''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is 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

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. It is published by the

Bay Area News Group Bay Area News Group (BANG) is the largest publisher of daily and weekly newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including its flagship ''The Mercury News''. A subsidiary of the Denver-based MediaNews Group, its corporate headquarters is in San ...

, a subsidiary of

Media News Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 assorted othe ...

which in turn is controlled by

Alden Global Capital Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith, and is a division of Smith Management LLC. Its managing director is Heath Freeman. By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two ...

, a

vulture fund A vulture fund is a hedge fund or private-equity fund that invests in debt considered to be very weak or in default, known as distressed debt. Investors in the fund profit by buying debt at a discounted price on a secondary market and then u ...

. , it was the fifth largest daily newspaper in the United States, with a daily circulation of 611,194. , the paper has a circulation of 324,500 daily and 415,200 on Sundays. this further declined. The Bay Area News Group no longer reports its circulation, but rather "readership". For 2021, they reported a "readership" of 312,700 adults daily. First published in 1851, the ''Mercury News'' is the last remaining English-language daily newspaper covering the

Santa Clara Valley The Santa Clara Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Santa Clara'') is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister, California, Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered ...

. It became the ''Mercury News'' in 1983 after a series of mergers. During much of the 20th century, it was owned by

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

. Because of its location in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

, the ''Mercury News'' has covered many of the key events in the history of information technology and computing, and was a pioneer in delivering news online. It was the first American newspaper to publish in three languages (English, Spanish, and Vietnamese).

Name

The paper's name derives from the ''San Jose Mercury'' and ''San Jose News'', two daily newspapers that merged to form the ''Mercury News''. The ''San Jose Mercury''s name was a play on words. The word "mercury" refers to the importance of the mercury industry during the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. At the time, the nearby

New Almaden New Almaden, known in Spanish language, Spanish as Nueva Almadén, is a historic community and former mercury (element), mercury mine in the Capitancillos Hills of San Jose, California, located at the southwestern point of Almaden Valley, San Jo ...

mine (now

Almaden Quicksilver County Park Almaden Quicksilver County Park is a 4,163 acres (17 km2) park that includes the grounds of former mercury ("quicksilver") mines adjacent to south San Jose, California, USA. The park's elevation varies greatly: the most used entrances ( ...

) was North America's largest producer of mercury, which was needed for hydraulic gold mining. In addition, Mercury is the Roman messenger of the gods as well as the god of commerce and thieves, known for his swiftness, so the name ''Mercury'' is commonly used for newspapers without the quicksilver association.

Coverage

The paper's local coverage and circulation is concentrated in

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the ...

and

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

. With the ''Mercury News'', ''

East Bay Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa and Al ...

'', ''

Marin Independent Journal The ''Marin Independent Journal'' is the main newspaper of Marin County, California. The paper is owned by California Newspapers Partnership, which is in turn mostly owned by MediaNews Group.

'', and ''Silicon Valley Community Newspapers'', the

covers much of the

with the notable exception of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

itself. The ''Mercury News''s predecessor, the ''Weekly Visitor'', began as a Whig paper in the early 1850s but quickly switched its affiliation to the Democratic Party. The paper remained a conservative voice through the mid 20th century, when it supported pro-growth city leaders and pursued a staunchly pro-growth, anti-union agenda. It became considerably more moderate in the 1970s, reflecting new ownership and changes to the local political landscape. It endorsed

John B. Anderson John Bayard Anderson (February 15, 1922 – December 3, 2017) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Illinois's 16th congressional district from 1961 to 1981. A member of ...

for president in 1980 and endorsed Democratic presidential candidates in every election from

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

through 2016.

