Henderson Gleaner
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''The Henderson Gleaner'' (also known as ''The Gleaner'') is the daily newspaper in
Henderson, Kentucky Henderson is a home rule-class city along the Ohio River and the county seat of Henderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 29,781 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is part of the Evansville–Henderson, IN–KY Combined Statis ...
. The newspaper is published Tuesday through Sunday mornings. It has not been published on Mondays since it was founded in the 1880s. ''The Gleaner'' was locally owned for more than a century, but was purchased by A. H. Belo in March 1997, before being acquired by the
E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...
on October 31, 2000, becoming part of the ''
Evansville Courier & Press The ''Evansville Courier & Press'' is a daily newspaper based in Evansville, Indiana. It serves about 30,000 daily and 50,000 Sunday readers. History The ''Evansville Courier'' was founded in 1845 by William Newton, a young attorney. Its first ...
''. Scripps later divested their newspaper holdings, and on April 1, 2015, the
Journal Media Group Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...
took over as owners of the paper. In April 2016,
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 ...
acquired Journal Media Group, including The Gleaner.


History

''The Gleaner'' was founded by Clarence Christian Givens in 1883 in
Providence, Kentucky Providence is a home rule-class city in Webster County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 3,193 at the time of the 2010 United States Census, making the most populous community in the county. History In 1820, Richard B. Savag ...
, approximately 35 miles south of
Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...
. Givens remained there for six months, then moved his newspaper farther south to
Madisonville, Kentucky Madisonville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Kentucky, United States, located along Interstate 69 in the state's Western Coal Fields region. The population was 19,591 at the 2010 census. Madisonville is a ...
. In July 1885, Givens relocated the newspaper to Henderson. It became a daily publication in 1888, with the exception that it produced no Monday edition, and was published as the ''Henderson Morning Gleaner''. ''The Gleaner'' was not the city's first newspaper; ''The Columbian'' was first published in 1823, and the ''Henderson Reporter'' was in print from 1853 to 1885. At least a dozen other newspapers have also operated in Henderson at various times, but few copies of those papers have survived. The ''Henderson Morning Gleaner'' competed with the ''Henderson Evening Journal'' for several years. By 1909, the ''Evening Journal'' was losing $500 a week and had been taken over by its bank. Leigh Harris of
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, bought the ''Journal'', and his first editorial consisted of the single sentence: "I have come to Henderson to run a newspaper". In around 1920, Harris and the Givens family negotiated a merger of the ''Gleaner'' and ''Journal'', creating the ''Henderson Gleaner and Journal''. The word "Journal" was dropped from the masthead in 1973. Harris later bought out C. C. Givens altogether, becoming the city's sole newspaper publisher. Harris chaired numerous Henderson causes and committees, including serving as chairman of the local
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
chapter during the
Ohio River flood of 1937 The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million ...
. Henderson was one of the few cities along the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
that escaped the floodwaters of 1937, owing to its position on a bluff well above the river. Harris noted in the newspaper that Henderson was "on the Ohio but never in it", using that as a marketing tool as he and other prominent citizens worked to attract new industries to the city. After Harris' death in 1955, his family leased the newspaper to J. Albert Dear of
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. His company, Dear Publication and Radio Inc., bought the newspaper outright two years later. In 1960, the Dear family sent a son, Walter Dear II, to Henderson to serve as promotions manager. He became editor in 1963 and later served as publisher. Dear promoted the community, and was among the city's primary fundraisers for community improvements such as a new
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
building, a Fine Arts Center on the
Henderson Community College Henderson Community College (HCC) is a community college in Henderson, Kentucky. It is one of 16 two-year, open-admissions colleges of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). It was established in 1960 under the leadership ...
campus, a new
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center and other projects. When the newspaper dropped the word "Journal" from its masthead on April 27, 1973, it also changed the print to
lower case Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (more formally '' minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing system ...
, as "the gleaner". It renamed so until August 10, 1997, when the name returned to upper case, as "The Gleaner." The newspaper constructed a new office and printing plant at 455 Klutey Park Plaza in the city suburbs, relocating there in 1976. In 1986, Walt and Martha Dear and their children bought ''The Gleaner'', several other western Kentucky weekly newspapers, and a small radio station in
Franklin, Kentucky Franklin is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Simpson County, Kentucky, United States. The county is located on the south central border of the state, and its population was 10,176 at the 2020 census. Kentucky Downs, formerl ...
, from the rest of their family. They later also acquired the ''Union County Advocate'' in
Morganfield, Kentucky Morganfield is a home rule-class city in Union County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 3,285 as of the year 2010 U.S. census. Name The city was named for Revolutionary War General Daniel Mor ...
. In 1997, the Dear family sold ''The Gleaner'' and other media holdings to the A. H. Belo Corp., a
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
media company that owns ''The
Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...
''. Belo had purchased ''
The Messenger-Inquirer The ''Messenger-Inquirer'' is a local newspaper in Owensboro, Kentucky. ''The Messenger-Inquirer'' serves 15,087 daily and 20,383 Sunday readers in five counties in western Kentucky. History The newspaper's roots trace back to 1875, when Lee Lu ...
'' in nearby
Owensboro Owensboro is a home rule-class city in Daviess County, Kentucky, United States, of which it is also the county seat. It is the fourth-most populous city in the state. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest ...
a year earlier. Belo subsequently decided that the two Kentucky newspapers were not core to their business of operating newspapers and television stations in larger high-growth markets, particularly in the
Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...
and
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...
. Belo sold ''The Gleaner'' to Scripps in 2000, making it a sister paper to the ''Evansville Courier & Press''. Like Belo, the Courier and E. W. Scripps left ''The Gleaner'' editorially independent, although Henderson readers later criticized the decision to merge ''The Gleaner'' and ''Courier & Press''
classified advertising Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements use ...
. The Gleaner's website is merged into a separate section on the ''Courier & Press'' Website. In 2015, Scripps withdrew from the newspaper business to focus on broadcasting. It sold its newspapers, including ''The Gleaner'', to the newly formed Journal Media Group on April 1, 2015. Gannett acquired Journal Media Group effective April 8, 2016. Gleaner staff-written stories are now labeled as being associated with the USA TODAY Network, which references Gannett's flagship newspaper,
USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
. The Gleaner's last office in Henderson, Kentucky was at 455 Klutey Park Plaza Drive. The building is now home to a nonprofit service youth with mental health issues. Reporters and photographers whose work is published in The Gleaner are now based out of offices in Evansville, Indiana.


