''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the '' Detroit Tribune'' on February 1, 1919, the '' Detroit Journal'' on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960, it bought and closed the faltering '' Detroit Times''. However, it retained the ''Times'' building, which it used as a printing plant until 1975, when a new facility opened in Sterling Heights. The ''Times'' building was demolished in 1978. The street in downtown Detroit where the Times building once stood is still called "

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

." The Evening News Association, owner of ''The News'', merged with

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

in 1985. At the time of its acquisition of ''The News'', Gannett also had other Detroit interests, as its outdoor advertising company, which ultimately became Outfront Media through a series of mergers, operated many billboards across Detroit and the surrounding area, including advertising displays on Detroit Department of Transportation and Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority buses, with its only competitor, primarily along Metro Detroit's freeway network, being 3M National Advertising (now Lamar Advertising). ''The News'' claims to have been the first newspaper in the world to operate a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

station, station 8MK, which began broadcasting August 20, 1920. 8MK is now CBS-owned WWJ. In 1947, it established Michigan's first television station, WWJ-TV, now WDIV-TV; it has been a primary NBC affiliate since sign-on, owing to WWJ-AM's ties with the NBC Radio Network. In 1989, the paper entered into a one hundred year joint operating agreement with the rival ''Free Press'', combining business operations while keeping separate editorial staffs. The combined company is called the Detroit Media Partnership (DMP). The ''Free Press'' moved into ''The News'' building in 1998 and until May 7, 2006, the two published a single joint weekend edition. Today, ''The News'' is published Monday–Saturday, and has an editorial page in the Sunday ''Free Press''. ''The Detroit News'' has an online version, including a separate website for connections from European Union countries that does not track personal information. ''The Detroit News'' has won three

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

History

''The Detroit News'' was founded by James E. Scripps, who, in turn, was the older half-brother and one-time partner of Edward W. Scripps. The paper's eventual success, however, is largely credited to Scripps' son-in-law, George Gough Booth, who came aboard at the request of his wife's father. Booth went on to construct Michigan's largest newspaper empire, founding the independent

Booth Newspapers MLive Media Group, originally known as Booth Newspapers, or Booth Michigan, is a media group that produces newspapers from the state of Michigan in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded by George Gough Booth with his two brothers, Booth Newspapers was sold ...

chain (now owned by S.I. Newhouse's

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc. is a privately held American media company owned by the families of Donald Newhouse and Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., the sons of company founder Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. It owns publishing-related companies inc ...

) with his two brothers. ''The Detroit News'' building was erected in 1917. It was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Albert Kahn, who included a faux-stone concrete building with large street-level arches to admit light. The arches along the east and south side of the building were bricked-in for protection after the 12th Street Riot in 1967. The bricked-in arches on the east and south ends of the building were reopened during renovations required when the ''Free Press'' relocated its offices there 20 years later. In 1931, ''The Detroit News'' made history when it bought a three-place Pitcairn PCA-2 auto-gyro as a camera aircraft that could take off and land in restricted places and semi-hover for photos. It was the ancestor of today's well-known news helicopter. In 1935 a single

Lockheed Model 9 Orion The Lockheed Model 9 Orion is a single-engined passenger aircraft built in 1931 for commercial airlines. It was faster than any American military aircraft of that time. Designed by Richard A. von Hake, it was the last wood aircraft produced by th ...

was purchased and modified by Lockheed as a news camera plane for ''The Detroit News''. To work in that role, a pod was built into the frontal leading edge of the right-wing about out from the fuselage. This pod had a glass dome on the front and a mounted camera. To aim the camera the pilot was provided with a primitive grid-like gun sight on his windshield. Deb Price's debut column in ''The Detroit News'' in 1992 was the first syndicated national column in American mainstream media that spoke about gay life. On July 13, 1995, Newspaper Guild employees of the ''Detroit Free Press'' and ''The News'' along with pressmen, printers and

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a trade union, labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a di ...

, working for the "Detroit Newspapers" distribution arm, went on strike. Approximately half of the staffers crossed the picket line before the unions ended their strike in February 1997. The strike was resolved in court three years later, with the journalists' union losing its unfair labor practices case on appeal. Still, the weakened unions remain active at the paper, representing a majority of the employees under their jurisdiction. August 3, 2005, Gannett announced that it would sell ''The News'' to

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 ...

and purchase the ''Free Press'' from the

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

company. With this move, Gannett became the managing partner in the papers' joint operating agreement. On May 7, 2006, the combined Sunday ''Detroit News and Free Press'' was replaced by a stand-alone Sunday ''Free Press''. On December 16, 2008, Detroit Media Partnership announced a plan to limit weekday home delivery for both dailies to Thursday and Friday only. On other weekdays the paper sold at newsstands would be smaller, about 32 pages, and redesigned. This arrangement went into effect on March 30, 2009. Detroit News Building

In February 2014, the DMP announced its offices along with those of ''The News'' and the ''Free Press'' would move from the West Lafayette building to six floors in both the old and new sections of the former Federal Reserve building at 160 West Fort Street. The partnership expected to place signs on the exterior similar to those on the former offices. The move took place October 24–27, 2014. In December 2024, The Detroit News moved to the historic Albert Kahn-designed former Cadillac showroom at 6001 Cass Ave., which was built in 1920. Editorially, ''The News'' is considered more

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

than the ''Free Press.'' However, it considers itself

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

. In an editorial statement printed in 1958, ''The News'' described itself as consistently conservative on economic issues and consistently liberal on civil liberties issues. It has never endorsed a Democrat for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, and has only failed to endorse a Republican presidential candidate five times: twice during the

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

era; in 2004, when it did not endorse

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

for re-election; in 2016, when it endorsed Libertarian Party nominee

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 29th List of governors of New Mexico, governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

rather than Republican nominee

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, and in 2020, when it continued to withhold its endorsement from Trump and did not endorse a candidate.

Staff

The staff of ''The Detroit News'' includes editorial page columnists Nolan Finley, Kaitlyn Buss and Bankole Thompson; food critic Melody Baetens; sports columnists Bob Wojnowski and John Niyo; sportswriters Angelique Chengelis, Tony Paul, Chris McCosky, Rod Beard, David Goricki, Nolan Bianchi, Ted Kulfan and James Hawkins; auto critic Henry Payne and business columnist Daniel Howes. The staff also includes metro reporter Robert Snell, who was named Michigan Journalist of the Year in 2014, 2018, and 2020 by the Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Former staff

* Jack Berry, sportswriter from 1971 to 1993 * Jerry Green, sportswriter from 1963 to 2023 * Mike O'Hara sportswriter from 1967-2008

Awards

*2017

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

Christine MacDonald *1994 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting Eric Freedman and Jim Mitzelfeld *1982

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journali ...

The Detroit News *1977 Penney-Missouri Award for General Excellence. *1942 Pulitzer Prize for Photography Milton Brooks (the first winner of a photojournalism Pulitzer)

References

External links