History

Early history

The newspaper now known as the ''Mercury News'' began in 1851 or 1852. California legislators had just moved the state capital from San Jose to Vallejo, leading to the failure of San Jose's first two newspapers, the ''Argus'' and ''State Journal''. A group of three businessmen led by John C. Emerson bought the papers' presses to found the ''San Jose Weekly Visitor''. The ''Weekly Visitor'' began as a Whig paper but quickly switched its affiliation to the Democratic Party. It was renamed the ''Santa Clara Register'' in 1852. The following year, Francis B. Murdoch took over the paper, merging it into the ''San Jose Telegraph''. W. A. Slocum assumed control of the ''Telegraph'' in 1860 and merged it with the ''San Jose Mercury'' or ''Weekly Mercury'' to become the ''Telegraph and Mercury''. William N. Slocum soon dropped ''Telegraph'' from the name. By this point, the ''Mercury'' was one of two newspapers publishing in San Jose.

Owen ownership

James Jerome Owen – a forty-niner and former Republican New York assemblyman – became the ''Mercury''s publisher in the spring of 1861, later acquiring a controlling interest in the paper along with a partner, Benjamin H. Cottle. The paper published daily as the ''San Jose Daily Mercury'' for three months in the fall of 1861, then from August 1869 to April 1870 with the addition of J. J. Conmy as partner and again from March 11, 1872, after the purchase of the ''Daily Guide''. In 1878, Owen formed the Mercury Printing and Publishing Company. In 1881, Owen proposed to light San Jose with a

moonlight tower A moonlight tower or moontower is a lighting structure designed to illuminate areas of a town or city at night. Only the collection of towers in Austin, Texas, have been termed historically "moonlight towers," a term that dates to the mid-20th cent ...

. The San Jose electric light tower was dedicated that year. The ''Mercury'' boasted that San Jose was the first town west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

lighted by electricity. The ''Mercury'' merged with the Times Publishing Company, which was owned by Charles M. Shortridge, in 1884. The ''Daily Morning Times'' and ''Daily Mercury'' briefly became the ''Times-Mercury'', while the ''Weekly Times'' and ''Weekly Mercury'' briefly become the ''Times-Weekly Mercury''. In 1885, both publications adopted the ''San Jose Mercury'' name. That year, Owen sold his interest in the paper and moved to San Francisco.

Hayes ownership

In late 1900, Everis A. Hayes and his brother Jay purchased the ''Mercury''. In August 1901, they purchased the ''San Jose Daily Herald'', an evening paper, and formed the Mercury Herald Company. In 1913, the two papers were consolidated into a single morning paper, the ''San Jose Mercury Herald''. In 1942, the Mercury Herald Company purchased the ''San Jose News'' (which was founded in 1851) but continued to publish both papers, the ''Mercury Herald'' in the morning and the ''News'' in the evening, with a combined Sunday edition called the ''Mercury Herald News''. The ''Herald'' name was dropped in 1950.

Ridder ownership

Herman Ridder Herman Ridder (March 5, 1851 – November 1, 1915) was an American newspaper publisher and editor. Biography Ridder was born in New York City, of German Catholic parents. Because of his parents' financial difficulties, Ridder had to leave school ...

's Northwest Publications (later Ridder Publications) purchased the ''Mercury'' and ''News'' in 1952. During the mid 20th century, the papers took largely conservative, pro-growth positions. Publisher Joe Ridder was a vocal proponent of San Jose City Manager

A. P. Hamann Anthony P. Hamann (September 26, 1909 – March 27, 1977), better known as A. P. Hamann or ''Dutch'', was the city manager of San Jose, California, USA, from 1950 to 1969. During his tenure, San Jose grew from a small agriculture-based city of 9 ...

's development agenda, which emphasized

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

within an ever-expanding city limits. Ridder counted on increasing population to lead to increased newspaper subscriptions and advertising sales. The paper supported a series of

general obligation bond A general obligation bond is a common type of municipal bond in the United States that is secured by a state or local government's pledge to use legally-available resources, including tax revenues, to repay bondholders. Most general obligation pl ...

s worth $ (equivalent to $ in ), most of it spent on capital improvements that benefited real estate developers. It also supported a revision to the city charter that introduced a direct mayoral elections and abolished the

vote of confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

for city manager. By 1967, the ''Mercury'' had risen to rank among the top six largest morning newspapers in the country by circulation, boosted by unabated growth into the suburbs, while the ''News'' ran the most advertising of any evening newspaper in the country. San Jose Mercury News HQ

In February 1967, the ''Mercury'' and ''News'' moved from a cramped former grocery store in downtown San Jose to a campus in suburban North San Jose. A main building could contain more presses to serve a booming population. The newly built complex cost $ (equivalent to $ in ) and was called the largest one-story newspaper plant in the world. Civic leaders criticized the move as emblematic of the

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban decay. ...

that downtown San Jose was experiencing.

