CQ Politics

''Congressional Quarterly'', or ''CQ'', is an American publication that is part of the privately owned publishing company CQ Roll Call, which covers the United States Congress. ''CQ'' was formerly acquired by the U.K.-based Economist Group and combined with '' Roll Call'' to form CQ Roll Call in 2009.

History

20th century

''CQ'' was founded in 1945 by Nelson Poynter and his wife, Henrietta Poynter, to provide a link between local newspapers and the complex politics within Washington, D.C.

Thomas N. Schroth, managing editor of the ''Brooklyn Eagle'', was elected in October 1955 as executive editor and vice president. Schroth built the publication's impartial coverage, with annual revenue growth from $150,000 when he started to $1.8 million. In addition to adding a book division, Schroth added many staff members who achieved future journalistic success, including David S. Broder, Neal R. Peirce, and Elizabeth Drew. He was fired from ''Congressional Quarterly'' in 1969 after festering disagreements with Poynter over editorial policy at the publication, and Schroth's efforts to advocate "more imaginative ways of doing things" reached a boil.

In 1965, Poynter summed up his reasons for founding ''CQ'': "The federal government will never set up an adequate agency to check on itself, and a foundation is too timid for that. So it had to be a private enterprise beholden to its clients." Despite its name, ''CQ'' was published quarterly for only one year. Demand drove more frequent updates, first weekly, then daily. ''CQ'' was also an early leader in delivering information on a real-time basis, starting with a dial-up service in 1984. Its website dominates the online legislative tracking information market and has been nominated for several awards. ''CQ'' has since launched several web-only newsletters with a greater focus on particular areas, including ''CQ Homeland Security'', ''CQ BudgetTracker'', and ''CQ HealthBeat''.

21st century

In 2005, ''CQ'''s flagship publication, the ''Weekly Report'', was relaunched as ''CQ Weekly'' with a wider focus, including "government, commerce, and politics." A daily publication, ''CQ Today'', also is available every day when Congress is in session. ''CQ Today''s main print competition is Atlantic Media's ''CongressDaily''.

In May 2008, ''CQ Press'' was purchased by SAGE Publishing. Although it retains the name "CQ Press" (a trademark of Congressional Quarterly), CQ Press is no longer an affiliate of Congressional Quarterly.

Until 2009, ''CQ'' was owned by the Times Publishing Company of St. Petersburg, Florida, publisher of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' and other publications. The Times Publishing Company is, in turn, owned by the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists founded by Nelson Poynter. The Economist Group acquired ''CQ'' in 2009 and combined it with '' Roll Call''; the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In July 2018, a deal was announced for CQ Roll Call to be acquired by FiscalNote.

Awards

Ten ''CQ'' reporters have won the "Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress" from the National Press Foundation: Alan Ehrenhalt in 1983, Joan Biskupic in 1991, Janet Hook in 1992, George Hager in 1996, Jackie Koszczuk in 1997, Sue Kirchhoff in 2000, John Cochran in 2003, Jonathan Allen in 2008, Matt Fuller in 2015 and John M. Donnelly in 2018.

References

External links

CQ Roll Call corporate website

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Legislative branch of the United States government
Online databases
Newspapers published in Washington, D.C.
American companies established in 1945
Publishing companies established in 1945
1945 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Economist Group
20th-century encyclopedias