''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of in height. Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper ...

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 ...

based in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in

eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...

and

northern Idaho The Idaho panhandle—locally known as North Idaho, Northern Idaho, or simply the Panhandle—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, K ...

History

''The Spokesman-Review'' was formed from the merger of the ''Spokane Falls Review'' (1883–1894) and the ''Spokesman'' (1890–1893) in 1893 and first published under the present name on June 29, 1894. The ''Spokane Falls Review'' was a joint venture between local businessman, A.M. Cannon and

Henry Pittock Henry Lewis Pittock (March 1, 1835 (some sources cite 1836) – January 28, 1919) was an England, English-born American American pioneers, pioneer, publisher, newspaper editor, and wood and paper magnate. He was active in Republican Party (U.S.) ...

and Harvey W. Scott of ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

''. ''The Spokesman-Review'' later absorbed its competing sister publication, the afternoon ''

Spokane Daily Chronicle The ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'' is a daily digital newspaper in Spokane, Washington. It was founded as a weekly paper in 1881 and grew into an afternoon daily, competing with ''The Spokesman-Review'', which was formed from the merger of two com ...

''. Long co-owned, the two combined their sports departments in late 1981 and news staffs in early 1983. The middle name "Daily" was dropped in January 1982, and its final edition was printed on Friday, July 31, 1992. The newspaper formerly published three editions, a metro edition covering Spokane and the outlying areas, a

Spokane Valley The Spokane Valley is a valley of the Spokane River through the southern Selkirk Mountains in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The valley is home to the cities of Spokane and its suburbs Spokane Valley, Washington, Spokane Vall ...

edition and an Idaho edition covering

. After a large downsizing of the newsroom staff in November 2007, the paper moved to a single zoned edition emphasizing localized "Voices" sections staffed primarily by non-union employees. The "Voices" section still caters to the three original editions, publishing a Valley "Voices", a North Spokane "Voices" and a South Spokane "Voices". Owner of both papers since 1897, W.H. Cowles set the ''Chronicle'' on a course to be independent and ''The Spokesman-Review'' to support Republican Party causes. ''Time'' magazine related the papers' success gaining lowered rates for freight carried to the

Northwest 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 an improved park system and that helped the region. Increasing its reputation for comprehensive local news and by opposing "gambling, liquor and prostitution," ''The Spokesman-Review'' gained popularity. The paper's opposition to building the

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerhous ...

was not quite so universally applauded, and when it opposed the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

and the

Fair Deal The Fair Deal was a set of proposals put forward by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to Congress in 1945 and in his January 1949 State of the Union Address. More generally, the term characterizes the entire domestic agenda of the Truman adminis ...

, it so disturbed

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

that during a visit in 1948 he declared ''The Spokesman-Review'' to be one of the "two worst" newspapers in the nation (''

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 ...

'', the other). The ''Scripps League's Press'' closed in 1939, making Cowles the only newspaper publisher in Spokane. Cowles created four weeklies, the ''Idaho Farmer'', ''Washington Farmer'', ''Oregon Farmer'', and ''Utah Farmer''. Cowles died in 1946. When William H. Cowles Jr. succeeded his father as publisher, James Bracken received much more news and editorial control as managing editor. ''The Spokesman-Review'' has been described as moderate-to-liberal, especially in issues around hate groups in the region. In 1997, three extreme-right militants were tried and eventually convicted of bombing the Spokane Valley office of ''The Spokesman-Review'' as well as an abortion clinic (see Citizens Rule Book). ''The Spokesman-Review'' is also one of the few remaining family-owned newspapers in the United States. It is owned by

Cowles Company The Cowles Company is an American diversified media company based in Spokane, Washington. The company owns and operates ''The Spokesman-Review'' in Spokane, founded in 1894, and owned the ''Spokane Daily Chronicle'' until it was shut down in 19 ...

, which also owns

KHQ-TV KHQ-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Spokane, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship (broadcasting), flagship and namesake of the KHQ Television Group, a subsidiary of the locally based Cowles Company, whic ...

/Spokane and The KHQ Television Group. While the newspaper wins awards, it also draws opposition from local critics and activists who suspect the Cowles family of using its alleged vast local media influence to sway public opinion. In particular, a (1997–2004) issue regarding a public-private partnership wherein the Cowles family may have profited, some claim, up to $20 million. This is referred to as the " River Park Square Parking Garage" issue. The newspaper underwent an independent review by the Washington News Council regarding its River Park Square coverage and was found to be at fault for its news bias. In 2004, Spokane

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

James E. West became the target of a

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...

conducted by ''The Spokesman-Review''. Some journalists and academics criticized the paper for what they saw as a form of entrapment. West was later cleared of criminal charges by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

but not before the mayor lost a

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (baseball), a baseball term * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...

vote by the citizens of Spokane in December 2005; the following summer, West died of cancer. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, as reported in the ''

Puget Sound Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

'' on April 29, 2010, the newspaper's average Sunday circulation totaled 95,939 and weekly circulation averaged 76,291. That represented a year-over-year decrease of about 10.5 percent; a trend widely reflected during the same year in newspapers throughout Washington state. With the demise of the print edition of the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...

'', ''The Spokesman-Review'' is the state's third-largest paper, after the ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'' and '' The News-Tribune'' of

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

. A 2017 Rotary Club article stated that under editor Rob Curley, hired in 2016, circulation increased from 68,000 to 82,000 in one year. In April 2020, the paper ceased printing its Saturday edition. In 2025, the Cowles family announced it will donate ''The Spokesman-Review'' to the nonprofit Comma Community Journalism Laboratory.

References

External links

*
''The Spokesman Review'' Google News archive
news.google.com/ —PDFs of 31,191 issues dated 1889 to 2007.
PBS Frontline report ''A Hidden Life'' (November 2006)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spokesman-Review, The Cowles Company Newspapers published in Washington (state) Mass media in Spokane, Washington Newspapers established in 1894 1894 establishments in Washington (state)

History

References

Further reading

External links