Newspaper in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
The
Chattanooga Times Free Press
is a daily
broadsheet
newspaper
published in
Chattanooga, Tennessee
, and is distributed in the metropolitan Chattanooga region of southeastern
Tennessee
and northwestern
Georgia
. It is one of Tennessee's major newspapers and is owned by
WEHCO Media, Inc
., a diversified communications company with ownership in 14 daily newspapers, 11 weekly newspapers and 13 cable television companies in six states.
History
[
edit
]
Chattanooga Times
[
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]
The
Chattanooga Times
was first published on December 15, 1869, by the firm Kirby & Gamble. In 1878, 20-year-old
Adolph Ochs
borrowed money and bought half interest in the struggling morning paper.
[1]
Two years later when he assumed full ownership, it cost him $5,500.
[2]
In 1892, the paper's staff moved to the Ochs Building on Georgia Avenue at East Eighth Street, which is now the Dome Building.
[
citation needed
]
In 1896, Ochs entrusted the management of the paper to his brother-in-law Harry C. Adler when he purchased
The New York Times
(circulation 20,000).
[
citation needed
]
Ochs remained publisher of the
Chattanooga Times
. Ochs' slogan, "To give the news impartially, without fear or favor" remains affixed atop the paper's mast today. The
Times
was controlled by the Ochs-Sulzberger family until 1999.
[3]
Chattanooga Free Press
[
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]
In 1933, Roy Ketner McDonald launched a free Thursday tabloid, delivered door to door, featuring stories, comics, and advertisements for his stores. Three years later, circulation had hit 65,000 per week, making some ad revenue. On August 31, the paper began publishing as an evening daily with paid subscriptions. One year later, the
Free Press
circulation reached 33,000, within reach of another p.m. competitor,
The Chattanooga News
(circulation 35,000). McDonald acquired
The Chattanooga News
from George Fort Milton Jr. in December 1939, when the majority bondholders of the
News
, specifically Milton's step-mother Abby Crawford Milton, and her three children, acted on a technical missed payment deadline of bond payment obligations?allowing them to foreclose on the paper. Despite heroic sacrifice and fundraising by George Fort Milton and his employees, payments to the creditors were rejected as they had already agreed to sell the paper to Roy McDonald, publisher of the rival
Free Press
, for $150,000.
[4]
McDonald then appropriated the
News
name to prevent Milton from using it,
[5]
and the
Free Press
became the
News-Free Press
. In their guide to writing,
The Elements of Style
,
William Strunk
and
E. B. White
used the paper as an illustration of comically misleading punctuation, noting that the hyphen made it sound "as though the paper were news-free, or devoid of news."
[6]
Competition and agreement
[
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By 1941,
News-Free Press
daily circulation reached 51,600, surpassing the
Times
, with 50,078. In competition, the Times began an evening newspaper competitor, the
Chattanooga Evening Times
. One year later, however, the competing newspapers joined business and production operations, while maintaining separate news and editorial departments. The
Times
ceased publishing in the evening and the
News-Free Press
dropped its Sunday edition. The two shared offices at 117 E. 10th St.
Twenty-four years later, McDonald withdrew from the agreement. He bought the Davenport Hosiery Mills building at 400 E. 11th St. in 1966, and competition resumed between the two papers. The
News-Free Press
was the first paper in the nation to dissolve a
joint operating agreement
.
[7]
[8]
That August, the day after the
News-Free Press
resumed Sunday publication, the
Times
responded with an evening newspaper: the
Chattanooga Post
.
[8]
On Feb. 25, 1970, the
Post
ceased publication after the U.S. filed an anti-trust suit against the paper. The
News-Free Press
gave Chattanooga its first full-color newspaper photos.
Each newspaper won a single
Pulitzer Prize
. In 1956, Charles L. Bartlett of the Washington Bureau of
The Chattanooga Times
won the
Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting
, for articles leading to the resignation of the
secretary of the Air Force
,
Harold E. Talbott
.
[9]
[10]
[11]
In 1977, staff photographer Robin Hood of the
Chattanooga News-Free Press
received the
Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography
. The photo was of legless
Vietnam veteran
Eddie Robinson in his wheelchair watching a rained-out parade in Chattanooga with his tiny son on his lap.
[12]
[13]
When business declined for the
News-Free Press
, 14 employees mortgaged their homes to help keep the newspaper afloat. In the late 1970s,
Walter E. Hussman Jr.
, the 31-year-old publisher of the
Arkansas Democrat
, approached McDonald for counsel regarding a bitter struggle with the
Arkansas Gazette
. In 1980, the
Times
and the
News-Free Press
entered into a new joint operating agreement.
[7]
In 1990, after leading the paper for 54 years, McDonald died at age 88. Three years later, the paper returned to its original name: the
Chattanooga Free Press
.
[14]
Chattanooga Times Free Press
[
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]
In 1998, Hussman bought the
Free Press
. A year later, he bought the
Times
as well and merged the two papers. The first edition of the
Chattanooga Times Free Press
was published on January 5, 1999.
