Content deleted Content added
Rescuing 2 sources and tagging 0 as dead.) #IABot (v2.0.9.5 |
|||
| (25 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown) | |||
Line 3:
| name = Hartford Courant
| logo = Hartford Courant.svg
| image = File:Front page of the Hartford Courant, March
| caption = Front page of the March
| type = Daily [[newspaper]]
| format = [[Broadsheet]]
Line 16:
| ISSN = 1047-4153
| oclc = 8807834
| website = {{
| publishing_country = United States
}}
The '''''Hartford Courant''''' is the largest daily [[newspaper]] in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Connecticut]], and is
The ''Courant'' began as a weekly called the '''''Connecticut Courant''''' on October 29, 1764, becoming daily in 1837. In 1979, it was bought by the [[Times Mirror Company]]. In 2000, Times Mirror was acquired by the [[Tribune Company]], which later combined the paper's management and facilities with those of a Tribune-owned Hartford [[WTIC-TV|television station]]. The ''Courant'' and other Tribune print properties were spun off to a new corporate parent, [[Tribune Publishing]], separate from the station, in 2014. ''[[Tribune Publishing]]'' agreed in May 2021 to be acquired by [[Alden Global Capital]], which operates its media properties through [[Digital First Media]]. The transaction was finalized on May 25, 2021.<ref name="nprsale">{{cite news |last1=Folkenflik |first1=David |title='Vulture' Fund Alden Global, Known For Slashing Newsrooms, Buys Tribune Papers |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/998730863/vulture-fund-alden-global-known-for-slashing-newsrooms-buys-tribune-papers |access-date=May 21, 2021 |publisher=NPR |date=May 21, 2021}}
==Origins and leading figures==
[[Image:PostcardHartfordCourant1898to1901.jpg|thumb|left|Courant building on State Street (about 1900)]]
According to the Library of Congress' database of U.S. newspapers, the origins of the ''Hartford Courant'' intertwines with the publication of the weekly ''Connecticut Courant''.<ref>See ''[https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84023856/ Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries]''.</ref>
[[File:Picture of John L. Boswell.jpg|thumb|Picture of John L. Boswell (? - July 30, 1854), founder of the newspaper, originally called ''The Daily Courant''.]]
Other newspapers claim to be the oldest in the country. ''[[The New Hampshire Gazette]]'', which started publication in 1756, trademarked the slogan of oldest paper in the nation after being revived as a small biweekly paper in 1989. Prior to 1989, the paper had all but disappeared into other publications for most of the 20th century, which makes the slogan doubtful. The ''[[New York Post]]'' also claims to be the oldest continuously published daily newspaper. However, even though the ''Post'' started daily publishing 35 years before ''The Connecticut Courant'' did, the ''Courant'' existed as a weekly paper for nearly 40 years before the ''New York Post'' was founded, making the ''Courant'' older. Also ''[[The Providence Journal]]'' claims to be the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the United States: the ''Journal'' began daily publishing 28 years after the ''New York Post'', but some critics point at strikes at the ''Post'' in 1958 and 1978 as breaks in its continuity. Regardless, ''The Connecticut Courant'' existed as a weekly paper for nearly 70 years before ''The Providence Journal'' was founded.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870976,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414213550/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870976,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 14, 2008 |title=Newspapers: Who's the Oldest What? |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |publisher=[[Time Inc.]] |date=May 1, 1964 |access-date=January 15, 2014|format=subscription required}}</ref>
Line 41 ⟶ 43:
===Recent history===
The ''Courant'' was purchased in 1979 by [[Times Mirror Company|Times Mirror]], the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''{{-'}} parent company, for $105.6 million.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kleinfield |first=N. r |date=1979-07-11 |title=Times Mirror Is Seeking To Buy Hartford Courant |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/11/archives/times-mirror-is-seeking-to-buy-hartford-courant-times-mirror-is.html |access-date=2023-01-31 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The first years of out-of-town ownership are described by Andrew Kreig, a former ''Courant'' reporter, in a book titled ''Spiked: How Chain Management Corrupted America's Oldest Newspaper.'' <ref name=2007data>{{cite book |author=Andrew Kreig |title=Spiked: How Chain Management Corrupted America's Oldest Newspaper |year=1987 |location=Old Saybrook, Connecticut |publisher=Peregrine Press |isbn=978-0-933614-27-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/spikedhowchainma00krei }}</ref> One criticism
