Wisconsin State Journal
 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 months earlier in Ripon, Wisconsin. During Atwood's tenure as publisher, he was a state assemblyman (1861), an internal revenue assessor (1862-1866), Madison mayor (1868-1869) and U.S. Representative (1870), all the while publishing the Wisconsin State Journal with various partners over the years until his death in 1889.
Horace A. “Hod” Taylor took over the paper after Atwood’s death. Although he was no journalist, he did have strong gubernatorial ambitions. He had run newspapers in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Hudson, Wisconsin and Stillwater, Minnesota. He later held a consularship in Marseilles, France, as well as an appointment as U.S. Railroad Commissioner.
In 1919, the newspaper was sold to Lee Newspaper Syndicate (now Lee Enterprises) by publisher Richard Lloyd Jones.[3]
The newspaper's long-time rival, The Capital Times, was founded in 1917 after the State Journal's managing editor, William T. Evjue, quit during the summer of 1917. The Wisconsin State Journal had been a supporter of the progressive Robert La Follette until he began publicly opposing World War I. Evjue disagreed with the newspaper for abandoning La Follette. By mid-December of that year, he founded The Capital Times.[3]
However, 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.[4]
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.
- ^ a b "Madison, WI". Lee Enterprises. Retrieved 2007-03-28. [dead link]
- ^ "History". Capital Newspapers. Retrieved 2007-03-28.