Notable people

* Three former ''Gleaner'' photojournalists went on to receive the
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 ...
for their work at other newspapers. **
Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...
native William Snyder has won or shared in three Pulitzers (in 1986, 1991 and 1993) for his work at ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...
'', and in 2006 as director of photography of the newspaper, eight members of his staff won a Pulitzer. ** Keith Williams, also a native of
Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...
, shared in a 1976 Pulitzer with
The Courier-Journal 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 published in ...
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 ...
. ** J. Scott Applewhite has shared two Pulitzers (in 1993 and 1999) for his work with The
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
. * Both former ''Gleaner'' publisher and owner Walt Dear and retired editor Ron Jenkins were inducted into th
Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame
at the
University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...
's School of Journalism and Telecommunications. Dear was inducted in 1999. Jenkins was inducted in April 2007. * In 2016, longtime Gleaner reporters and columnists Chuck and Donna Stinnett were also inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. They are the second husband/wife duo from the Gleaner to be so honored. Columnist Judy Jenkins was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, joining her husband, Ron. *Journalist and photo agency owner Ewing Galloway was a reporter for the ''Gleaner''.


References

* "Newspaper takes on new name, building". (May 13, 1979). ''The Gleaner'', p. 34. * Armstrong, Francele Harris, ''Leigh and Jane—A Love Story''. (The Carlton Press, 1974) * "E.W. Scripps to buy Gleaner," (October 6, 2000). ''The Gleaner'', p. A-1 * "A newspaper's history (A capsule history of The Gleaner)," (October 6, 2000). ''The Gleaner'', p. A-1. * Letters to the Editor concerning classified ad changes, (March 24, 2001); (March 31, 2001); and (April 4, 2001). ''The Gleaner'', p. A-4. * "Change is an unsettling thing" column by Gleaner Editor Ron Jenkins, (March 18, 2001). ''The Gleaner'', p. A-4.


External links


''The Gleaner'' Home Page
{{Gannett Newspapers published in Kentucky Henderson County, Kentucky Gannett publications Daily newspapers published in the United States People from Providence, Kentucky Henderson, Kentucky