Times-Standard

Last updated

Times-Standard
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s) Digital First Media [1]
Founder(s)Edwin D. Coleman
PublisherJohn Richmond [2]
EditorRuth Schneider [3]
Founded1854
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters930 6th Street
Eureka, California 95501 Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Circulation 13,556(as of 2016) [4]
OCLC number 27389437
Website times-standard.com

The Times-Standard is a local daily newspaper covering the far North Coast of California. Headquartered in Eureka, the paper covers all of Humboldt County while providing partial coverage of neighboring Del Norte, Mendocino, and Trinity counties. The newspaper is one of the oldest continuously published papers in all of California.

Contents

The Times-Standard is owned by Digital First Media which is controlled by Alden Global Capital. [1] [5]

History

The Humboldt Times

On Sept. 2, 1854, Dr. Edwin D. Coleman printed the first issue of the Humboldt Times. [6] [7] The weekly newspaper began publishing in what is known today as Old Town Eureka. [8] Coleman failed to receive the letters "u" and "v" in a type font set he ordered from a merchant, so he replaced them with "w"s and similar letters in the first edition. [9] After several markets folded in Eureka and the city failed to become the county seat, Coleman moved the paper on Dec. 16, 1854 to Union, now called Arcata. [9] On Dec. 22, 1855, Coleman sold the business to Walter Van Dyke and Austin Wiley. Van Dyke served as editor until Jan. 23, 1858, when he transferred his shares to Wiley and returned to working as an attorney. [10]

Wiley moved the Times back to Eureka on Aug. 28, 1858 and sold the paper to Van Dyke and L.M. Burton on Jul 14, 1860. Burton quickly withdrew and was replaced by Stephen Girard Whipple, who became the sole owner on March 30, 1861. [10] He retired a year later and sold the paper to Wiley and Walter Boball, [11] followed in 1864 by J.E. Wyman, Esq. [12] After his death in 1880, his son W.H. Wyman managed the Times for a few years [13] until it merged with another paper and briefly became the Times-Telephone, run by Wiley and Mr. Henry. [14] In 1886, a corporation who placed Whipple in charge. At that time the paper had a circulation of 1,250. [15] In 1892, Whipple sold the Times to E.N. Borg. [16]

In November 1931, a fire destroyed the paper's office and caused $200,000 worth of damage. At that time the owners were Ralph W. Bull. and John H. Crothers. [17]

TheHumboldt Standard

In 1875, R.V. Chadd, former owner of the Sutter Creek Independent, founded the Humboldt Standard in Eureka. [8] [18] [19] The paper ceased after less than two years and was relaunched in 1877 by William Ayres who renamed it to the Democratic Standard. In 1883, R.L. Thompson bought the paper and placed his brother F.P. Thompson in charge. It was then renamed back to the Humboldt Standard. J.F. Thompson purchased a half-interest in 1888 and. A year later became the sole owner. At that time the circulation was 840. [15]

In 1916, F.W. Georgeson became the paper's editor. He had been a part owner for several years prior and also had severed as president of the Humboldt County Bank and mayor of Eureka. [20] In April 1931, Georgeson sold the paper to Clarence L. Day for $200,000. The Georgeson family had published the paper for the past four decades. [21] In 1934, an unknown assailantfire two bullets through the a window at the paper's office in an attempt to kill managing editor Donald O'Kane. [22] [23] In 1935, Day died of a sudden heart attack and ownership of the paper was passed to his widow. [24]

The Times-Standard

On May 1, 1941, Donald O'Kane, who owned the Humboldt Standard, and John H. Crothers, who owned the Humboldt Times, merged their businesses together as a means to reduce cost. Both papers shared a printing plant but kept separate newsrooms and editorial policies. [25] [26] Crothers sold out to O'Kane in September 1946. [27]

In April 1966, O'Kane sold the Times and Standard to Brush-Moore Newspapers. [28] [29] The papers were later merged and the name was changed to The Times-Standard on June 1, 1967. [30] A month later the company was bought for $72 million by Thomson Newspapers. [31] At the time it was believed to have been the biggest newspaper sale in U.S. history and the Justice Department filed an anti-trust lawsuit to stop the sale but later dropped it. [32]

According to an older version of the newspaper's "about us" section of its web page, moving day came on December 7, 1968. Staff writer Andrew Genzoli later recalled, "There hadn't been so much excitement in the newsroom since Pearl Harbor". [33]

Thomson owned the Times-Standard until 1996 when it was bought by MediaNews Group, [8] who sold it to Digital First Media in June 2016. [1] Digital First Media is owned by Alden Global Capital. [5]

From 2003 to 2008, the Times-Standard was the subject of vigorous competition through the establishment of another daily newspaper, The Eureka Reporter. But, Humboldt County and other areas of the North Coast (reached by local papers), though quite large in geographical terms, is a small population area to feature two daily newspapers. As a result, in late 2008 (after a brief period of reduced publication), The Eureka Reporter announced that it would cease operations. [34]

