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Horace Rublee was the paper’s associate editor in 1853 and the next year became Atwood’s partner. He was also chairman of the Republican state committee. He later became editor of the ''Milwaukee Sentinel''. Atwood's other partners included George Gary (1855-1856), Harrison Reed (1859-1861), who later became governor of Florida for six years. J.O. Culver purchased Rublee’s interest in the paper in 1868 on the latter’s appointment by President Grant as minister to Switzerland. Culver retired in December 1876.
Horace Rublee was the paper’s associate editor in 1853 and the next year became Atwood’s partner. He was also chairman of the Republican state committee. He later became editor of the ''Milwaukee Sentinel''. Atwood's other partners included George Gary (1855-1856), Harrison Reed (1859-1861), who later became governor of Florida for six years. J.O. Culver purchased Rublee’s interest in the paper in 1868 on the latter’s appointment by President Grant as minister to Switzerland. Culver retired in December 1876.


After Atwood's passing, Horace A. “Hod” Taylor took over the paper. Although he was not a journalist, he did have strong poticial ambitions, having run for governor as a stalwart Republican in 1888. He losing the nomination to William D. Hoard. He had run newspapers in [[La_Crosse,_Wisconsin|La Crosse]] and [[Hudson,_Wisconsin|Hudson]], Wisconsin and [[Stillwater,_Minnesota|Stillwater]], Minnesota. He later held a consularship in Marseilles, France, as well as an appointment as U.S. Railroad Commissioner.
After Atwood's passing, Horace A. “Hod” Taylor took over the paper. Although he was not a journalist, he did have strong poticial ambitions, having run for governor as a stalwart Republican in 1888. He lost the nomination to [[William D. Hoard]]. He had run newspapers in [[La_Crosse,_Wisconsin|La Crosse]] and [[Hudson,_Wisconsin|Hudson]], Wisconsin and [[Stillwater,_Minnesota|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 (father of playwright [[Thornton_Wilder|Thornton Wilder]]). Purchasing a major interest in the paper, Wilder began to transform the ''State Journal'' into a more civic-minded newspaper, focusing on local problems but refraining from initiating action to solve them. Initially a supporter of Governor Robert M. La Follette Sr. in 1902, the paper changed to a Stalwart Republican position and fought against La Follette's election in 1904. In 1906 president [[Theodore_Roosevelt|Theodore Roosevelt]] appointed Wilder U.S. consul to [[Hong_Kong|Hong Kong]].
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 (father of playwright [[Thornton_Wilder|Thornton Wilder]]). Purchasing a major interest in the paper, Wilder began to transform the ''State Journal'' into a more civic-minded newspaper, focusing on local problems but refraining from initiating action to solve them. Initially a supporter of Governor Robert M. La Follette Sr. in 1902, the paper changed to a Stalwart Republican position and fought against La Follette's election in 1904. In 1906 president [[Theodore_Roosevelt|Theodore Roosevelt]] appointed Wilder U.S. consul to [[Hong_Kong|Hong Kong]].

Revision as of 06:50, 5 September 2011

Wisconsin State Journal
The July 27, 2005 front page of the
Wisconsin State Journal
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Lee Enterprises
PublisherWilliam K. Johnston
EditorJohn Smalley
Founded1839
(as the Madison Express)
Headquarters1901 Fish Hatchery Road
Madison, WI 53713
United States
Circulation89,932 Daily
148,489 Sundays[1]
ISSN0749-405X
Websitemadison.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 supporter of the territorial administration, but with the paper's endorsement of William Henry Harrison for president in 1940, the State Journal advocated the platform 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.[3]

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. After the Civil War the State Journal was a "mouthpiece" for local Postmaster and Republican patronage boss Elisha W. Keyes.[4]

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 until his death in 1889. As mayor, Atwood sought to develop manufacturing in Madison, a position he could then applaud in his own paper.

Horace Rublee was the paper’s associate editor in 1853 and the next year became Atwood’s partner. He was also chairman of the Republican state committee. He later became editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel. Atwood's other partners included George Gary (1855-1856), Harrison Reed (1859-1861), who later became governor of Florida for six years. J.O. Culver purchased Rublee’s interest in the paper in 1868 on the latter’s appointment by President Grant as minister to Switzerland. Culver retired in December 1876.

After Atwood's passing, Horace A. “Hod” Taylor took over the paper. Although he was not a journalist, he did have strong poticial ambitions, having run for governor as a stalwart Republican in 1888. He lost the nomination to William D. Hoard. 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 (father of 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 local problems but refraining from initiating action to solve them. Initially a supporter of Governor Robert M. La Follette Sr. in 1902, the paper changed to a Stalwart Republican position and fought against La Follette's election in 1904. 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 crusading brand of journalism common to muckraking papers 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.[5] Roden also oversaw the moved of the State Journal in 1909 from a three-story limestone building at 119 East Washington Ave. to a new fireproof brick building located on South Carroll St., directly across from the street from the paper's hated rival, the Madison Democrat.[6]

In 1911 Richard Lloyd Jones, an associate editor at the muckraking 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 hard-hitting, provocative editorials that attacked big business and brooked no compromise. During this period the State Journal was recognized as the leading progressive daily in the Wisconsin.[7] The paper made its first two endorsements of a Democrat for U.S. president (Woodrow Wilson, in 1912 and 1916), endorsing only two other Democrats for that office since then. Under Jones the State Journal also took the dry side of the argument on Prohibition. He also doubled the paper's circulation while beefing up the Sunday edition to include color comics, a pink sports section 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 used the paper to lambast his former friend and hero in scathing editorials that accused him of being disloyal and a pro-German agent. La Follette responded by suing Jones and the State Journal for libel. 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.[8] In 1919, Jones sold the newspaper to Lee Newspaper Syndicate (now Lee Enterprises).[9]

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.[10]

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 survived for a year and a half before folding in January 1980.[11]

Columnists

  • Andy Baggot (sports)
  • Scott Milfred (opinion)
  • Tom Oates (sports)
  • Doug Moe (news and features)

References

  1. ^ a b "Generac Expects To Hire 200 Workers". Wisconsin State Journal. 2006-06-01. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
  2. ^ "The Capital Region's primary sources". Capital Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
  3. ^ "Papers Long Ago, Milwaukee Sentinel, June 26, 1887
  4. ^ Fighting Bob La Follette, the Righteous Reformer by Nancy C. Unger, published in 2000 bu Univeristy of Carolina Press.
  5. ^ Madison: A History of the Formative Years by David V. Mollenhoff, published 1982 by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. Pages 296-302.
  6. ^ A Fighting Editor by William T. Evjue, published 1968
  7. ^ Robert M. Follette by Belle Case La Follette and Fola La Follette, published in 1953 by the MacMillan Company.
  8. ^ Madison: A History of the Formative Years by David V. Mollenhoff, published 1982 by Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co. Pages 296-302.
  9. ^ "Madison, WI". Lee Enterprises. Retrieved 2007-03-28. [dead link]
  10. ^ "History". Capital Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
  11. ^ Workers and Unions in Wisconsin, edited by Darryl Holter. Published 1999 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Pages 221-222.
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