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''The Press Democrat'', with the largest circulation in
The newspaper was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley, Grant Richards, and Charles O. Dunbar, who merged their ''Evening Press'' and Thomas Thompson's ''Sonoma Democrat'' (originally created as a voice for the Democratic Party). Finley bought the ''Santa Rosa Republican'' in 1927, which was merged with ''The Press Democrat'' in 1948.
Finley, his wife Ruth Woolsey Finley, daughter Ruth Finley Person, and son-in-law Evert B. Person owned and published the "PD" between 1897 and 1985. After the death of his wife in 1985, Evert Person sold the paper to
''The Press Democrat''s staff was the winner of the
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
's North Bay, 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 Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...
.
History
The newspaper was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley, Grant Richards, and Charles O. Dunbar, who merged their ''Evening Press'' and Thomas Thompson's ''Sonoma Democrat'' (originally created as a voice for the Democratic Party). Finley bought the ''Santa Rosa Republican'' in 1927, which was merged with ''The Press Democrat'' in 1948.
Finley, his wife Ruth Woolsey Finley, daughter Ruth Finley Person, and son-in-law Evert B. Person owned and published the "PD" between 1897 and 1985. After the death of his wife in 1985, Evert Person sold the paper to The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American mass media corporation that publishes ''The New York Times'' and its associated publications such as ''The New York Times International Edition'' and other media properties. The New York Times Company's ...
.
The most popular feature in ''The Press Democrat'' for many years was Gaye LeBaron's community column, according to a readership survey. LeBaron produced more than 8,000 columns between 1961 and her semi-retirement in 2001, writing on human interest
In journalism, a human-interest story is a feature story that discusses people or pets in an emotional way. It presents people and their problems, concerns, or achievements in a way that brings about interest, sympathy or motivation in the reader ...
, cultural events, ethnic history and local politics.
Along with ''The Press Democrat'', The New York Times Company bought the ''North Bay Business Journal'' and the ''Petaluma Argus-Courier''; all were acquired by Halifax Media Group in January 2012. Less than a year later, in November 2012, Halifax resold its California papers to a local ownership group, Sonoma Media Investments, LLC, which included former congressman
A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...
Douglas H. Bosco, Jean Schulz, the widow of ''Peanuts
''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...
'' comic strip creator Charles M. Schulz, and Norma Betz Person, widow of ''The Press Democrat'' former publisher Evert Person.
In 2019, Sonoma Media Investments acquired the ''Sonoma County Gazette'' of Forestville, a monthly newspaper.
In 2025, the newspaper was acquired by 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 ...
.
Awards and honors
''The Press Democrat''s staff was the winner of the 2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting
The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting is a Pulitzer Prize awarded for a distinguished example of breaking news
Breaking news, also called late-breaking news, a special report, special coverage, or a news flash, is a current issue ...
for " r lucid and tenacious coverage of historic wildfires that ravaged the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County." Former staff photographer Annie Wells also won the 1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography
The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. From 2000 it has used the "breaking news" name but it is considered a continuation of the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photogr ...
"for her dramatic photograph of a local firefighter rescuing a teenager from raging floodwaters."
The newspaper was also the 2004 recipient of the George Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...
for Regional Reporting, given annually by Long Island University
Long Island University (LIU) is a private university in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York, United States. The university enrolls over 16,000 students and offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post on Long I ...
to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Press Democrat, The George Polk Award recipients Daily newspapers published in the San Francisco Bay Area Newspapers established in 1897 Mass media in Santa Rosa, California 1897 establishments in California History of Sonoma County, California Newspapers published in California Pulitzer Prize–winning newspapers