Knight Ridder ownership

In 1974, Ridder merged with Knight Newspapers to form

. Joe Ridder was forced to retire in 1977. His nephew, P. Anthony "Tony" Ridder, succeeded him as publisher. Tony Ridder placed an emphasis on improving the papers' reportage, to better reflect Knight's reputation for investigative journalism. After the merger, the papers moderated their formerly staunch pro-growth agenda, and coverage of local issues became more balanced. The editorial board expressed only minimal opposition to a 1978 measure that abolished

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

city council elections, seen as favorable to deep-pocketed developers, in favor of council districts. It supported the desegregation of San Jose Unified School District and in 1978 argued against

Proposition 13 Proposition 13 (officially named the People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation) is an amendment of the Constitution of California enacted during 1978, by means of the initiative process, to cap property taxes and limit property reassessmen ...

. In the 1980s, Ridder supported Mayor

Tom McEnery Thomas Andrew McEnery (born September 23, 1945) is an American author, businessman, and teacher from San Jose, California, who served as the 61st mayor of that city from 1983 to 1991. McEnery attended Santa Clara University, graduating with a B. ...

's efforts to redevelop the downtown area, including the construction of

San Jose Arena SAP Center at San Jose (originally known as San Jose Arena and HP Pavilion at San Jose) is an indoor arena located in San Jose, California. Its primary tenant is the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League, for which the arena has earned ...

and

The Tech Museum of Innovation The Tech Interactive (formerly The Tech Museum of Innovation, commonly known as The Tech) is a science and technology center that offers hands-on activities, labs, design challenges and other STEAM education resources. It is located in downtown ...

In 1983, the ''Mercury'' and ''News'' merged into a single seven-day paper, the ''San Jose Mercury News'', with separate morning and afternoon editions. The afternoon edition was discontinued in 1995, leaving only the morning edition. In the 1980s and 1990s, the ''Mercury News'' published ''

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

'' magazine as a Sunday insert.

Coverage of ethnic communities

In the 1990s, the ''Mercury News'' expanded its coverage of the area's ethnic communities, to national acclaim, hiring Vietnamese-speaking reporters for the first time. In 1994, it became the first of two American dailies to open a

foreign bureau A news bureau is an office for gathering or distributing news. Similar terms are used for specialized bureaus, often to indicate a geographic location or scope of coverage: a 'Tokyo bureau' refers to a given news operation's office in Tokyo; 'fo ...

in Vietnam after the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. A

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

stationed at the

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

bureau held an annual

town hall meeting Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...

with the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose. Initially, community members staged protests accusing the paper of siding with the Communist government in Vietnam by opening the bureau. The ''Mercury News'' launched the free, Spanish-language weekly (New World) in 1996 and the free, Vietnamese-language weekly '' Viet Mercury'' in 1999. ''Viet Mercury'' was the first Vietnamese-language newspaper published by an English-language daily. It competed against a crowded field of 14 Vietnamese-owned

community newspaper Community journalism is locally-oriented, professional news coverage that typically focuses on city neighborhoods, individual suburbs or small towns, rather than metropolitan, state, national or world news. If it covers wider topics, community ...

s, including four dailies.

Growth alongside the technology industry

The ''Mercury News'' benefited from its status as the major daily newspaper in

during the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Interne ...

. It led the news industry in business coverage of the valley's high-tech industry, attracting readers from around the world. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' called the ''Mercury News'' the most technologically savvy newspaper in the country. The tech industry's growth fueled growth in the paper's

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 ...

