''The Mercury'', later ''The Sunday Mercury'', was a

weekly newspaper Weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspap ...

founded in

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

, United States in 1869, and moved to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

a few years later. Oregon writer Homer Davenport described approaching the ''Mercury'' when he arrived in Portland as a young man, and being sent to New Orleans to cover and draw pictures of the Fitzsimmons- Dempsey fight. ''The Mercury'' was best known for being the subject of an 1893 libel lawsuit involving attorney and writer C.E.S. Wood. The

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest State court (United States), state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.

ruled against O. P. Mason and B. P. Watson, and the newspaper itself was turned over to receiver A. A. Rosenthal. Rosenthal promised to "make a decent paper of it," but the paper was raided by the Portland district attorney's office later that year and suppressed for publishing offensive material. A November 19, 1893 '' Oregonian'' editorial praised the actions against a publication "insidiously demoralizing as well as unspeakably offensive." The paper continued into the 20th century, with C. H. Clute and William J. Swope in charge. It was described as a legitimate enterprise, but elsewhere it was described as a "sensational" paper given to "gossips and scandal." In 1899 a Mr. Cummins, described as "head of a respectable family," accused Swope, who was then publisher, editor, and proprietor of the paper of libel and slander, and a warrant was issued for Swope's arrest. Newspapers around the state continued to mention the ''Mercury'' until at least the early 1930s, often continuing to reference its legal entanglements and its propensity for

sensationalism In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emoti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercury (defunct Oregon newspaper), The Newspapers published in Portland, Oregon Defunct newspapers published in Oregon Newspapers established in 1869 1869 establishments in Oregon

See also

References