The Providence Journal

History

The Journal bills itself as "America's oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication," a distinction that comes from the fact that The Hartford Courant, started in 1764, did not become a daily until 1837 and The New York Post, which began daily publication in 1801, had to suspend publication during strikes in 1958 and 1978.

The paper's history has reflected the waxing and waning of newspaper popularity throughout the United States.

Early Years

The beginnings of the Providence Journal Company started on January 3, 1820, when publisher "Honest" John Miller started the Manufacturers' & Farmers' Journal, Providence & Pawtucket Advertiser in Providence, published twice per week.

By 1829, demand for more timely news caused Miller to combine his existing publications into the Providence Daily Journal, published six days per week. The first edition of the Providence Daily Journal appeared July 1, 1829. In the next few decades the paper was sold to new owners several times, until by 1863 it was owned by George Danielson and Henry B. Anthony. The latter would go on to serve as Governor of Rhode Island and United States Senator.

Editor George W. Danielson joined the paper on January 1, 1863, and served as editor until his death in 1884. Danielson immediately launched an evening edition, called the Evening Bulletin. By July 1871, the Journal had grown large enough that it moved to larger quarters at the Barton Block. During the Danielson and Anthony years, the paper was known for its strong support of the Republican Party, known by the nickname "The Republican Bible". After Danielson's death, the paper became less partisan, and by 1888 declared its political independence.

In 1877, Danielson hired Charles Henry Dow, a young journalist with an interest in history. At the Journal, Dow developed a "news index" which summarized stories of historic interest. It is possible this was an early inspiration for Dow's later development of his "stock index" at the Wall Street Journal. While at the Journal Dow wrote a series on "The History of Steam Navigation between New York and Providence." Dow also traveled to Colorado to report on the Colorado Silver Boom and the Leadville miners' strike; these stories were published in May and June 1879. On the Colorado trip, Dow traveled with a team of Wall Street financiers and geologists, leading Dow to leave Providence for New York City in 1879 to advance his career as a reporter on mining stocks.

In 1885, a Sunday edition was added, making the publication schedule seven days per week.

In 1872 the first diner in America, a horse-drawn wagon serving hot food, was founded to serve the employees of the Providence Journal.

The War Years

Before American entry into World War I, Journal publisher and Australian immigrant John R. Rathom attempted to stir up public sentiment in favor of the war against the Central Powers. He frequently published exposés of German subversive activities in the United States, claiming that the Journal had intercepted secret German communications. By 1920, it was revealed that Rathom's information was supplied by British intelligence agents. Still, Rathom remained editor until his death in 1923.

The Journal dropped "Daily" from its name and became The Providence Journal in 1920. In 1992, the Bulletin was discontinued and its name was appended onto that of the morning paper: The Providence Journal-Bulletin.

Starting in 1925, the Journal became the first in the country to expand coverage statewide. It had news bureaus throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, a trend that had been inaugurated in 1925 by then-managing editor Sevellon Brown. Bureaus in Westerly, South Kingstown, Warwick, West Warwick, Greenville, Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Newport, Bristol/Warren, Attleboro and Fall River were designed to make sure that reporters were only 20 minutes away from breaking news.

In 1937, the only competing Providence-based daily, the Star-Tribune, went bankrupt and was sold. The Providence Journal company bought it and kept it running for four months, then shut it down.

The paper also had a variety of regional editions, which it called zones, that focused on city and town news. The system produced an intense focus on local news typically seen only in small-town newspapers. For example, everyone who died in the Journal's coverage area, rich or poor, received a free staff-written obituary.

Post-war Pulitzers

Chief editorial writer George W. Potter won the Journal's first Pulitzer in 1945 for a series of essays, and the entire editorial staff won in 1953 for local deadline reporting.

Uncovering Nixon tax scandal

During the 1970s, reporter Jack White, then manager of the Providence Journal-Bulletin bureau in Newport, Rhode Island, cultivated sources among Newport's elite. One source passed on to White evidence that President Richard Nixon had paid taxes amounting to $792.81 in 1970 and $878.03 in 1971, despite earning more than $400,000. White discovered that Nixon had illegally back-dated the donation of his papers to the National Archives, in order to avoid a new law which made such donations ineligible for tax deductions.

The night he was prepared to write the story, in September 1973, the union representing reporters at the newspaper voted to go on strike. White would later recall rolling the story out of his typewriter, folding it up and putting it in his wallet. He said he never thought about giving the story to management, even though he risked missing the story. Twelve days later, the strike ended, and the story ran on October 3, 1973.