, particularly for employment listings. For 20 years, the ''Mercury News'' was one of the country's top newspapers in the amount of advertising it ran. The ''Mercury News'' was one of the first daily newspapers in the United States to have an online presence, and was the first to deliver full content and breaking news online. It launched a service called Mercury Center on

America Online AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo! Inc. The service tra ...

in 1993, followed by the country's first news website in 1995 (see ). Mercury Center shut down its AOL service in July 1996, leaving only the website. KnightRidder

At its peak in 2001, the ''Mercury News'' had 400 employees in its newsroom, 15 bureaus, $288 million in annual revenue, and profit margins above 30%. In 1998, Knight Ridder moved its headquarters from

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

to the Knight-Ridder Building in San Jose, which was seen as an acknowledgment of the central role that online news would play in the company's future. Mercury Center ended its paywall in May 1998, after posting 1.2 million monthly unique visitors the previous year. By 2000, the paper had a Sunday circulation of 327,000 and $341 million in annual revenue, $118 million of it from job listings. In 2001, circulation rose to 289,413 daily and 332,669 Sundays.

Flush times come to an end

The collapse of the dot-com bubble impacted the classified advertising that sustained the newspaper's business operations. Additionally, newspapers across the industry faced serious competition to their job listings from websites such as

Monster.com Monster.com is a global employment website headquartered in Weston, Massachusetts. Along with its sister site, CareerBuilder, it is majority owned by funds managed by Apollo Global Management and is minority owned by Randstad NV. History In ...

CareerBuilder CareerBuilder is an American employment website founded in 1995 that operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. CareerBuilder provides talent management software and other recruitment related services. The company is majority-owned ...

, and

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...

. Cost-cutting began affecting the initiatives the paper had started in the 1990s. In June 2005, the ''Mercury News'' closed its Hanoi bureau. On October 21, it also announced the closure of and the sale of ''Viet Mercury'' to a group of Vietnamese-American businessmen; however, the deal fell through, and ''Viet Mercury'' published its final issue on November 11, 2005.

Digital First ownership

On March 13, 2006,

The McClatchy Company McClatchy Media Company, or simply McClatchy and MCC, is an American publishing company incorporated under Delaware's General Corporation Law. Originally based in Sacramento, California, United States, and known as The McClatchy Company, it b ...

purchased Knight Ridder for $. In a surprise move, McClatchy immediately put the ''Mercury News'' and 11 other newspapers back up for sale. On April 26,

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

-based

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

(now Digital First Media) announced a planned $ purchase of the ''Mercury News'', two other California newspapers, and the ''

St. Paul Pioneer Press The ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'' is a newspaper based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It serves the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the east metro, including Ramsey, Dakota, and Washington countie ...

'', with the three California papers to be added to the California Newspapers Partnership (CNP). However, on June 12, 2006, federal regulators from the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

asked for more time to review the purchase, citing possible antitrust concerns over MediaNews' ownership of other newspapers in the region. Although approval by regulators and completion of MediaNews' acquisition was announced on August 2, 2006, a lawsuit claiming antitrust violations by MediaNews and the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

had also been filed in July 2006. The suit, which sought to undo the purchase of both the ''Mercury News'' and the ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East ...

'', was scheduled to go to trial on April 30, 2007. While extending until that date a preliminary injunction that prevented the collaboration of local distribution and national advertising sales by the two media conglomerates, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on December 19, 2006, expressed doubt over the legality of the purchase. On April 25, 2007, days before the trial was scheduled to begin, the parties reached a settlement in which MediaNews preserved its acquisitions. The ''Mercury News'' and ''Contra Costa Times'' were placed under CNP's local subsidiary, the

. Meanwhile, layoffs continued at the ''Mercury News''. Around December 2016, 101 employees were laid off, including 40 in the newsroom. In 2013, MediaNews Group and

21st Century Media 21st Century Media was an American media company. It was the successor of Ingersoll Publications and Journal Register Company, and it was succeeded by Digital First Media. The company operated more than 350 multi-platform products in 992 comm ...

