Journal Star (Peoria)

Last updated
Journal Star
Peoria Journal Star front page.jpg
July 27, 2005 front page
TypeDaily newspaper (morning)
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s) Gannett
PublisherEugene Jackson
EditorRomando Dixson
FoundedDecember 17, 1855 (1855-12-17) (Peoria Daily Transcript)
1954 (merger of Journal-Transcript and Star)
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters1 News Plaza
Peoria, Illinois 61643
United States
Circulation 31,186(as of 2018) [1]
ISSN 2688-2574
OCLC number 8807680
Website pjstar.com

The Journal Star is the major daily newspaper for Peoria, Illinois, and surrounding area. First owned locally, then employee-owned, it is currently owned by Gannett.

Contents

History

The oldest ancestor of the Journal Star, the Peoria Daily Transcript, was founded by N.C. Nason and first published on December 17, 1855. [2] [3] The Peoria Journal was founded as an afternoon paper by Eugene F. Baldwin the former editor of the Daily Transcript, and J. B. Barnes, and first published on December 3, 1877. [4] The initial circulation was 1,700; one month later, it was 4,100. [4] Henry Means Pindell started the Peoria Herald in 1889; he soon bought out the Daily Transcript, forming the Herald-Transcript. Baldwin, who had since left the Journal, started the Peoria Star, with Charles M. Powell on November 7, 1897. Pindell bought the Journal in 1900, sold the Herald-Transcript in 1902, and, after that newspaper had become the Transcript, bought it back in 1916 and merged it with the Journal, creating the Peoria Journal-Transcript, with the Transcript in the morning and the Journal in the afternoon. [5]

In 1944, the Journal and Transcript and their rival Star combined presses as Peoria Newspapers Inc. with the Star as a morning paper and the Journal-Transcript as an afternoon paper, but retained their competition in journalism until 1954, when a full merger was agreed to. Once the agreement was reached, both the morning and afternoon papers immediately changed their names to the Journal Star. To hold the merged newspaper, the current newspaper headquarters were built near War Memorial Drive (U.S. Route 150) and the McClugage Bridge; the first edition from the new presses was on November 14, 1955. [5]

During a newspaper strike in 1958, members of the Newspaper Guild printed a temporary paper, The Peoria Citizen. [5]

In the 1980 presidential election, the Journal Star endorsed Libertarian candidate Ed Clark. [6]

Between 1984 and 1990, the Journal Star Employee Stock Ownership Plan bought about 83 percent of the company, making it effectively employee-owned. [7] It company also bought the Galesburg Register-Mail of Galesburg, Illinois, in 1989. However, the success for the employees had the opposite effect for the company itself, as it had to buy back stock of large numbers of early retirees. The paper was sold to Copley Press, owned by Helen Copley, in 1996; Copley also owned the downstate Illinois papers the State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois and the Lincoln Courier. [2] [8]

When Copley purchased the paper in 1996, the daily circulation was 75,000+. According to a Knight Foundation report in 2005, the Journal Star circulation was 65,126. The Journal Star was the highest-circulation newspaper in downstate Illinois and the fourth-highest circulation Illinois newspaper. As of September 2006, the Journal Star was the 136th-largest newspaper in the United States. [9] In 2010, the circulation was 66,720, but dropped to 15,194 in 2021. [10]

In 2007, the paper was sold to Fairport, New York–based GateHouse Media. [11] In August 2019, the parent company of GateHouse, New Media Investment Group, acquired Gannet Co. [12] New Media Investment Group and GateHouse Media merged under the Gannett brand name. [12]

In March 2022, the Journal Star ended its Saturday print edition. [13]

In October 2023, the Journal Star announced it will cease carrier delivery and transition to U.S. Postal Service delivery starting on November 13. [14]

Related Research Articles

The MetroWest Daily News is an American daily newspaper published in Framingham, Massachusetts, serving the MetroWest region of suburban Boston. The newspaper is owned by Gannett.

<i>The Register-Guard</i> Newspaper in Eugene, Oregon

The Register-Guard is a daily newspaper in the northwestern United States, published in Eugene, Oregon. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the Eugene Daily Guard and the Morning Register. The paper serves the Eugene-Springfield area, as well as the Oregon Coast, Umpqua River valley, and surrounding areas. As of 2016, it has a circulation of around 43,000 Monday through Friday, around 47,000 on Saturday, and a little under 50,000 on Sunday.

<i>The Indianapolis Star</i> Newspaper in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

The Indianapolis Star is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the Indianapolis News ceased publication. It won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2021 and the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting twice, in 1975 and 1991. It is currently owned by Gannett.

Copley Press was a privately held newspaper business, founded in Illinois but later based in La Jolla, California. Its flagship paper was The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Oklahoman is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media lists it as the 59th largest U.S. newspaper in circulation.

<i>Austin American-Statesman</i> Daily broadsheet newspaper published in Austin, Texas

The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is owned by Gannett.

<i>The State Journal-Register</i> Daily newspaper in Illinois, USA

The State Journal-Register is the only local daily newspaper for Springfield, Illinois, and its surrounding area.

The Tribune-Star is a seven-day morning daily newspaper based in Terre Haute, Indiana, covering the Wabash Valley area of Indiana and Illinois. It is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings. Counties within the newspaper's coverage areas include Clay, Greene, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties, Indiana, and Clark, Crawford and Edgar counties, Illinois. It was preceded by The Tribune.