In 2012, The Times-Standard ceased printing a Monday edition, publishing Monday news exclusively online. [35] In 2020, the newspaper decommissioned its in-house Eureka printing press and began delivering copies to Humboldt County from Chico, California. [36]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Digital First Media swaps ownership interests for northern California papers". Times-Standard. June 1, 2016. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  2. ↑ Scott-Goforth, Grant (September 24, 2013). "Times-Standard Announces New Publisher". North Coast Journal . Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Schneider becomes M.E. at Times-Standard". California News Publishers Association . August 25, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Times-Standard Quarterly Data Report Q4 2016" (PDF). Lost Coast Outpost. Alliance for Audited Media. 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Folkenflik, David (May 21, 2021). "'Vulture' Fund Alden Global, Known For Slashing Newsrooms, Buys Tribune Papers". National Public Radio . Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Humboldt Times". The Sierra Citizen. Downieville, California. September 16, 1854. p. 2.
  7. ↑ Hamm, Lillie E. (1890). "Humboldt County Newspaper Enterprises". History and Business Directory of Humboldt County. Daily Humboldt Standard. pp. 175–181. Archived from the original on November 22, 2004 – via Humboldt State University Library.
  8. 1 2 3 Thompson, Mike (November 18, 2004). "Honoring the 150th Anniversary of the Times-Standard". Congressional Record . 150 (133). Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  9. 1 2 "The Humboldt Times Roamed Until It Found A Home". The Times Standard. Eureka, California. February 8, 1954. p. 75.
  10. 1 2 "Various Times' Owners Described In History". The Times Standard. Eureka, California. February 8, 1954. p. 74.
  11. ↑ "Newspaper Change". Trinity Journal. Weaverville, California. August 23, 1862. p. 2.
  12. ↑ "Newspaper Change". Trinity Journal. Weaverville, California. May 21, 1864. p. 2.
  13. ↑ "W.H. Wyman's Sad Death". The Times Standard. Eureka, California. February 13, 1934. p. 1.
  14. ↑ "The Times-Telephone". Ferndale Enterprise. Ferndale, California. January 5, 1883. p. 3.
  15. 1 2 "In Humboldt County. Eureka's Three Papers Leave the Citizens Little to Desire in the Way of News". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. October 20, 1889. p. 33.
  16. ↑ "Notice". The Times Standard. Eureka, California. January 11, 1892. p. 3.
  17. ↑ "Fire Destroys Eureka Paper". The Times. San Mateo, California. November 10, 1931. p. 1.
  18. ↑ "Notice". he Solano-Napa News Chronicle. April 13, 1875.
  19. ↑ "Pacific Coast Items". Appeal-Democrat. Marysville, California. April 17, 1875. p. 3.
  20. ↑ "F.W. Georgeson". The Times Standard. Eureka, California. October 16, 1916. p. 1.
  21. ↑ "Humboldt Standard Is Sold to C.L. Day". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. April 19, 1931. p. 22.
  22. ↑ "Attempt Made To Kill Editor". The Searchlight. Redding, California. Associated Press. February 13, 1934. p. 1.
  23. ↑ "Two Shots Fired At Managing Editor Of Humboldt Standard". The Times Standard. Eureka, California. February 13, 1934. p. 1.
  24. ↑ "C.L. Day Dies At Eureka Of Heart Attack". Porterville Recorder. Porterville, California. July 3, 1935. p. 1.
  25. ↑ "Eureka Papers Merge". Red Bluff Tehama County Daily News. Red Bluff, California. United Press. April 26, 1941. p. 2.
  26. ↑ "From Other Papers | Another Merger Of Newspapers". Porterville Recorder. Porterville, California. June 5, 1941. p. 2.
  27. ↑ "Crothers Sells Eureka Papers". The Independent. Richmond, California. United Press. September 30, 1946. p. 3.
  28. ↑ "Two Dailies In Eureka Purchased By Brush-Moore". Oxnard Press-Courier . Oxnard, California. April 19, 1966. p. 12. Retrieved July 22, 2016– via Google News.
  29. ↑ "Eureka Newspapers Sold To Canton, Ohio, Firm". Enterprise-Record. Chico, California. United Press International. April 20, 1966. p. 15.
  30. ↑ "A New Name for Your Newspaper". The Times Standard. Eureka, California. June 1, 1967. p. 1.
  31. ↑ "Thomson Pays 72 Million For Brush-Moore Papers". The San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, California. United Press International. August 26, 196. p. 13.
  32. ↑ "US Drops Suit Against Sale Of 17 Newspapers". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. United Press International. December 9, 1967. p. 16.
  33. ↑ "About Us". Times-Standard. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  34. ↑ Greenson, Thadeus (November 6, 2008). "Eureka Reporter to close doors Saturday". Times-Standard. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  35. ↑ Tam, Donna (January 8, 2012). "Going digital: Times-Standard to stop printing Monday editions this week". Times-Standard. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  36. ↑ Burns, Ryan (May 20, 2020). "Times-Standard Dismantles Printing Press, Lays Off Production Staff; Papers Now Being Trucked From Chico for Delivery". Lost Coast Outpost. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  37. ↑ Sigmund, Jeff (February 25, 2008). "NAA presents first annual Media Innovation Awards". Newspaper Association of America (Press release). Archived from the original on July 23, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
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