merged to form

Digital First Media MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

. In April 2013, MediaNews announced that it would sell the ''Mercury News'' campus on Ridder Park Drive in North San Jose. County Supervisor

Dave Cortese David Dominic Cortese (born June 3, 1956) is an elected official from San Jose, California. He is currently serving in the California State Senate, representing District 15, which encompasses a majority of Santa Clara County. Before being elected ...

approached the ''Mercury News'' about moving into the former San Jose City Hall on North First Street, but the paper ended up returning downtown. In June 2014, printing and production of the ''Mercury News'' and other daily newspapers moved to Bay Area News Group's

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

and Hayward facilities. The ''Mercury News'' moved into a downtown office building that September. According to the publishers, the Ridder Park Drive facility had become unnecessarily large for the paper, following the departure of printing operations and other staff reductions that had occurred over the years. On April 5, 2016,

consolidated the ''

San Mateo County Times The ''San Mateo County Times'' was a daily newspaper published by the Media News Group. The paper is distributed throughout San Mateo County, Monday through Saturday. Before being sold in 1996, it had been published for over 100 years as the '' ...

'' and 14 other titles into the ''San Jose Mercury News''. The paper's name was shortened to ''The Mercury News''.

Facilities

The ''Mercury News'' is the largest tenant in the Towers @ 2nd high-rise office complex in downtown San Jose. Business functions occupy the seventh floor of 4 North Second Street, while news staff and executives occupy the eighth floor, for a total of . Printing and production of the ''Mercury News'' take place at the Bay Area News Group's facilities in

and Hayward in the East Bay. Originally, the ''Mercury'' and ''News'' published from various locations in downtown San Jose. From February 1967 to September 2014, the papers were headquartered in a campus in suburban North San Jose, abutting the Nimitz Freeway (then State Route 17, now Interstate 880). The Web staff was originally co-located with the newsroom staff but moved to downtown San Jose in December 1996. Following the ''Mercury News'' return to the downtown area, Digital First Media sold the suburban campus to Super Micro Computer, Inc., which renamed it " Supermicro Green Computing Park". Older ''San Jose Mercury News'' newsboxes have black, white, and green stripes, while newer ''Mercury News'' newsboxes bear the paper's logo in white against a blue background.

Online presence

The ''Mercury News'' operates a paywalled website, which is located at mercurynews.com, sjmercury.com, or sjmn.com. Its SiliconValley.com website focuses on the technology industry in

. It also publishes a morning e-mail

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

, Good Morning Silicon Valley, that covers technology news. "Mercury News" and "e-Edition" applications are available for Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

devices, as well as for the

Kindle Fire The Amazon Fire, formerly called the Kindle Fire, is a line of tablet computers developed by Amazon. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was first released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS tech ...

and

Barnes & Noble Nook The Barnes & Noble Nook (styled nook or NOOK) is a brand of e-readers developed by United States, American book retailer Barnes & Noble, based on the Android (operating system), Android platform. The original device was announced in the U.S. i ...

. The ''Mercury News'' was one of the first daily newspapers in the United States to have an online presence and was the first to deliver full content and breaking news online. In 1990, editor Robert Ingle sent a report to Tony Ridder, then the head of

, on the company's future in electronic media after the failure of

Viewtron Viewtron was an online service offered by Knight-Ridder and AT&T from 1983 to 1986. Patterned after the British Post Office's Prestel system, it started as a videotex service requiring users to have a special terminal, the AT&T Sceptre. As home ...

four years earlier. Ingle proposed a Mercury Center online service that would use the newspaper's content to bring together communities of interest. It launched as part of

on May 10, 1993, at AOL keyword . It was the second news service on AOL, after the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' opened Chicago Online in 1992. The paper sent

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...

s to subscribers for accessing Mercury Center. The service featured a large amount of content for free: the print paper's full content, supplementary material such as documents and audio clips, stock quotes, and about 200 stories that did not make the print edition. A

forum Forum or The Forum may refer to: Common uses *Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example * Internet forum, discussion board ...

enabled readers to converse with each other and give feedback to reporters. However, the service's most popular content lie behind a

paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content (media), content, with a purchase or a subscription business model, paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their website ...

