The ''Reading Eagle'' is the major daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 poli ...

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

. A family-owned newspaper until the spring of 2019, its reported circulation is 37,000 (daily) and 50,000 (Sundays). It serves the Reading and Berks County region of Pennsylvania. After celebrating its

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

of local ownership and editorial control in 2018, the ''Reading Eagle'' was acquired by the

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

-based

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

's Digital First Media in May 2019.

History

The newspaper was founded on January 28, 1867. Initially an afternoon paper, it was published Monday through Saturday, and a Sunday morning edition was added later. In 1940, ''The Eagle'' acquired the ''Reading Times'', which was the city's morning paper, though they remained editorially separate newspapers. The staff of the two papers was combined in 1982. In June 2002, the ''Reading Times'' ceased publication, and the ''Eagle'' became a morning paper. The two newspapers published a joint Saturday-morning edition since 1988. Author

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth Tar ...

worked at ''The Eagle'' as a copyboy in his youth for several summer internships in the early 1950s, and wrote several feature articles. In 2009, the newspaper switched to a

Berliner Berliner is most often used to designate a citizen of Berlin, Germany Berliner may also refer to: People * Berliner (surname) Places * Berliner Lake, a lake in Minnesota, United States * Berliner Philharmonie, concert hall in Berlin, Germany ...

format and laid off 52 employees in late April of that year. After celebrating its

of local ownership and editorial control, the family-owned newspaper suffered financial hardships, and cut 16 percent of its newsroom staff on May 23, 2018. Several months later, it reverted to its previous broadsheet size. Less than a year later, the company announced it was filing for bankruptcy protection on March 20, 2019. In May 2019, the newspaper was acquired by the

-based

's Digital First Media division in May 2019.Mekeel, "After 151 years of local ownership, Reading Eagle readers reflect on community coverage," ''Reading Eagle''. As of July 1, 2021, MNG has laid off numerous employees from the newsroom, where no salary increases have been issued since 2008. MNG also doesn't contribute to a 401(k) plan.

Sunday edition

For many years, the Sunday ''Reading Eagle'' featured a banner on its

Sunday comics The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in some Western newspapers. Compared to weekday comics, Sunday comics tend to be full pages and are in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, t ...

section advertised as the "Biggest Comics Section in the Land", and ran over 50 features until the late 1980s. Until 1995, it occupied two sections. It carried half pages of ''

Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full s ...

'', ''

Hägar the Horrible ''Hägar the Horrible'' is the title and main character of an American comic strip created by cartoonist Dik Browne and syndicated by King Features Syndicate. It first appeared on February 4, 1973 (in Sunday papers) and the next day in daily ne ...

'', and ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'', and smaller versions of ''

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the '' Detroit Mirror'', and was distributed by the Chicago T ...

'', ''

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...

'', and other popular humor strips. On July 8, 2018, however, it followed the path of most dwindling American newspapers, and reduced the size of its comics section and of the strips it carries.

References

External links

''Reading Eagle''
* https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85055098/ {{authority control Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 Daily newspapers published in Pennsylvania Reading, Pennsylvania 1867 establishments in Pennsylvania Newspapers established in 1867