<i>Rockford Register Star</i> Newspaper in Illinois, United States

The Rockford Register Star is the primary daily newspaper of the Rockford, Illinois, metropolitan area. The fifth-highest circulation newspaper in Illinois, the Register Star takes its name from the 1979 merger of two predecessors, the Register Republic and the Morning Star. The Register Star is currently owned by Gannett, which reacquired the paper upon merging with GateHouse Media in 2019. Gannett had previously owned the paper and its predecessors from 1967 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Peoria Community High School</span> High school in East Peoria, Illinois, United States

East Peoria Community High School is a four-year public high school located in East Peoria, Illinois, and is the only school of East Peoria Community High School District 309. As of 2023, the school has 935 students enrolled. East Peoria Community High School has several feeder schools: Central Junior High School, Parkview Middle School, and Robein Elementary School.

<i>The Sheboygan Press</i> Daily newspaper in Sheboygan, Wisconsin

The Sheboygan Press is a daily newspaper based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of a number of newspapers in the state of Wisconsin owned by Gannett, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Green Bay Press-Gazette and Appleton's The Post-Crescent, along with the nearby Herald Times Reporter of Manitowoc. The Sheboygan Press is primarily distributed in Sheboygan County.

<i>Columbia Daily Tribune</i> Daily newspaper in Missouri, US

The Columbia Daily Tribune, commonly referred to as the Columbia Tribune or the Tribune, is one of two daily newspapers in Columbia, Missouri, the other being the Columbia Missourian. It is the only daily newspaper in Columbia whose circulation is verified by the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM), and it has been a member of that since 1915. The newspaper was owned by the Watson/Waters family from 1905 to 2016.

The Topeka Capital-Journal is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas, owned by Gannett.

The Hawk Eye is a general-circulation newspaper based in Burlington, Iowa, United States, and bills itself as "Iowa's Oldest Newspaper."

<i>Star-News</i> Newspaper in North Carolina, US

StarNews is an American, English language daily newspaper for Wilmington, North Carolina, and its surrounding area. It is North Carolina's oldest newspaper in continuous publication. It was owned by Halifax Media Group until 2015, when Halifax was acquired by New Media Investment Group. New Media merged with Gannett in 2019, and the combined company took the Gannett name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Rite Cathedral (Peoria, Illinois)</span> United States historic place

The Scottish Rite Cathedral, now named the Scottish Rite Theatre, is church-style building in Peoria, Illinois that houses the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Peoria. The building is at 400 NE Perry Avenue, at the corner with Spalding Avenue. The cathedral is listed as a contributing property to Peoria's North Side Historic District.

<i>The News-Gazette</i> (Champaign–Urbana) Newspaper published in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois

The News-Gazette is a daily newspaper serving eleven counties in the eastern portion of Central Illinois and specifically the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area. Since November 2019 it is published daily Tuesday through Sunday. Based in Champaign, Illinois, the paper is owned, along with sister radio stations WDWS, WKIO and WHMS, by Community Media Group, Inc., which purchased it in November 2019 after the paper filed for bankruptcy.

The Pekin Daily Times is an American daily newspaper published in Pekin, Illinois. It is owned by Gannett.

The Register-Mail is an American daily newspaper published in Galesburg, Illinois. The paper was owned by the Pritchard family from 1896 to 1989, when it was sold to the Journal Star. Copley Press bought both papers for $174.5 million. In 2007, GateHouse Media bought Copley's Illinois and Ohio papers.

The Daily Review Atlas, more commonly referred to by local residents as the Review Atlas, is an American daily newspaper published in Monmouth, Illinois. It is owned by Gannett.

References

  1. ↑ "2018 Legacy NEWM Annual Reports" (PDF). investors.gannett.com. 2018.
  2. 1 2 "About GateHouse Media, Inc". pjstar.com. GateHouse Media. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  3. ↑ https://www.peoriahistoricalsociety.org/centenarian/peoria%20journal%20star.pdf
  4. 1 2 Lynn, Greg (2012-03-29). "Peoria's Own Philosopher". Peoria Magazine. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  5. 1 2 3 Adams, Bill (1993-09-23). "Journal Star history". Peoria Journal Star. GateHouse Media . Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  6. ↑ Doherty, Brian. Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement , pg. 414
  7. ↑ Jones, Alex S. (1983-12-17). "NEWSPAPER WORKER-OWNERS". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  8. ↑ Bukro, Casey (1996-05-01). "PEORIA JOURNAL STAR TO JOIN COPLEY CHAIN". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  9. ↑ Audit Bureau of Circulations. "Top 200 Newspapers by Largest Reported Circulation". Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  10. ↑ Shelley, Tim (2022-09-21). "As newspaper circulations plummet, does the not-for-profit model offer a solution to stave off print news deserts?". WCBU Peoria. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  11. ↑ "GateHouse Completes $380 Million Purchase Of Copley Midwest Papers". Editor & Publisher. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
  12. 1 2 Shelley, Tim (2019-08-05). "PJStar Parent Company Acquiring Gannett". WCBU Peoria. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  13. ↑ Alexander, Tim (2022-01-21). "A look at Peoria's 2022 media transitions, so far". WCBU Peoria. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  14. ↑ Howell, Jason (2023-10-10). "Gannett-owned Peoria Journal Star ceasing delivery by paper carriers in transition to mail delivery". 25 News Now. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.