''The Journal News'' is a

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 ...

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the

Lower Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yonkers in Westc ...

. It is 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 ...

History

''The Journal News'' was created through a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

of several daily community newspapers serving the lower Hudson, which had previously been organized under the Gannett Suburban Newspapers umbrella; the earliest ancestor of the paper dates to 1852. Although the current newspaper's name comes from the ''Rockland Journal-News'', which was based in

West Nyack, New York West Nyack is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Blauvelt, east of Nanuet, southwest of Valley Cottage, southeast of Bardonia, and west of Central ...

, and served Rockland County, the ''Rockland Journal-News'' was actually the third-largest newspaper that Gannett merged to create the larger newspaper. ''The Reporter Dispatch'' from White Plains, New York, and the ''Herald Statesman'' in

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

were larger and served Westchester County. For years prior to the October 12, 1998, merger that created ''The Journal News'', ten of the newspapers shared some content and printing presses, although the ''Rockland Journal-News'', formerly ''The Journal-News'', the ''Rockland County Evening Journal'' and the ''Nyack Evening Journal'', operated its own full composing room and printing press until fall 1996. The ''Rockland Journal-News'' had an independent staff of editors, writers, photographers, an artist, etc., from the time of the 1964 purchase by Gannett until the 1996-1998 consolidation period. In that, there was a fierce independence that led to exceptional reporting and photography on both sides of the Hudson River. Gannett acquired nine of the newspapers in 1964 from the Macy family and added ''The Star'' in

Peekskill, New York Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, north of New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fr ...

in 1985. These newspapers previously appeared on newsstands in the evening. In 1989, Gannett created a morning edition for Putnam County, Westchester, and the Bronx called ''The Sunrise'', but it folded after a year. Today, ''The Journal News'' appears in the morning like other New York dailies.

Mergers

Newspapers that merged in 1998 to create ''The Journal News'': *''Rockland Journal-News'' (

West Nyack West Nyack is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Blauvelt, east of Nanuet, southwest of Valley Cottage, southeast of Bardonia, and west of Central ...

) *''The Citizen Register'' ( Ossining) *''The Daily Argus'' (

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

) *''The Daily Item'' (

Port Chester Port Chester is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the largest part of the town of Rye (town), New York, Rye in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County by populati ...

) *''The Daily News'' (

Tarrytown Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on th ...

) *''The Daily Times'' (

Mamaroneck Mamaroneck ( ), is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 31,758 at the 2020 United States census over 29,156 at the 2010 census. There are two villages contained within the town: Larchmont and the Villag ...

) *''The Herald Statesman'' (

) **''The Patent Trader'' (

Mount Kisco Mount Kisco is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous with the village. The population was 10,959 at the 2020 United States census. It serves as a significant historic site al ...

) (itself the product of a 1956 merger of Northern Westchester papers) was subsequently acquired by Gannett and folded in 2007. Paperboy license 1970 New York State

*''The Reporter Dispatch'' (White Plains) *''The Standard-Star'' (

New Rochelle New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtown Manhattan. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the 7th-largest city and 2 ...

) *''The Star'' (

Peekskill Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, north of New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across f ...

) ''The Journal News'' successfully launched ''

Putnam Magazine ''Putnam Magazine'' is a regional lifestyle magazine that covers Putnam County, New York, and it is published by the local (Rockland, Westchester, Putnam) newspaper, '' The Journal News'', a division of Gannett. The publication was launched in 2 ...

'' and ''Rockland Magazine'' in 2005, and ''

Scarsdale Magazine ''Scarsdale Magazine'' is a regional lifestyle magazine that covers the village of Scarsdale, New York and its surrounding area (Hartsdale, Eastchester, Edgemont, Greenburgh, Tuckahoe, etc.). It is published by the local (Rockland, Westchester, P ...

'' (originally ''InTown Scarsdale'') in early 2006. In 2005, ''The Journal News'' expanded its Custom Publishing division and began publishing a series of suburban lifestyle magazines about the Lower Hudson Valley region. The first of these publications was ''

InTown ''InTown Westchester'' is a regional lifestyle magazine that covers Westchester County, New York, and is published by Gannett and The Journal News ''The Journal News'' is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westche ...