The ''Courant'' won a 1992 [[Pulitzer Prize]] for inquiring into problems with the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] (a Connecticut company was involved in the construction), and it won a 1999 Pulitzer Prize in the Breaking News category for coverage of a 1998 [[Connecticut Lottery shooting|murder-suicide]] that took five lives at [[Connecticut Lottery]] headquarters. A series of articles about sexual abuse by the head of a worldwide Catholic order, published since February 1997, constituted the first denunciation of [[Marciel Maciel]] known to a wider audience.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-marcial-maciel-sg,0,5607762.storygallery |title=Courant Coverage of the Rev. Marciel Maciel Degollado |work=Hartford Courant |access-date=2014-01-15 |archive-date=2013-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226212356/http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-marcial-maciel-sg,0,5607762.storygallery |url-status=dead }} {{Self-published source|date=January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/aliado/oscuro/Juan/Pablo/II/elpepisoc/20110429elpepisoc_9/Tes |title=El aliado oscuro de Juan Pablo II |work=[[El País]] |date=2011-04-29 |access-date=2014-01-15 |first=Jesús |last=Rodríguez}}</ref>
[[File:The Hartford Courant building in downtown Hartford, seen from I-84 East.jpg|thumb|The current building of the Hartford Courant Co.]]
Line 54 ⟶ 56:
After 2010, ''Courant'' has offered early retirement and buyout packages to reduce staff as it continues to experience declines in advertising revenue. There have also been layoffs and reduction in pages. Newsroom staff peaked in 1994 at close to 400 staff, down to 175 staff by 2008, and 135 staff in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-layoffs-courant-20110707,0,4770389.story |title=Courant Trims Newsroom Jobs |first=Kenneth R. |last=Gosselin |newspaper=Hartford Courant |publisher=Tribune Publishing |date=July 7, 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
Tribune Company brought frequent changes in the Courant's top leadership. On November 18, 2013, Tribune appointed Nancy Meyer as publisher, succeeding Rich Graziano who left to become president and general manager of WPIX-TV (PIX11) in New York City.
In 2014, the ''Courant'' purchased the ''[[ReminderNews]]'' chain of weekly newspapers.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 26, 2014 |title=Hartford (CT) Courant to Acquire ReminderNews Publications – Editor & Publisher |url=http://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/hartford-ct-courant-to-acquire-remindernews-publications/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105193222/https://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/hartford-ct-courant-to-acquire-remindernews-publications/ |archive-date=January 5, 2016 |access-date=9 December 2017 |website=[[Editor & Publisher]]}}</ref>The ''Reminder'' name remained on the mastheads of all editions until November 2015, when the papers were redesigned and renamed ''Courant Community''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Dehnel |first1=Chris |last2=Jensen |first2=Tim |date=2024-01-05 |title=Employees 'Announce' Imminent Demise Of Courant Community Papers |url=https://patch.com/connecticut/vernon/employees-announce-imminent-demise-courant-community-papers |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=[[Patch Media]] |language=en}}</ref>
On October 10, 2014, Tribune Company announced the appointment of Rick Daniels as publisher of the Courant, succeeding Nancy Meyer, who was promoted to publisher and CEO of the Orlando Sentinel.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-new-courant-publisher-rick-daniels-nancy-meyer-20141010-story.html|title=Rick Daniels Named Courant Publisher; Nancy Meyer Leaving For Florida Media Group|first=KENNETH R.|last=GOSSELIN|website=Hartford Courant|publisher=Tribune Publishing|access-date=December 9, 2017}}</ref>
Line 60 ⟶ 64:
Andrew Julien was named the combined publisher and editor in March 2016, replacing Tom Wiley, who departed after two months.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gosselin |first1=Ken |title=Julien Named Courant Publisher And Editor-in-Chief In Tribune Shake-Up |url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-tribune-courant-20160302-story.html |access-date=20 September 2018 |agency=The Hartford Courant |date=March 2, 2016}}</ref>
In 2018, the Hartford Courant joined more than 300 newspapers in releasing editorials in response to President's Trump's anti-media rhetoric, a show of solidarity initiated by [[The Boston Globe]]. "The Hartford Courant joins newspapers from around the country today to reaffirm that the press is not the enemy of the American people.''"'' <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-enemy-of-the-american-people-20180810-story.html|title=Editorial: The President Wants You To Think We're The Enemy. Here's What We Really Do|date=16 August 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/16/media/free-press-trump-editorials/index.html|title='We are not the enemy': 16 must-read editorials that capture the spirit of a free press|date=16 August 2018}}</ref>
In October 2020, the ''Courant'' announced that it would be discontinuing printing the paper in Hartford and outsourcing future printing to the ''[[Springfield Republican]]'' in Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kenneth R. Gosselin |title=Hartford Courant will outsource printing of newspaper |url=https://www.courant.com/business/hc-biz-courant-outsource-printing-20201019-n4ckr2bcyrev3blpig5xbsst3u-story.html |work=Hartford Courant |date=October 19, 2020 |access-date=2020-10-19 }}</ref>
In December 2020, [[Tribune Publishing]] announced that it would be closing the ''Courant'''s Broad Street newsroom by the end of the year with no current plans to open another.<ref>{{cite news |author=Katie Robertson |title=The Hartford Courant's newsroom is closing down |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/business/media/the-hartford-courants-newsroom-is-closing-down.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 4, 2020 |access-date=2020-12-04 }}</ref> On its website as of 2023, the ''Courant'' lists its mailing address as 100 Pearl Street in Hartford.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hartford Courant - Contact Us |url=https://membership.courant.com/contact-us/ |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=membership.courant.com |date=10 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
In January 2024, it was announced ''Courant Community'' newspapers was to cease publication on Jan. 18.<ref name=":0" />
== Origins of the title ==
Journalist Denis Edward Horgan suggest that the title could derive from Dutch ''krant''.<ref>
''Flotsam: A Life in Debris'' (Higganum, Conn.: Higganum Hill Books, 2007), 62.</ref> The word, alternatively spelled ''courante'',<ref>{{cite web | url=https://etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/krant | title=Zoekresultaten }}</ref> would be a contraction of Dutch ''courante nouvellen'', from French ''nouvelles courantes,'' indicating current news
== Current news and editorial board ==
Line 93 ⟶ 99:
Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of the Hartford Courant were 2007 Pulitzer Prize Finalists in Investigative Reporting for their in-depth reporting on suicide rates among American soldiers in Iraq which led to congressional and military action addressing the issues raised in the series.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/lisa-chedekel-and-matthew-kauffman|title=Finalist: Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of Hartford Courant}}</ref>
The Hartford Courant Staff was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for its comprehensive and compassionate coverage of the
==Politics==
The paper endorsed [[George W. Bush]] in both the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000 Presidential election]] and the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 Presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web |title=READERS ARE AGHAST AT COURANT'S ENDORSEMENT OF BUSH |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2000-10-31-0010312071-story.html |website=courant.com |date=31 October 2000 |publisher=Hartford Courant |access-date=13 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=2004 Courant Bush Endorsement |url=https://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-2004bushendorse-1024-story.html |website=courant.com |date=24 October 2004 |publisher=Hartford Courant |access-date=13 August 2022}}</ref>
In the 2012 Presidential Election, the ''Courant'' endorsed [[Barack Obama|President Barack Obama]] for a second term over Republican [[Mitt Romney]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Obama Deserves A Second Term |url=https://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-xpm-2012-10-26-hc-ed-obama-endorsement-1028-20121026-story.html |website=courant.com |date=26 October 2012 |publisher=The Hartford Courant |access-date=9 February 2020}}</ref>
