The ''Columbia Basin News'' was a morning 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 ...

published in

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and estimated at 80,038 in 2023. Pasco is one of three cities (the others being Kennewick and Richland) t ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from 1950 to 1963.

History

The ''Columbia Basin News'' was founded in March 1950 with a circulation of 6,500. A

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

and subsequent lockout occurred at the ''

Tri-City Herald The ''Tri-City Herald'' is a twice-weekly newspaper based in Kennewick, Washington, United States. Owned by The McClatchy Company, the newspaper serves southeastern Washington state, including the three cities of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland ...

'' in 1950. Employees of the ''Herald'', an afternoon daily published in

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

, (across the river from Pasco) went on to help found the C''olumbia Basin News'' with the backing of the

International Typographical Union The International Typographical Union (ITU) was a North American trade union for the printing trade of newspapers and other media. It was founded on May 3, 1852, in the United States as the National Typographical Union. It changed its name to the ...

, the same union whose members struck the ''Herald'' months before. The ''News'' publisher was Howard Parrish, former publisher of ''

The Seattle Star ''The Seattle Star'' was a daily newspaper that ran from February 25, 1899, to August 13, 1947. It was owned by E. W. Scripps and in 1920 was transferred to Scripps McRae League of Newspapers (later Scripps-Canfield League), after a falling-o ...

'' (1899–1947). Ted Van Arsdol edited the CBN in 1963, during its last struggle to survive. Elements of the struggle included use of the "Kiddie Corps"--journalism students from nearby

Columbia Basin College Columbia Basin College (CBC) is a public community college in Pasco, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. The college offers English as a second language and General Educational Development (GED) ...

, Pasco. These reporters included Larry Ashby (After college, worked for ''Tri-City Herald''), Samuel Martinez, Rick Dykes, and Barbara Smith. Seasoned reporters who helped train the Kiddie Corps were Elroy King and Duane Mason. After the CBN's demise, regular staff hired on with other employers, while the "Kiddie Corps" continued their educations.

References

* Defunct newspapers published in Washington (state) Newspapers established in 1950 Tri-Cities, Washington Pasco, Washington Publications disestablished in 1963 1950 establishments in Washington (state) 1963 disestablishments in Washington (state) {{Washington-newspaper-stub