Patterson was born into a newspaper family. His mother, the former Elinor Medill, was a daughter of
Joseph Medill Joseph Medill (April 6, 1823March 16, 1899) was a Canadian-American newspaper editor, publisher, and Republican Party politician. He was co-owner and managing editor of the ''Chicago Tribune'', and he was Mayor of Chicago from after the Great Chi ...
, founder of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' and a mayor of
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
.United Press International, "New York News Publisher, Joseph M. Patterson, Dies," ''Great Falls Tribune,'' vol. 60, no. 13 (May 27, 1946), pp. 1, 6. His father, Robert Wilson Patterson Jr., was himself a journalist at the ''Tribune.'' As a scion of a millionaire family, Joseph received a top-flight education, attending
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
. He briefly left school to report on the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an Xenophobia, anti-foreign, anti-colonialism, anti-colonial, and Persecution of Christians#China, anti-Christian uprising in China ...
in China as a foreign correspondent for the ''Tribune,'' returning in time to complete his studies and graduate from Yale in 1901.


Career

Joseph Medill Patterson became one of the most significant
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
publishers in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, founding New York's '' Daily News'' and introducing the
tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid an ...
. He was groomed to follow in the footsteps of his famous grandfather. His mother, Elinor ("Nellie"), and his aunt, Kate, both named their firstborn sons after their famous father. As a young adult, he asked his father if he could go to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
to cover the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an Xenophobia, anti-foreign, anti-colonialism, anti-colonial, and Persecution of Christians#China, anti-Christian uprising in China ...
. Granted permission, he went as a correspondent for
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
but did not arrive in time. He attended
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
, where he was a member of
Scroll and Key The Scroll and Key Society is a Collegiate secret societies in North America, secret society, founded in 1842 at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the oldest Collegiate secret societies in North America#Yale University, Y ...
. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago, and covered the police beat for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Patterson served in the
Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...
as a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
in 1903 and 1904, married and was the father of three daughters by 1906. The youngest, Alicia, explained, "He had wanted a boy, instead of three daughters in succession, and that meant one of the Patterson girls would have to be his substitute son." Nearly 20 years later, in 1923, after his three daughters had become young women, his mistress (and future wife) gave birth to his only son, James Joseph Patterson, in England. Joseph Medill Patterson feuded with his father and resigned from the ''Tribune.'' Patterson moved to a farm in the country, wrote a socialist novel, ''A Little Brother of the Rich'' (1908), and published a muckraking article in ''
Collier's magazine ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...
.'' Patterson returned to work at the ''Tribune'' by 1910. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
he went to Europe with Tribune cameraman
Edwin F. Weigle Edwin Frederick Weigle (March 13, 1889 – August 1, 1973) was a cameraman for the ''Chicago Tribune'', cinematographer and documentary film maker. Biography Weigle was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 13, 1889. His parents Adolph and Sophie ca ...
to film the newsreel that would be used in the World War I propaganda film '' The German Side of the War''. Screenings of ''The German Side of the War'' sold out at theaters. It was one of the only American propaganda films to show the war from Germany's perspective. After his father died, Patterson took over the management of the ''Tribune''. He had a dispute about how to run the ''Tribune'' with his cousin,
Robert R. McCormick Robert Rutherford "Colonel" McCormick (July 30, 1880 – April 1, 1955) was an American lawyer, businessman and anti-war activist. A member of the McCormick family of Chicago, McCormick became a lawyer, Republican Chicago alderman, distinguish ...
. After World War I ended, he visited London and observed a newspaper in tabloid form for the first time. Patterson moved to New York City and founded the ''
New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...
'' as a tabloid on June 26, 1919, with McCormick as co-editor and publisher. However, the two were unable to resolve their dispute, so in 1925 Patterson ceded full authority over the ''Tribune'' to McCormick in return for full control of the ''Daily News.'' Initially, the ''Daily News'' was somewhat more liberal than the ''Tribune''. However, over the years, it became more conservative as Patterson drifted rightward.'Illinois Biographical Dictionary,' Volume 1 - A-J. Caryn Hannan-editor, State History Publications, LCC, Hamburg, Michigan, 2008, Biographical Sketch of Joseph Medill Patterson, pg. 535-537


Comic strips

He took a hands-on approach to managing the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, distributor for his papers'
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
s. In 1921, he suggested the lead character of ''
Gasoline Alley ''Gasoline Alley'' is a comic strip created by Frank King and distributed by Tribune Content Agency. It centers on the lives of patriarch Walt Wallet, his family, and residents in the town of Gasoline Alley, with storylines reflecting traditio ...
'' adopt a foundling child who became Skeezix, a central character in the strip. Patterson influenced
Chester Gould Chester Gould (; November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the '' Dick Tracy'' comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains. Ea ...
's 1931 strip ''
Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (character), Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''De ...
'', changing the title from ''Plainclothes Tracy'', and he supported Gould's vision of a technical, grotesque and violent style of storytelling.
Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was an Eagle Scout and a r ...
credited Patterson for suggesting a comic strip about the Orient, which led to the creation of Caniff's 1934 strip, ''
Terry and the Pirates ''Terry and the Pirates'' is an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff, which originally ran from October 22, 1934, to February 25, 1973. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, ...
''. Caniff recounted Patterson's role in creating Terry in a ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' profile, "Escape Artist" (Monday, January 13, 1947): :Patterson... stared coldly at Caniff and asked: "Ever do anything on the Orient?" Caniff hadn't. "You know," Joe Patterson mused, "adventure can still happen out there. There could be a beautiful lady pirate, the kind men fall for." In a few days Caniff was back with samples and 50 proposed titles; Patterson circled ''Terry'' and scribbled beside it ''and the Pirates''. Another item of Patterson comic strip lore is that he rejected Dale Messick's strip ''
Brenda Starr ''Brenda Starr, Reporter'' (often referred to simply as ''Brenda Starr'') is a comic strip about a glamorous, adventurous reporter. It was created in 1940 by Dale Messick for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. History Although set in Chicago, ''Br ...
'' in 1940 because he "had tried a woman cartoonist once... and wanted no more of them." Patterson's assistant,
Mollie Slott Mollie Slott (April 19, 1893 – January 24, 1967) was an American journalist, who became one of the nation's best known figures in the newspaper syndicate industry. In 1946, Slott was chosen as Chicago-Tribune New York Daily news syndicate ma ...
—later the vice president of the syndicate—saw the discarded samples, and encouraged Messick to change Brenda from a "girl bandit" to a reporter. Patterson grudgingly accepted the strip, but ran it in the Chicago Tribune's Sunday comic section, rather than the daily paper. He refused to run it in the ''Daily News'', which finally carried ''Brenda Starr, Reporter'' in 1948, two years after Patterson's death.


Legacy

His son, James, would serve as vice president and assistant managing editor of the ''Daily News''. One of Patterson's grandsons, Joseph Albright, was married to future US Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democrat ...
for about 23 years. Patterson is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
.


Family tree


References


Further reading

* Olmsted, Kathryn S. ''The Newspaper Axis: Six Press Barons Who Enabled Hitler'' (Yale UP, 202
online
als
online review


External links



an article written by Patterson and published in the November 23, 1907 issue of ''
The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...
''
France
written by Patterson, from ''Great Poems of the World War'', published in 1922

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Joseph Medill 1879 births 1946 deaths American male journalists Journalists from New York City Medill-Patterson family 20th-century American newspaper founders Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople from New York City Yale University alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Old Right (United States) Republican Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives