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The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a 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
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
and owned by
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 ...
, which bills it as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Network". It is the newspaper with the highest number of recorded circulation in
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
. According to the ''1999
Editor & Publisher ''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the news media industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry," with offices in Hendersonville, ...
International Yearbook'', the paper is the 48th-largest daily paper in the United States.


History


Origins

''The Courier-Journal'' was created from the merger of several newspapers introduced in
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
in the 19th century. A pioneer paper called ''The Focus of Politics, Commerce and Literature'' was founded in 1826 in
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
when the city was an early settlement of less than 7,000 individuals. In 1830 a new newspaper, ''The Louisville Daily Journal'', began distribution in the city and, in 1832, the ''Journal'' absorbed ''The Focus of Politics, Commerce and Literature''. The Louisville ''Journal'' was an organ of the Whig Party and was founded and edited by George D. Prentice, a New Englander who initially came to Kentucky to write a biography of
Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...
. Prentice edited the ''Journal'' for more than 40 years. In 1844, another newspaper, the ''Louisville Morning Courier'', was founded in Louisville by Walter Newman Haldeman. ''The Louisville Daily Journal'' and the ''Louisville Morning Courier'' were leading newspapers in
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
and were politically opposed throughout the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
; ''The Journal'' was against slavery while the ''Courier'' was pro-Confederacy. The ''Courier'' was suppressed by the Union and had to move to
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, but it returned to Louisville after the war. Upon the announcement of the
Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation had the eff ...
that ended slavery in the Confederate states, the ''Journal'' opposed the Proclamation as an unconstitutional use of presidential power, and predicted: "Kentucky cannot and will not acquiesce in this measure. Never!" In 1868, an ailing Prentice persuaded the 28-year-old Henry Watterson to come edit for the ''Journal''. During secret negotiations in 1868, ''The Journal'' and the ''Courier'' merged, and the first edition of ''The Courier-Journal'' was delivered to Louisvillians on Sunday morning, November 8, 1868.


Watterson era

Henry Watterson, the son of a Tennessee congressman, had written for ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
'' and ''The'' ''New York Times'' before enlisting in the Confederate Army. He became nationally known for his work as ''The Courier-Journal'' emerged as the region's leading paper. He supported the Democratic Party and pushed for the industrialization of Kentucky and the South in general, notably through urging the Southern Exposition be held in Louisville. He attracted controversy for attempting to prove that
Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...
had actually written the works of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
. He won a
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 ...
in 1917 for editorials demanding the United States enter
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. ''The Courier-Journal'' founded a companion afternoon edition of the paper, '' The Louisville Times'', in May 1884. In 1896, Watterson and Haldeman opposed Democratic presidential candidate
William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...
over his support of free silver coinage. This unpopular decision upset readers and advertisers, many of whom pulled their support for ''The Courier-Journal''. Kentucky voted for the Republican candidate in 1896, the first time in state history, and local political leaders blamed the Courier. Only the popularity of ''The Louisville Times'', which had no strong editorial reputation, saved the newspaper company from bankruptcy. The ''Courier'' supported Bryan in future elections. Haldeman had owned the papers until his death in 1902, and by 1917 they were owned by his son,
William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
, and Henry Watterson.


