Daily newspaper in Missouri, United States
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the "Belleville News-Democrat", "Alton Telegraph", and "Edwardsville Intelligencer". The publication has received 19 Pulitzer Prizes.
The paper is owned by Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa, which purchased Pulitzer, Inc. in 2005 in a cash deal valued at $1.46 billion.
Platform.
On April 10, 1907, Joseph Pulitzer wrote what became known as the paper's platform:
I know that my retirement will make no difference in its cardinal principles, that it will always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically independent, never be afraid to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty.
History.
Early years.
In 1878, Pulitzer purchased the bankrupt "St. Louis Dispatch" at a public auction and merged it with the "St. Louis Evening Post" to create the "St. Louis Post and Dispatch", whose title was soon shortened to its current form. He appointed John A. Cockerill as the managing editor. Its first edition, 4,020 copies of four pages each, appeared on December 12, 1878.
In 1882, James Overton Broadhead ran for Congress against John Glover. The "St. Louis Post-Dispatch", at Cockerill's direction, ran a number of articles questioning Broadhead's role in a lawsuit between a gaslight company and the city; Broadhead never responded to the charges. Broadhead's friend and law partner, Alonzo W. Slayback, publicly defended Broadhead, asserting that the "Post-Dispatch" was nothing more than a "blackmailing sheet". The next day, October 13, 1882, Cockerill re-ran an offensive "card" by John Glover that the paper had published the prior year (November 11, 1881). Incensed, Slayback barged into Cockerill's offices at the paper demanding an apology. Cockerill shot and killed Slayback; he claimed self-defense, and a pistol was allegedly found on Slayback's body. A grand jury refused to indict Cockerill for murder, but the economic consequences for the paper were severe. In May 1883, Pulitzer sent Cockerill to New York to manage the "New York World" for him.
The "Post-Dispatch" was one of the first daily newspapers to print a comics section in color, on the back page of the features section, styled the "Everyday Magazine."
20th century.
At one time, the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" had the second-largest news bureau in Washington, D.C., of any newspaper in the Midwestern United States.
After Joseph Pulitzer's retirement, generations of Pulitzers guided the newspaper, ending when great-grandson Joseph Pulitzer IV left the company in 1995.
The "Post-Dispatch" was characterized by a liberal editorial page and columnists, including Marquis Childs. The editorial page was noted also for political cartoons by Daniel R. Fitzpatrick, who won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartoons, and Bill Mauldin, who won the Pulitzer for editorial cartoons in 1959.
On May 22, 1946, the "Post-Dispatch" became the first newspaper in the world to publish the secret protocols for the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
During the presidency of Harry S. Truman, the paper was one of his most outspoken critics. It associated him with the Pendergast machine in Kansas City, and constantly attacked his integrity.
In 1950, the "Post-Dispatch" sent a reporter, Dent McSkimming, to Brazil to cover the 1950 FIFA World Cup. The reporter paid for his own travelling expenses and was the only U.S. reporter in all of Brazil covering the event.
In 1959 the "St. Louis Globe-Democrat" entered into a joint operating agreement with the "Post-Dispatch". The Post–Globe operation merged advertising, printing functions and shared profits. The "Post-Dispatch", distributed evenings, had a smaller circulation than the "Globe-Democrat", a morning daily. The "Globe-Democrat" folded in 1983, leaving the "Post-Dispatch" as the only daily newspaper in the region.
In August 1973 a Teamsters union local representing "Globe-Democrat" and "Post-Dispatch" staffers went on strike, halting production for six weeks.
21st century.
In September 2003, the "Post-Dispatch" accepted submissions for a 63rd anniversary special of "Our Own Oddities", a lighthearted feature that ran from 1940 to 1991. The best submissions, including a duck-shaped cucumber and a woman born on December 7, 1941, with the initials W.A.R., were illustrated by "Post-Dispatch" artist Dan Martin and featured in the October 6, 2003, edition.
On January 13, 2004, the "Post-Dispatch" published a 125th-anniversary edition, which included some highlights of the paper's 125 years:
On January 31, 2005, Michael Pulitzer announced the sale of Pulitzer, Inc. and all its assets, including the "Post-Dispatch" and a small share of the St. Louis Cardinals, to Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa, for $1.46 billion. He said no family members would serve on the board of the merged company.
As of 2007,[ [update]] the "Post-Dispatch" was the fifth-largest newspaper in the midwestern United States and the 26th-largest newspaper in the U.S.
On March 12, 2007, the paper eliminated 31 jobs, mostly in its circulation, classified phone rooms, production, purchasing, telephone operations and marketing departments. Several rounds of layoffs have followed.
On March 23, 2009, the paper converted to a compact style every day from the previous broadsheet Sunday through Friday and tabloid on Saturday.
On May 4, 2012, the "Post-Dispatch" named a new editor, Gilbert Bailon.
In 2015, the paper was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for its coverage of protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
In September 2024, six newsroom employees were laid off. The following month the paper announced it will shutter its St. Louis press facility and outsource to a printer in Columbia, Missouri. In total, 72 employees will lose their jobs.
Circulation and cost.
Circulation dropped for the daily paper from 213,472 to 191,631 and then 178,801 for the two years after 2010, ending on September 30, 2011, and September 30, 2012, respectively. The Sunday paper also decreased from 401,427 to 332,825 and then to 299,227. The circulation as of September 30, 2016, was 98,104 daily and 157,543 on Sunday.
According to a 2017 press release from Lee Enterprises, the paper reaches more than 792,600 readers each week and stltoday.com has roughly 67 million page views a month.
The paper sells for $3 daily or $4.25 on Sundays and Thanksgiving Day. The price may be higher outside adjacent counties and states. Sales tax is included at newsracks.
Weatherbird.
On February 11, 1901, the paper introduced a front-page feature called the "Weatherbird", a cartoon bird accompanying the daily weather forecast. "Weatherbird" is the oldest continuously published cartoon in the United States. Created by Harry B. Martin, who drew it through 1903, it has since been drawn by Oscar Chopin (1903–1910); S. Carlisle Martin (1910–1932); Amadee Wohlschlaeger (1932–1981); Albert Schweitzer, the first one to draw the Weatherbird in color (1981–1986); and Dan Martin (1986–present).
References.
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