At an Associated Press Managing Editors convention the following month, Journal reporter Joseph Ungaro asked Nixon about the story. Nixon replied with a quote that was to become associated with him for the rest of his life: "People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook." Shortly after this, the I.R.S. audited Nixon's tax returns. By December 1973, Nixon, under pressure, released five years of tax documents. This set a precedent for Presidents and presidential candidates to release tax returns, a custom that continued to 2016. White's story forced Nixon to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in owed taxes. The story won White the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.

In 1988 the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSICOP) presented reporter C. Eugene Emery, Jr. with the Responsibility in Journalism Award for his researched claims of faith-healer Ralph A. DiOrio and wrote about the results in his journal.

1990s

In the 1990s, rising production costs and declines in circulation prompted the Journal to consolidate both the bureaus and the editions. The editors tried to reinvigorate the coverage of city and town news in 1996, but competition from the Internet added fuel to the decline.

In 1997, the Livingston Award, sometimes called the "Pulitzer Prize for the Young," was awarded to Journal reporter C. J. Chivers for International Reporting for his series on the collapse of commercial fishing in the North Atlantic. Chivers, aged 32 when he won the award, left the Journal in 1999 to go to the New York Times.

Labor troubles

In 2001, reports in industry journals suggested that the Providence Journal was suffering from labor troubles, in which a "poisoned" workplace atmosphere led to a "talent hemorrhage." At least 35 news staffers left the paper between January 2000 and summer 2001, including 16 reporters, seven desk editors, two managerial staffers, and 10 administrative staff members. Publisher Howard Sutton denied there was a high turnover and called it normal attrition.

In June 2001, Livingston Award-winning former Journal reporter C.J. Chivers added to the allegations when he wrote an open letter to Belo chairman Robert W. Decherd, critical of Belo's management. In the letter he expressed concern that poor management was responsible for the departure of 57 employees. He accused management of "assuming a counterproductive attitude toward its staff," which included fights over expenses, and over-reliance on freelancers and interns.

Financial problems

In the face of declining revenue, the paper began charging for obituaries on January 4, 2005.

The paper's last Massachusetts edition was published on March 10, 2006. On Oct. 10, 2008 the paper stopped publishing all of its zoned editions in Rhode Island and laid off 33 news staffers, including three managers. Even during the Great Depression, the Journal had not terminated news staff to cut costs.

The next few years included an extensive campaign to make the Internet version of the paper profitable. The Journal aggressively marketed its news on the web, pushing to get detailed stories onto its website, projo.com, before competing radio, television and other print outlets. But circulation continued to decline and online advertising failed to compensate.

On Oct. 18, 2011 with circulation down to about 94,000 on weekdays and 129,000 on Sundays (down from 164,000 and over 231,000 in 2005), the Journal renamed its website providencejournal.com, a move which meant that most of the previously Internet links to its content no longer worked. It also began implementing a system to require online readers to pay for content. Interactive images of its newspaper pages were initially available on personal computers and the iPad for free. The paywall was put in place on February 28, 2012. The new website was part of a larger rebranding project by Nail Communications which also included a campaign entitled "We Work For The Truth". The rebranding failed to stem the circulation decline.

Throughout most of its history, the paper was privately owned. After the Journal became publicly traded and had acquired several television stations throughout the country, it was sold to the Dallas-based Belo Corp in 1996. Belo also owned several television stations. The company later split into two entities and one—A.H. Belo—took control of the newspapers.

On Dec. 4, 2013, A.H. Belo announced that it was seeking a buyer for the Journal, including its headquarters on 75 Fountain St. and its separate printing facility. The company said it wanted to focus on business interests in Dallas. Workers were not surprised because the announcement came after the company sold one of its other papers, the Riverside Press-Enterprise in California.

A.H. Belo announced on July 22, 2014 that it was selling the paper's assets to New Media Investment Group Inc., parent company of Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse Media, for $46 million. By then, the Journal's Monday through Friday circulation had dropped to 74,400, with an average of 99,100 on Sundays. Its website was getting 1.4 million unique users on an average month. The sale was completed on Sept. 3, 2014, as several employees, including widely respected columnist Bob Kerr, were told they would not be transferred to the new company.

Bernie Szachara, senior vice president for publishing and group publisher at Local Media Group, a division of GateHouse Media, assumed the title of interim publisher, succeeding Howard G. Sutton. On Feb. 27, 2015, Janet Hasson was named president and publisher of the Journal. (The GateHouse Media news release announcing the appointment incorrectly reported that Hasson was the paper's first female publisher. That distinction belongs to Mary Caroline Knowles, who was publisher from 1874 until 1879.) The paper reported the following October that its average daily paid circulation for the past year, including electronic copies, had dropped to 70,600 with 89,452 on Sundays.

Journalism prizes and awards

Prices

The Providence Journal is sold for $2 daily since the spring of 2015. It is $3.50 Sundays & Thanksgiving Day.

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