: back issues from 1985 onward and a "NewsHound" clipping service were popular with business users. Readers could enter alphanumeric codes, which appeared throughout the print paper, to quickly access online versions of articles that did not make print. Examples included for an article in the news section or for a press release in the business section. The Mercury Center staff comprised both news reporters and business "senders", who posted

press release A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...

s online in addition to vetted content. Initially, the service had difficulty attracting users, prompting the paper to add a telephone and fax hotline, News Call, in November 1993. By early 1994, Mercury Center had added 5,100 subscribers to AOL, representing less than 20% of AOL's 30,000 subscribers in the

or less than two percent of the ''Mercury News''s 282,488 daily subscribers. In December 1994, the ''Mercury News'' began beta-testing a companion website, Mercury Center Web, which on January 20, 1995, became the country's first news website. Subscribers no longer needed AOL to access the ''Mercury News''s online content, and the paper no longer had to share advertising revenue with AOL. The site ran on

Netscape Netscape Communications Corporation (originally Mosaic Communications Corporation) was an American independent computer services company with headquarters in Mountain View, California, and then Dulles, Virginia. Its Netscape web browser was o ...

's Netsuite Web server, with connectivity provided by Netcom. Access to the site cost $4.95 per month, with a discount for print subscribers. In October 1995, CareerBuilder.com launched as a partnership between the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', ''

'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Mercury News'', ''The New York Times, New York Times'', and ''The Washington Post, Washington Post''. Mercury Center shut down its AOL service in July 1996, leaving only the website. In August 1996, the ''Mercury News'' published "Dark Alliance", a series of investigative articles by reporter Gary Webb that claimed CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking (see ). The ''Mercury News'' promoted the upcoming series on Usenet newsgroups weeks in advance. Mercury Center published reporting and supporting material online simultaneously with the print edition. The robust online production drew significant national attention to the series. Within days, more than 2,500 websites linked to Mercury Center's "Dark Alliance" section, and the site received 100,000 daily page views over the usual traffic for weeks. Executive editor Jerome Ceppos eventually distanced the paper from the series, but it continued to receive attention, especially from online conspiracy theorists. On October 26, 1999, technology columnist Dan Gillmor began writing a blog, ''eJournal'', on the ''Mercury News'' SiliconValley.com website. It is believed to have been the first blog by a journalist at a traditional media company. In the 2000s, he was joined by columnists-turned-bloggers Tim Kawakami and John Paczkowski. Articles dating back to June 1985 can be found online for free on the ''Mercury News'' website, with full text available on the NewsLibrary and NewsBank subscription databases. NewsBank also hosts the full text of articles from 1886 to 1922. The San José Public Library's website hosts thousands of news clips of articles from 1920 to 1979. Much of Gillmor's ''eJournal'' is preserved on the Bayosphere website.

Awards

The newspaper has earned several awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1986 for reporting regarding political corruption in the Ferdinand Marcos administration in the Philippines, and one in 1990 for their comprehensive coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Assistant managing editor David Yarnold was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2004 for a local corruption investigation. The Mercury News was also named one of the five best-designed newspapers in the world by the Society for News Design for work done in 2001. In 2007 the newspaper won a Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards, Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Award for General Excellence, Class IV. Various staff writers and designers have received awards for their contributions to ''

'' magazine, a Sunday insert published by the ''Mercury News'' in the 1980s and 1990s. The ''Mercury News'' website received EPpy Awards in 1996, 1999, 2009, 2013, and 2014.