'', which covered the Westchester market with hyper-local editions targeting different regions of the county: In late 2006, these numerous editions were all consolidated into one county-wide publication, ''InTown Westchester'', which publishes 10 times a year. *Bronxville/Tuckahoe/Eastchester *Larchmont/Mamaroneck *Northern Westchester (Bedford, Chappaqua, Katonah, Mount Kisco) *River Towns (Dobbs Ferry, Hastings, Irvington, Tarrytown) *Rye/Harrison/Purchase *Scarsdale *White Plains ''The Journal News'' also publishes five ultra-local community weekly ''Express'' newspapers serving Northern Westchester, Putnam, Yorktown/Cortlandt, Sound Shore, and White Plains as well as the ''Review Press'', a weekly newspaper covering Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe. ''The Journal News website, LoHud.com, features daily news updates, more than 40 blogs, as well as ''Varsity Insider'', an online source for varsity sports, featuring rosters, schedules, and statistic for high school teams throughout the Lower

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

region. On March 7, 2010 ''The Journal News'' closed its press and outsourced printing. On August 7, 2013, the newspaper laid off 26 staff members, including 17 journalists, and its editor, Caryn McBride. In February 2022, ''The Journal News'' ran an advertisement for an upcoming article on the

East Ramapo Central School District East Ramapo Central School District is a school district in Ramapo, New York, United States. It is headquartered in the Senator Eugene Levy Dr. Jack R. Anderson Education Center. History 20th century On March 4, 1952, seven school districts m ...

, which

Agudath Israel of America Agudath Israel of America (; also called the Agudah) is an American organization that represents Haredi Judaism, Haredi Orthodox Jews. It is loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel. Agudah seeks to meet the needs of the Har ...

condemned as reproducing classic antisemitic tropes similar to those found in the

Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...

. The Anti-Defamation League's New York / New Jersey branch also condemned the advertisement, stating that it "draws from the worst of millennia-old antisemitic tropes about Jews". In 2022, Mary Dolan, who oversaw five years of dwindling circulation and online readership, was sacked as news director and replaced with former photo editor Carrie Yale as Gannett once again cut editorial staff.

2012–2013 pistol permit map controversy

On December 22, 2012, ''The Journal News'' published an interactive map showing the names, addresses and home addresses of all pistol permit holders in Westchester and Rockland Counties. Both Westchester and Rockland residents and major, national news organizations sharply criticized the newspaper. Despite this, the newspaper's editor and vice president, CynDee Royle, said that they had sought to publish even more detailed information, to which the counties had denied ''The Journal News'' access, and that the newspaper sued neighboring Putnam County for refusing to provide similar information. The following day, blogger Christopher Fountain published the names and addresses of the staff of ''The Journal News''. The newspaper and some of its staff responded by hiring armed security guards, a move that critics called hypocritical considering the paper's anti-gun stance. Rockland County law enforcement officers condemned ''The Journal News''' map, saying that it endangered lives, including those of corrections officers. Several newspapers also published reports of victims of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

, or other violent crimes who reported that their attackers now had possession of their home addresses. As a result of the publication, protests were held at the

State Capitol A capitol, or seat of government, is the building or complex of buildings from which a government such as that of a U.S. state, the District of Columbia, or the organized territories of the United States, exercises its authority. Although m ...

in Albany, and the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

passed a law allowing gun owners in the state to opt out of having their identifying information be available to the public. This catalyzed other states across the country to pass similar privacy measures. ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' reported that police were investigating if ''The Journal News'' pistol permit map played a role in a

burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...

in White Plains, New York. According to police, at least two burglars broke into a home on January 12, 2013 and unsuccessfully attempted to open a

gun safe A gun safe is a safe designed for storing one or more firearms and/or ammunitions. Gun safes are primarily used to prevent access by unauthorized or unqualified persons (such as children), for burglary protection and, in more capable safes, to p ...

containing legally owned weapons. Police were investigating what role, if any, the Journal News database played in the burglars' decision to target the home. On January 19, 2013, the newspaper removed the interactive map, although the information it contained was subsequently leaked on the Internet.

Former contributors

Irving Brecher Irving S. Brecher (January 17, 1914 – November 17, 2008) was a screenwriter who wrote for the Marx Brothers among many others; he was the only writer to get sole credit on a Marx Brothers film, penning the screenplays for ''At the Circus'' (1 ...

is now a sportswriter for ''The Yonkers Herald'' Press Staff (March 21, 1937)
"Youth Pens Radio Gags; Fellow Who Jibbed Milt Berle Becomes His Author for Network Show"
''The Pittsburgh Press''. Retrieved August 29, 2020. and Michael Gallagher is an investigative reporter.

References

External links

* * Magazines published by ''The Journal News'': * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Journal News, The Daily newspapers published in New York (state) Westchester County, New York Gannett publications Rockland County, New York Newspapers established in 1852 1852 establishments in New York (state)