[15]
The
Times Free Press
runs two
editorial pages
: one staunchly
liberal
, the other staunchly
conservative
, reflecting the editorial leanings of the
Times
and
Free Press
, respectively. The Tennessee Press Association recognized the
Times Free Press
as the best newspaper in Tennessee in 2002. One year later,
Editor & Publisher
magazine named the
Times Free Press
as one of 10 newspapers in the United States "doing it right".
[16]
In May 2013, the paper bought a new
offset printing press
to replace its
flexography printing press
. The multimillion-dollar investment added more color capability and production efficiency.
[17]
On Monday, April 14, 2014, the
Chattanooga Times Free Press
was named a finalist for the 2014
Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting
for "Speak No Evil."
[18]
In 2017, the newspaper was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for "The Poverty Puzzle."
[19]
In September 2021, the newspaper started offering a free
IPad
to all print subscribers as a way to promote the paper's digital replica. The plan was to cease weekday print sometime in mid-2022 and only print once a week on Sundays.
[20]
In-person tutorials on how to access the paper's digital edition were offered in community recreational centers, hotel conference rooms and at the newsroom.
[21]
The total investment for the initiative was $6 million.
[22]
In March 2024, the newspaper sent a letter to readers announcing it had been running at a loss in recent years due in part to the
COVID-19 recession in the United States
and was raising subscriptions rates from $34 to $39 a month.
[22]
Website
[
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]
When the
Chattanooga Times Free Press
launched its website in 2004, the site was only accessible to paid subscribers and featured only a handful of section pages and links.
[23]
Four years later, in early 2008, the redesigned online presence of timesfreepress.com debuted, with an emphasis on breaking news, video and multimedia.
[
citation needed
]
The site features all local content in the paper, an online edition of the news product, and classified ads, as well.
[
citation needed
]
In late 2010, the newspaper launched "Right 2 Know", an online database of police mugshots, salaries of government employees, and a map of shootings in Hamilton County, but in August 2020, the newspaper removed the database, noting that the information published rarely met the newspaper's editorial standard of newsworthiness.
[24]
Other publications
[
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]
The
Times Free Press
is also responsible for several other niche publications:
- Chatter
? a monthly magazine launched in 2008 with feature stories from around the area
- "Get Out" ? a monthly magazine focused on everything outdoor in Chattanooga and the surrounding area
- "Edge" ? a monthly magazine focused on local business
- Noticias Libres
? a free weekly Spanish language paper distributed around the Chattanooga area
- ChattanoogaNow
? a weekend publication distributed in every Thursday's
Times Free Press
that covers music, movies, dining and arts
- "Dining Out" ? a weekly publication focused on food and restaurants
Current and past publishers and contributors
[
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]
- Jeff Deloach, immediate past president
- Charles L. Bartlett, reporter, Washington bureau,
The Chattanooga Times
, 1946?1962. Pulitzer Prize winner for national reporting, 1956, for articles leading to the resignation of Secretary of the Air Force
Harold E. Talbott
.
[9]
[10]
- Clay Bennett
, editorial cartoonist, combined papers, 2007?. Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial cartooning in 2002 at the
Christian Science Monitor
.
- Bill Dedman
, copy boy, copy editor, reporter for
The Chattanooga News-Free Press
and then
The Chattanooga Times
, 1977?1983. Pulitzer Prize winner, investigative reporting, 1989.
- J. Todd Foster, editor, combined papers, 2010?2011.
[25]
Editor of the
Bristol Herald-Courier
when it won the 2010
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
.
- Tom Griscom
, executive editor and publisher, combined papers, 1999?2010.
- Ruth Sulzberger Holmberg
, publisher,
The Chattanooga Times
. Granddaughter of
Adolph Ochs
, and mother of author
Arthur Golden
and Michael Golden, publisher of the
International Herald Tribune
.
[26]
- Robin Hood, photographer,
The Chattanooga News-Free Press
, 1970s. Pulitzer Prize winner for feature photography,
[27]
1977.
- Drew Johnson
, editorial page editor
[28]
- Roy McDonald, publisher,
The Chattanooga Free Press
and later
The Chattanooga News-Free Press
, 1933?1990.
- Jon Meacham
, reporter,
The Chattanooga Times
, 1991?1992. Pulitzer Prize winner for biography, 2009.
- Albert Hodges Morehead
, reporter,
The Chattanooga Times
, c. 1930.
- Alan Murray, reporter,
The Chattanooga Times
, c. 1977. Assistant managing editor and columnist,
The Wall Street Journal
.
[29]
- Adolph Ochs
, publisher,
The Chattanooga Times
, 1878?1935. Later publisher of
The New York Times
. Died on a visit to Chattanooga.
- Julius Ochs Adler
, president and publisher,
The Chattanooga Times
. General manager of
The New York Times
.
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Adolph Simon Ochs | American newspaper publisher"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
May 27,
2018
.