Controversies

In August 1996, the ''Mercury News'' published "Dark Alliance", a series of investigative articles by reporter Gary Webb. The series claimed that members of the Nicaraguan Contras, a right wing guerrilla group organized with the help of the Central Intelligence Agency, had been involved in smuggling cocaine into America to support their struggle, and as a result, had played a major role in creating the crack-cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. The series sparked three federal investigations, but other newspapers such as the ''Los Angeles Times'' later published articles alleging that the series' claims were overstated. Executive editor Jerry Ceppos, who had approved the series, eventually published a column that suggested shortcomings in the series' reporting, editing, and production, while maintaining the story was correct "on many important points". The series was turned into a 1998 Dark Alliance (book), book by the same name, also by Webb, and an account of the controversy surrounding the series was published as ''Kill the Messenger (Schou book), Kill the Messenger'' in 2006. Both were the basis for the 2014 film ''Kill the Messenger (2014 film), Kill the Messenger''.

Notable people

* Lamberto Alvarez artist * Scott Apel ''Mercury News'' movie columnist; science fiction writer * Dwight Bentel ''Mercury Herald'' reporter * Ryan Blitstein ''Mercury News'' business reporter; nonprofit executive * Howard Bryant technology and sports reporter * Ric Bucher ''Mercury News'' beat writer; radio basketball analyst * Stephen Butler financial columnist * Lou Cannon reporter * John Canzano sports columnist * Pete Carey Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter * Denis Collins (journalist), Denis Collins reporter * Tim Cowlishaw sportswriter * Penny De Los Santos photographer * Diana Diamond editorial writer * Hannah Dreier reporter * Sandra Eisert Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer and ''West'' art director * Katherine Ellison Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter * Steve Fainaru investigative reporter * Dan Gillmor technology columnist and blogger * Susan Goldberg ''Mercury News'' managing editor; magazine editor * Pedro Gomez (journalist), Pedro Gomez baseball writer * Minal Hajratwala ''Mercury News'' journalist; writer and queer rights activist * Jay T. Harris ''Mercury News'' chairman and publisher * Everis A. Hayes ''Mercury Herald'' publisher and proprietor; Republican congressman from California * David E. Hoffman reporter * David Cay Johnston reporter * Tim Kawakami sports columnist * Jeffrey Bruce Klein ''West'' editor-in-chief; investigative reporter * Robert Lindsey (journalist), Robert Lindsey ''Mercury News'' reporter; crime author * Steve Lopez staff writer * Michael S. Malone technology reporter * Gerald Nachman ''Mercury'' television reviewer * Hoang Xuan Nguyen ''Viet Mercury'' managing editor; South Vietnamese author * James Jerome Owen ''Mercury'' publisher; Republican New York assemblyman and California assemblyman * Sal Pizarro Around Town, Cocktail Chronicles columnist * Michael Rezendes reporter * James Herbert (Bert) Robinson Pulitzer Prize-winning Senior Editor * Lewis M. Simons Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter * Susan Slusser baseball writer * Rebecca Smith (journalist), Rebecca Smith reporter * Timothy Taylor (economist), Timothy Taylor opinion columnist * Philip Trounstine political writer and editor * Gary Webb investigative reporter * Leigh Weimers Community columnist * Troy Wolverton technology columnist * David Yarnold ''Mercury News'' senior vice president; environmentalist

Community weeklies

''The Mercury News'' publishes the following community weeklies: *''Almaden Resident'' *''Cambrian Resident'' *''Campbell Reporter'' *''Cupertino Courier'' *''Los Gatos Weekly'' *''Rose Garden Resident'' *''Saratoga News'' *''Sunnyvale Sun'' *''Willow Glen Resident'' *''Peninsula News'' *''The Milpitas Post''

Notes

References

External links

* *
SiliconValley.com

''San Jose Telegraph and Santa Clara Register'' front page, February 15, 1854
http://historysanjose.pastperfectonline.com/library/043A90C9-B2FC-4EE1-8769-759370163106] * wikisource:en:California Historical Society Quarterly/Volume 22/The San Jose Mercury and the Civil War {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercury News, The The Mercury News, Knight Ridder publications, Daily newspapers published in the San Francisco Bay Area Newspapers established in 1851 1851 establishments in California MediaNews Group publications Newspapers published in California Newspapers published in San Jose, California