The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary

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 p ...

of Orlando, Florida, and the

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune Publishing''. This company was acquired by

Alden Global Capital Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith. Its managing director is Heath Freeman. By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two hundred American newspapers. The company ...

, which operates its media properties through

Digital First Media MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado-based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns over 100 newsp ...

, in May 2021. The newspaper's website utilizes

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, thus making it unaccessible from European countries.

History

The ''Sentinel''s predecessors date to 1876, when the ''Orange County Reporter'' was first published. The ''Reporter'' became a daily newspaper in 1905, and merged with the ''Orlando Evening Star'' in 1906. Another Orlando paper, the ''South Florida Sentinel'', started publishing as a morning daily in 1913. Then known as the ''Morning Sentinel'', it bought the ''Reporter-Star'' in 1931, when Martin Andersen came to Orlando to manage both papers. Andersen eventually bought both papers outright in 1945, selling them to the

Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...

of Chicago in 1965. In 1973, the two publications merged into the daily ''Sentinel Star''. Tribune appointed Charles T. Brumback as president in 1976. Harold "Tip" Lifvendahl was named president and publisher in 1981. The newspaper was renamed the ''Orlando Sentinel'' in 1982. John Puerner succeeded Lifvendahl in 1993, who was replaced by Kathleen M. Waltz in 2000. She announced her resignation in February 2008. Howard Greenberg, already publisher of fellow Tribune newspaper the '' Sun-Sentinel'' of Fort Lauderdale, was named publisher of both papers after Waltz left. In 2008, the Tribune Company called for a redesign of the ''Sentinel''. The new layout, which debuted in June 2008, was formatted to appeal to busy readers, though like all of the redesigns in Tribune's Sam Zell ownership era, was reeled back into a more traditional design with appealing elements kept after reader criticism. According to one listing, some of the ''Sentinel''s predecessors are: *''Orlando Reporter'': 1892–1903? (merged with ''Evening Star'' to form ''Evening Reporter-Star'') *''Evening Star'': January–December 1903? (merged with ''Orlando Reporter'' to form ''Evening Reporter-Star'') *''Evening Reporter-Star'': 1904?–March 1947 (continues ''Orlando Reporter and Evening Star''; continued by ''Orlando Evening Star'') *''Orlando Evening Star'': April 1947 – 1973 (continues ''Evening Reporter-Star''; merged with ''Orlando Morning Sentinel'' to form the ''Orlando Sentinel-Star'') *''Orlando Morning Sentinel'': 1913–1973 (title varies: ''Daily Sentinel''; ''Morning Sentinel''; merged with ''Orlando Evening Star'' to form the ''Orlando Sentinel-Star'') *''Orlando Sentinel-Star'': 1974–April 25, 1982 (continues ''Orlando Morning Sentinel'' and ''Orlando Evening Star''; continued by ''Orlando Sentinel'') *''Orlando Sentinel'': April 26, 1982–present (continues ''Orlando Sentinel-Star'')

Editorial history

Editorially, the ''Sentinel'' tilted conservative. From 1952 to 2004, it endorsed Republicans in every election save for Lyndon Johnson in 1964. However, it has endorsed Democratic candidates for president in four of the last five presidential elections:

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

in 2004,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

in 2008,

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

in 2016, and Joe Biden in 2020. In June 2019, the day of President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

's re-election campaign launch rally in Orlando, the ''Sentinel'' made national news when the editorial board published a piece saying it would not endorse the president, among their reasons, "the chaos, the division, the schoolyard insults, the self-aggrandizement, the corruption, and especially the lies." It ultimately endorsed Biden, saying that he was "many things that Trump is not now and never will be."

Awards

*1982: Gerald Loeb Award Honorable Mention for Small Newspapers for "The Federal Impact Series" *1988: editorial writing, Jane Healy, "for her series of editorials protesting overdevelopment of Florida's Orange County." *1993:

investigative reporting Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...

, Jeff Brazil and Steve Berry, "for exposing the unjust seizure of millions of dollars from motorists—most of them minorities—by a sheriff's drug squad." *2000: editorial writing, John C. Bersia, "for his passionate editorial campaign attacking predatory lending practices in the state, which prompted changes in local lending regulations."

Notable staff

* Michael A. Bianchi: sports columnist * Jane Healy, first Sentinel journalist to receive a Pulitzer Prize * Jemele Hill, ESPN sportscaster and columnist * Scott Maxwell, Opinion columnist, was featured as a question on

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given gene ...

and is normally listed on the list of Orlando Magazine's Most Powerful People

References

External links