Wisconsin State Journal: Difference between revisions
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In 1911 Richard Lloyd Jones, editor of the crusading magazine ''Collier's'', became interested in buying the paper from Wilder. U.S. Senator [[Robert_M._La_Follette,_Sr.|Robert M. La Follette Sr.]] encouraged this purchase to such a degree that he arranged for wealthy supporters of the [[Progressivism|Progressive]] cause to lend Jones $85,000 of the $100,000 necessary to make the deal. Hiring William T. Evjue as his managing editor, Jones ramped up the paper's already liberal views with forceful, provoacative editorials that attacked big business and brooked no compromise. During this time the paper made its first two endorsements of a Democrat for U.S. president ([[Woodrow_Wilson|Woodrow Wilson]], in 1912 and 1916), only endorsing two other Democrats for that office in the paper's history. Jones also doubled the paper's circulation while beefing up the Sunday edition to include color comics, expanded sports coverage and a magazine supplement. |
In 1911 Richard Lloyd Jones, editor of the crusading magazine ''Collier's'', became interested in buying the paper from Wilder. U.S. Senator [[Robert_M._La_Follette,_Sr.|Robert M. La Follette Sr.]] encouraged this purchase to such a degree that he arranged for wealthy supporters of the [[Progressivism|Progressive]] cause to lend Jones $85,000 of the $100,000 necessary to make the deal. Hiring William T. Evjue as his managing editor, Jones ramped up the paper's already liberal views with forceful, provoacative editorials that attacked big business and brooked no compromise. During this time the paper made its first two endorsements of a Democrat for U.S. president ([[Woodrow_Wilson|Woodrow Wilson]], in 1912 and 1916), only endorsing two other Democrats for that office in the paper's history. Jones also doubled the paper's circulation while beefing up the Sunday edition to include color comics, expanded sports coverage and a magazine supplement. |
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With [[World_War_I|World War I]] looming, Jones began to sour on the anti-war stance of Sen. La Follette. As the United States entered the war, Jones lambasted his former friend, accusing him of being disloyal and a pro-German agent. Editor Evjue could no longer tolerate the personal attacks on the senator's character, and in September 1917 Evjue resigned. Three months later he founded the ''[[Capital_Times|Capital Times]]'', which became the ''State Journal'''s main competition for the next nine decades.<ref>''Madison: A History of the Formative Years'' by David V. Mollenhoff, published 1982 |
With [[World_War_I|World War I]] looming, Jones began to sour on the anti-war stance of Sen. La Follette. As the United States entered the war, Jones lambasted his former friend, accusing him of being disloyal and a pro-German agent. Editor Evjue could no longer tolerate the personal attacks on the senator's character, and in September 1917 Evjue resigned. Three months later he founded the ''[[Capital_Times|Capital Times]]'', which became the ''State Journal'''s main competition for the next nine decades.<ref>''Madison: A History of the Formative Years'' by David V. Mollenhoff, published 1982 by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. Pages 296-302.</ref> In 1919, Jones sold the newspaper to Lee Newspaper Syndicate (now [[Lee Enterprises]]).<ref name="lee-madison">{{cite web | title=Madison, WI | url=http://www.lee.net/walk/visit/madison.htm | accessdate=2007-03-28 | publisher=[[Lee Enterprises]] }} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> |
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In 1947, Lee Enterprises and Evjue's The Capital Times Company, owner of ''The Capital Times'', began discussing a partnership to operate both newspapers. The new partnership began on November 15, 1948 as Madison Newspapers, Inc. On February 1, 1949, the ''Wisconsin State Journal'' moved from afternoons to mornings and was the sole newspaper published on Sunday in the partnership.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capitalnewspapers.com/about/jobs/ |title=History |accessdate=2007-03-28 |publisher=Capital Newspapers}}</ref> |
In 1947, Lee Enterprises and Evjue's The Capital Times Company, owner of ''The Capital Times'', began discussing a partnership to operate both newspapers. The new partnership began on November 15, 1948 as Madison Newspapers, Inc. On February 1, 1949, the ''Wisconsin State Journal'' moved from afternoons to mornings and was the sole newspaper published on Sunday in the partnership.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capitalnewspapers.com/about/jobs/ |title=History |accessdate=2007-03-28 |publisher=Capital Newspapers}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 06:02, 3 September 2011
 The July 27, 2005 front page of the Wisconsin State Journal | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Lee Enterprises |
| Publisher | William K. Johnston |
| Editor | John Smalley |
| Founded | 1839 (as the Madison Express) |
| Headquarters | 1901 Fish Hatchery Road Madison, WI 53713 United States |
| Circulation | 89,932 Daily 148,489 Sundays[1] |
| ISSN | 0749-405X |
| Website | madison.com/wsj |
The Wisconsin State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin.[2] As of March 2006, the Wisconsin State Journal had an average weekday circulation of 89,932 and an average Sunday circulation of 148,489.[1]
History
Founded by Madison Hotel proprietor William W. Wyman as an afternoon weekly, the Madison Express was first published in Madison on December 2, 1839. The paper began as a strict supporter of the Whig Party. After first serving as its compositor and assistant editor, David Atwood purchased the paper with partner Royal Buck in 1848, changing the paper’s name to the Wisconsin Express. In 1852 the paper merged with Wyman's Wisconsin Statesman to become the Wisconsin Daily Palladium for a short time. It changed its name to the Wisconsin Daily Journal that same year and to its current name in 1860.