Bingham ownership

On August 8, 1918, Robert Worth Bingham purchased two-thirds interest in the newspapers and acquired the remaining stock in 1920. The liberal Bingham clashed with longtime editor Watterson, who remained on board, but was in the twilight of his career. Watterson's editorials opposing the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
appeared alongside Bingham's favoring it, and Watterson finally retired on April 2, 1919. As publisher, Bingham set the tone for his editorial pages, and pushed for improved public education, support of African Americans and the poor of
Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...
. In 1933, the newspapers passed to his son,
Barry Bingham, Sr. George Barry Bingham Sr. (February 10, 1906 – August 15, 1988) was the patriarch of a family that dominated local media in Louisville for several decades in the 20th century. Family and career George Barry Bingham Sr. was born on February 10 ...
Barry Bingham would continue in his father's footsteps, guiding the editorial page and modernizing the paper by setting up several news bureaus throughout the state, expanding the news staff. During Barry Bingham, Sr.'s tenure, the paper was considered Kentucky's "Newspaper of Record" and consistently ranked among the 10 best in the nation. In 1971, Barry Bingham, Jr. succeeded his father as the newspapers' editor and publisher. The Binghams were well-liked owners popularly credited with being more concerned with publishing quality journalism than making heavy profits. They also owned the leading local radio and television stations –
WHAS-TV WHAS-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on West Chestnut Street in Downtown Louisville, and its transmitter is located in rur ...
, WHAS-AM, and WAMZ-FM—and Standard Gravure, a
rotogravure Rotogravure (or gravure for short) is a type of intaglio printing process, which involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a cylinder because, like offset printing and flexography, it u ...
printing company that printed ''The Courier-Journal'' Sunday ''Magazine'' as well as similar magazines for other newspapers. Barry Bingham Jr. sought to free the papers from conflicts of interests, and through ''The Louisville Times'', experimented with new ideas such as signed editorials. Bingham Jr. also parted with tradition by endorsing several Republican candidates for office. In 1974,
Carol Sutton Carol Sutton may refer to: * Carol Sutton (actress) * Carol Sutton (journalist) * Carol Sutton (artist) {{hndis, Sutton, Carol ...
became managing editor of ''The Courier-Journal'', the first woman appointed to such a post at a major US daily newspaper. Under the leadership of C. Thomas Hardin, director of photography, the combined photography staff of ''The Courier-Journal and Louisville Times'' was awarded the 1976
Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature recognition, could be a hole, poc ...
for its coverage of school desegregation in Louisville. Barry Bingham, Jr. served as editor and publisher until he resigned in 1986, shortly after his father announced that the newspaper company was for sale, in large measure because of disagreements between Bingham Jr. and his sister Sallie.


Gannett ownership

On January 8, 1986, Barry Bingham Sr. announced his intent to sell the family owned media properties including the Courier-Journal. In July 1986, Gannett Company, Inc. purchased the newspaper company for $300 million, outbidding
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
and 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 ...
. Gannett appointed George N. Gill President and Publisher who had been with the newspaper and the Binghams for over two decades. Gill worked his way up from copy editor to chief executive officer of the Bingham Companies. In 1993, Gill retired and Edward E. Manassah became president and Publisher. February 1987 saw the last publication of '' The Louisville Times'', which like most afternoon papers had experienced declining readership; the news operations of the two papers had previously been consolidated under Gannett. The surviving Courier featured a strong news content increase by 29%. In 1989, the paper's news staff won the Pulitzer Prize for general local reporting for what the Pulitzer board called "exemplary initial coverage" of a
collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great for ...
that was the nation's worst drunk-driving crash and school-bus accident. In 2005, cartoonist Nick Anderson won the paper's 10th Pulitzer, but when he left for the ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...
'', the paper did not replace him, instead relying largely on submissions from local cartoonists. One, lawyer Marc Murphy, has become a near-regular and gained respect for his work. The newspaper resumed polling on elections, and began video streaming its editorial-board conferences with major candidates, under Publisher Arnold "Arnie" Garson, who came from the Argus Leader, Gannett's paper in Sioux Falls, S.D., in late 2008. Garson is an outspoken promoter of the future of printed newspapers in the digital age. Under him, the paper began keeping occasional major stories or sports columns off its website and promoting them as print exclusives. Most of these have run on Sundays; in July 2009, Garson announced that the paper's Sunday home-delivery circulation was up 0.5 percent over the previous year.