- ^
Biggers, Jeff (2006).
The United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture, and Enlightenment to America
. Emeryville, CA: Shoemaker & Heard. p. 130.
ISBN
978-1-59376-151-6
.
- ^
"Chattanooga Times Free Press"
.
timesfreepress.com
. Retrieved
December 13,
2020
.
- ^
Miller, George Arnold (December 1983).
George Fort Milton: the fight for TVA and the loss of Chattanooga News
(Doctoral thesis).
Middle Tennessee State University
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on October 10, 2019
. Retrieved
June 14,
2019
– via JEWLScholar@MTSU.
- ^
Collins, J. B. (1981).
Life of Roy McDonald, Eighty Years 1901-1981
. Chattanooga, TN: Private Publisher. p. 5.
OCLC
7867080
.
- ^
Strunk, William; White, E.B. (2000). "III: A Few Matters of Form".
The Elements of Style
(Fourth ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. p.
35
.
ISBN
0-205-30902-X
.
The hyphen can play tricks on the unwary, as it did in Chattanooga when two newspapers merged--the "News" and the "Free Press." Someone introduced a hyphen into the merger, and the paper became "The Chattanooga News-Free Press," which sounds as though the paper were news-free, or devoid of news.
- ^
a
b
"Newspaper marks 10 years since sales, merger"
. Chattanooga Times Free Press. January 4, 2009.
Archived
from the original on July 4, 2018
. Retrieved
June 26,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
"Choice Now In Chattanooga"
.
The Tuscaloosa News
.
Associated Press
. August 28, 1966
. Retrieved
June 26,
2012
.
- ^
a
b
Brennan, Elizabeth A.; Clarage, Elizabeth C. (1999).
Who's Who of Pulitzer Prize Winners
. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press. p.
457
.
ISBN
1-57356-111-8
. Retrieved
June 5,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
Shearer, John (April 21, 2009).
"Former Chattanoogan Meacham Claims Prestigious Pulitzer Prize"
.
The Chattanoogan
. Archived from
the original
on April 23, 2009.
- ^
"The Pulitzer Prizes Awards"
. Archived from
the original
on April 6, 2011.
- ^
"Pulitzer Prizes: News Photography"
.
Archived
from the original on March 17, 2011
. Retrieved
October 20,
2010
.
- ^
"The Pulitzer Prizes Awards"
. Archived from
the original
on April 6, 2011.
- ^
"Chattanooga Times Free Press Overview"
. Chattanooga Times Free Press. 2010. Archived from
the original
on January 1, 2011
. Retrieved
June 26,
2012
.
- ^
"WEHCO Media website"
. Archived from
the original
on June 12, 2008
. Retrieved
May 24,
2009
.
- ^
"Times Free Press website"
.
Archived
from the original on January 8, 2011
. Retrieved
October 20,
2010
.
- ^
"Chattanooga Times Free Press to install new press | Chattanooga Times Free Press"
.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
. May 3, 2013
. Retrieved
March 7,
2024
.
- ^
"The Pulitzer Prizes"
.
- ^
"Times Free Press named Pulitzer finalist for 'The Poverty Puzzle'
"
. April 10, 2017.
- ^
Gerber, Alison (September 11, 2021).
"Chattanooga Times Free Press turns to iPads as its digital future"
.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
. Retrieved
March 7,
2024
.
- ^
Izadi, Elahe (November 7, 2021).
"This newspaper is cutting back on print and training readers to use iPads instead. Will it work?"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
March 6,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
"Times Free Press Raising Subscription Rate: Says It Has Been Operating At A Loss"
.
Chattanoogan.com
. March 4, 2024
. Retrieved
March 7,
2024
.
- ^
"Times Free Press digital"
.
Archived
from the original on January 8, 2011
. Retrieved
October 20,
2010
.
- ^
"The Times Free Press is ending its gallery of mugshots"
.
timesfreepress.com
. August 12, 2020
. Retrieved
December 13,
2020
.
- ^
"J. Todd Foster announced as new
Times Free Press
executive editor"
.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
. July 1, 2010. Archived from
the original
on September 7, 2010.
- ^
"Obituary: A. William Holmberg Jr., 81, news executive"
.
The New York Times
. July 28, 2005.
- ^
Nazor Hill, Karen (November 22, 2010).
"Robin Hood's photo book full of back stories"
.
Chattanooga Times Free Press
. Archived from
the original
on September 21, 2011.
- ^
"Drew Johnson named opinion page editor for Free Press | Chattanooga Times Free Press"
.
www.timesfreepress.com
. June 8, 2012
. Retrieved
June 16,
2024
.
- ^
"Viewpoints: Alan Murray Bio"
.
The Wall Street Journal
. New York. Archived from
the original
on April 13, 2011.
External links
[
edit
]
This audio file
was created from a revision of this article dated 12 May 2010
(
2010-05-12
)
, and does not reflect subsequent edits.