Following a convention of anti-slavery citizens held in the state capitol in 1854, the paper began espousing the views of the Republican Party, created three months earlier in Ripon, Wisconsin. During Atwood's 41-year tenure as publisher, he was a commissioned major general (1858), a state assemblyman (1861), an internal revenue assessor (1862-1866), Madison mayor (1868-1869) and a U.S. Representative (1870), all the while publishing the Wisconsin State Journal with various partners until his death in 1889.
After Atwood's passing, Horace A. “Hod” Taylor took over the paper. Although he was not a journalist, he did have strong gubernatorial ambitions. He had run newspapers in La Crosse and Hudson, Wisconsin and Stillwater, Minnesota. He later held a consularship in Marseilles, France, as well as an appointment as U.S. Railroad Commissioner.
During the 1890s the paper's circulation began to catch up to its main rival, the Madison Democrat, due largely to the 1894 arrival of editor Amos P. Wilder (his son was playwright Thornton Wilder). Purchasing a major interest in the paper, Wilder began to transform the State Journal into a more civic-minded newspaper, focusing on city problems without instigating action to solve them. In 1906 president Theodore Roosevelt appointed Wilder U.S. consul to Hong Kong.
In Wilder's absence he put his business manager August Roden in charge. Roden adopted the aggressive tactics common to muckraking journals at the start of the 20th century. His greatest triumph began in 1907 with his crusade against the high rates and poor quality of Madison Gas & Electric's service. Following an almost daily barage of damaging stories about the private utility, the State Journal hired an attorney to lodge a formal complaint with the state commission in charge of regulating gas and electric companies. In 1910 the paper succeeded in getting the state to cut MG&E's rates nearly ten percent, setting a precedent that led to other rate roll-backs.
In 1911 Richard Lloyd Jones, editor of the crusading magazine Collier's, became interested in buying the paper from Wilder. U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. encouraged this purchase to such a degree that he arranged for wealthy supporters of the Progressive cause to lend Jones $85,000 of the $100,000 necessary to make the deal. Hiring William T. Evjue as his managing editor, Jones ramped up the paper's already liberal views with forceful, provoacative editorials that attacked big business and brooked no compromise. During this time the paper made its first two endorsements of a Democrat for U.S. president (Woodrow Wilson, in 1912 and 1916), only endorsing two other Democrats for that office in the paper's history. Jones also doubled the paper's circulation while beefing up the Sunday edition to include color comics, expanded sports coverage and a magazine supplement.
With World War I looming, Jones began to sour on the anti-war stance of Sen. La Follette. As the United States entered the war, Jones lambasted his former friend, accusing him of being disloyal and a pro-German agent. Editor Evjue could no longer tolerate the personal attacks on the senator's character, and in September 1917 Evjue resigned. Three months later he founded the Capital Times, which became the State Journal's main competition for the next nine decades.[3] In 1919, Jones sold the newspaper to Lee Newspaper Syndicate (now Lee Enterprises).[4]
In 1947, Lee Enterprises and Evjue's The Capital Times Company, owner of The Capital Times, began discussing a partnership to operate both newspapers. The new partnership began on November 15, 1948 as Madison Newspapers, Inc. On February 1, 1949, the Wisconsin State Journal moved from afternoons to mornings and was the sole newspaper published on Sunday in the partnership.[5]
Like many newspaper companies in the 1970s, Madison Newspapers, Inc. sought to upgrade its technology from hot type to computerized typesetting. MNI managers ordered the new equipment, forcing seventeen printers to give up their jobs and cutting the wages of the remaining printers by one third. In October 1977 the five local unions at their plant went on strike, resulting in a years-long bitter battle that the unions ultimately lost. Striking employees had founded the Madison Press Connection, which became survived for a year and a half before folding in January 1980.[6]
Columnists
- Andy Baggot (sports)
- Scott Milfred (opinion)
- Tom Oates (sports)
- Doug Moe (news and features)
References
- ^ a b "Generac Expects To Hire 200 Workers". Wisconsin State Journal. 2006-06-01. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
- ^ "The Capital Region's primary sources". Capital Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
- ^ Madison: A History of the Formative Years by David V. Mollenhoff, published 1982 by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. Pages 296-302.
- ^ "Madison, WI". Lee Enterprises. Retrieved 2007-03-28. [dead link]
- ^ "History". Capital Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ Workers and Unions in Wisconsin, edited by Darryl Holter. Published 1999 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Pages 221-222.