Awards


Pulitzer Prize


Other notable staff

* Herbert Agar, ''Courier-Journal'' editor *
Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...
and Carl Braden, ''Courier-Journal'' reporters and civil rights activists * Adele Brandeis, ''Courier-Journal'' writer and arts administrator * Samuel C. Brightman, ''Courier-Journal'' reporter and Washington correspondent * Grady Clay, ''Courier-Journal'' urban affairs editor * Byron Crawford, ''Courier-Journal'' columnist * Joe Creason, ''Courier-Journal'' columnist, known for "Joe Creason's Kentucky" column *
Howard Fineman Howard David Fineman (November 17, 1948 – June 11, 2024) was an American journalist and television commentator. In a career that spanned nearly five decades, Fineman covered nine presidential campaigns as a reporter, writer, and analyst. For ...
, ''Courier-Journal'' reporter and Washington correspondent *
Pat Forde Pat Forde is a sports journalist who is a national columnist for ''Sports Illustrated''. He previously worked for ESPN, ''The Courier-Journal'' in Louisville, Kentucky, and '' Yahoo Sports''. Personal life and education Forde is a native of C ...
, ''Courier-Journal'' sports columnist *
Michael Gartner Michael Gartner (born October 25, 1938, in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American journalist, attorney and businessman. He was president of the Iowa Board of Regents. Biography A graduate of Carleton College and the New York University School of Law, ...
, ''Courier-Journal'' editor *
Kate Harrington Kate Harrington (December 8, 1902 – November 23, 1978) was an American television and movie actress. Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Harrington studied dramatics at the Bush Conservatory in Chicago. Three years later she was given her firs ...
, ''Louisville Journal'' reporter * Hugh Haynie, ''Courier-Journal'' political cartoonist * Paul Janensch, ''Courier-Journal'' executive editor * Mike King, ''Courier-Journal'' reporter, editor, Washington correspondent, and medical writer * Alan Levy, ''Courier-Journal'' reporter * Ronni Lundy, ''Courier-Journal'' and ''Louisville Times'' pop music editor * Paul Plaschke, ''Courier-Journal'' and ''Louisville Times'' cartoonist * Priscilla Robertson, ''Courier-Journal'' literary editor * Harvey Magee Watterson, ''Courier-Journal'' editorial staff, father of the paper's first editor


See also

* '' Branzburg v. Hayes'' – landmark Supreme Court case involving a ''Courier-Journal'' reporter * ''
Lexington Herald-Leader The ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' is a newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and based in Lexington, Kentucky. According to the ''1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook'', the paid circulation of the ''Herald-Leader'' is the second larg ...
'' – second largest newspaper in Kentucky * '' Louisville Eccentric Observer'' (aka ''LEO Weekly'' or ''LEO'') – free urban alternative weekly newspaper * ''
News and Tribune The ''News and Tribune'' is a six-day (Monday through Saturday) daily newspaper serving Clark and Floyd counties in Indiana. It is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc, and based out of Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city ...
'' – six-day daily newspaper serving Clark and Floyd Counties in Southern Indiana *
Scripps National Spelling Bee The Scripps National Spelling Bee, formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and often referred to as the National Spelling Bee or simply “the Spelling Bee” in the United States, is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. ...
– formerly the National Spelling Bee, organized by ''The Courier-Journal'' in 1925 * ''
Velocity Velocity is a measurement of speed in a certain direction of motion. It is a fundamental concept in kinematics, the branch of classical mechanics that describes the motion of physical objects. Velocity is a vector (geometry), vector Physical q ...
'' (2003–2011) – free weekly magazine published by ''The Courier-Journal'' *
List of newspapers in Kentucky This is a list of newspapers in Kentucky. Daily and weekly newspapers (currently published) University newspapers * '' College Heights Herald'' – Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green * ''The Concord'' - Bellarmine University * '' T ...


References


Further reading

* Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. ''The world's great dailies: profiles of fifty newspapers'' (1980) pp 192–95 * * *


External links

*
Gannett subsidiary profile of ''The Courier-Journal''
(archived from November 26, 2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Courier-Journal, The Newspapers established in 1868 Pulitzer Prize–winning newspapers 1868 establishments in Kentucky Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners Gannett publications