The ''Courant'' weighed in on the contentious and antagonistic 2016 Presidential Election, endorsing Democrat [[Hillary Clinton]] over Republican candidate [[Donald Trump]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-courant-endorses-hillary-clinton-20161006-story.html|title=ICYMI Editorial: The Courant Endorses Hillary Clinton|date=5 November 2016 }}</ref>
In August 2018 the ''Courant'' endorsed [[Ned Lamont]] in the Democratic primary as the only "credible" choice compared to rival [[Joe Ganim]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-courant-endorses-lamont-of-2010-story.html|title=Editorial: Our Nod For Democratic Nominee Goes To (The Old) Ned Lamont|date=5 August 2018 }}</ref> The ''Courant'' went on to endorse independent candidate [[Oz Griebel]] in the general election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-courant-endorses-oz-griebel-for-governor-20181022-story.html|title=Editorial: The Courant Endorses Oz Griebel For Governor|date=28 October 2018 }}</ref>
For the 2020 Presidential Election, The ''Courant'' weighed in, endorsing Democrat [[Joe Biden]] over Republican candidate [[Donald Trump]]. The Courant took a stronger stance in its 2020 endorsement against Trump than it did in 2016, arguing that a vote for Trump was a vote for racism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-presidential-endorsement-2020-20201018-rqapfry7zvejdesonlcwzpwu7a-story.html|title=Courant Presidential Endorsement: You probably think you can vote for Donald Trump but not support racism; here's why you're wrong|date=18 October 2020 }}</ref>
==Controversies==
===Sleepy's===
In August 2009, the ''Courant'' attracted controversy over its firing of George Gombossy, a 40-year veteran of the paper and its consumer advocate at the time. Gombossy charged that the ''Courant'' had [[Spike (journalism)|spiked]] an article he had written about an ongoing investigation by the [[Connecticut Attorney General|Connecticut attorney general]] accusing [[Sleepy's]] (a major advertiser in the paper) of selling used and bedbug-infested mattresses as new.<ref>[http://thelaurelct.com/2009/08/07/hartford-courant-losing-its-watchdog/ Hartford Courant losing its watchdog] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813200110/http://thelaurelct.com/2009/08/07/hartford-courant-losing-its-watchdog/ |date=2009-08-13 }}, The Laurel newspaperman's blog, retrieved August 17, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://consumerist.com/5338201/hartford-courant-consumer-columnist-fired-for-pissing-off-advertiser Hartford Courant Consumer Columnist Fired For Pissing Off Advertiser] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008224315/http://consumerist.com/5338201/hartford-courant-consumer-columnist-fired-for-pissing-off-advertiser |date=2009-10-08 }}, Consumerist blog, retrieved August 17, 2009.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/business/media/18courant.html Hartford Courant lays off consumer columnist], The New York Times, retrieved August 24, 2009</ref>
Gombossy's lawsuit against the ''Courant'' was thrown out by a [[Connecticut Superior Court]] judge in July 2010. In his decision, Judge Marshall K. Berger, Jr. remarked that newspaper owners and editors have a "paramount" right to "control [the] content of their papers," further observing that in his role at the ''Courant'', Gombossy had "no constitutional right to publish anything."<ref>[http://articles.courant.com/2010-07-02/news/hc-gombossy-lawsuit-0702-20100701_1_dismisses-judge-george-gombossy Judge Dismisses Former Columnist's Lawsuit Against The ''Courant''], The Hartford Courant, retrieved July 6, 2010.</ref>
However, Gombossy's attorneys filed a second complaint, and Judge Berger reinstated the complaint. The case headed to trial in the fall of 2011. "In late 2011 the suit was resolved," according to Gombossy's CTWatchdog website.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ctwatchdog.com/about-2 | title=About CTWatchdog - National Consumer News | Educating and helping U.S. Consumers | Disclose Fraudulent Advertising | Providing News on Lowest Prescription Prices | | date=21 May 2021 }}</ref>
===Plagiarism===
Line 129 ⟶ 135:
==External links==
*[https://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/ ''Columbia Journalism Review's'' "Who Owns What" page about media companies.]
*https://twitter.com/hartfordcourant
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/hartfordcourantnews/featured hartfordcourantnews on YouTube]
| |||