''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the '' Detroit Tribune'' on February 1, 1919, the ''

Detroit Journal The ''Detroit Journal'' was a newspaper published in Detroit, Michigan from September 1, 1883 through March 23, 1922. The ''Detroit Evening Journal'', established by Lloyd Brezee, started as a two-cent daily with Brezee in the position of editor ...

'' on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960, it bought and closed the faltering ''

Detroit Times Six different newspapers called the ''Detroit Times'' have been published in the city of Detroit; the most recent existed for six decades, from 1900-60. Overview *The first iteration of the ''Detroit Times'' was an antislavery bulletin only print ...

''. However, it retained the ''Times building, which it used as a printing plant until 1975, when a new facility opened in Sterling Heights. The ''Times'' building was demolished in 1978. The street in downtown Detroit where the Times building once stood is still called "

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

." The Evening News Association, owner of ''The News'', merged with

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Outfront Media Outfront Media, Inc. is one of the largest outdoor media companies. It operates in markets including the United States and Canada. The Americas division is led by chief executive officer Jeremy Male. Outfront Media operates both billboards and tr ...

through a series of mergers, operated many billboards across Detroit and the surrounding area, including advertising displays on

Detroit Department of Transportation The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT, pronounced ) is the primary public transportation operator serving Detroit, Michigan. In existence since 1922, DDOT is a division of the city government, with headquarters in Midtown. Primarily serv ...

and Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority buses, with its only competitor, primarily along Metro Detroit's freeway network, being 3M National Advertising (now

Lamar Advertising Lamar Advertising is an outdoor advertising company which operates billboards, logo signs, and transit displays in the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1902 by Charles W. Lamar and J.M. Coe, and is headquartered in Baton Rou ...

). ''The News'' claims to have been the first newspaper in the world to operate a

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

station, station 8MK, which began broadcasting August 20, 1920. 8MK is now CBS-owned WWJ. In 1947, it established Michigan's first television station, WWJ-TV, now

WDIV-TV WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. WDIV-TV maintains studio facili ...

; it has been a primary NBC affiliate since sign-on, owing to WWJ-AM's ties with the NBC Radio Network. In 1989, the paper entered into a one hundred year

joint operating agreement The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President Richard Nixon, authorizing the formation of joint operating agreements among competing newspaper operations within the same media market area. It ...

with the rival ''Free Press'', combining business operations while keeping separate editorial staffs. The combined company is called the

Detroit Media Partnership Detroit Media Partnership, L.P. manages the business operations - including production, advertising and circulation - for the two leading Detroit newspapers: ''The Detroit News'' and ''Detroit Free Press''. Detroit Media Partnership also handles ...

(DMP). The ''Free Press'' moved into ''The News'' building in 1998 and until May 7, 2006, the two published a single joint weekend edition. Today, ''The News'' is published Monday–Saturday, and has an editorial page in the Sunday ''Free Press''. ''The Detroit News'' has an online version, including a separate website for connections from European Union countries that does not track personal information. ''The Detroit News'' has won three

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

History

''The Detroit News'' was founded by James E. Scripps, who, in turn, was the older half-brother and one-time partner of Edward W. Scripps. The paper's eventual success, however, is largely credited to Scripps' son-in-law, George Gough Booth, who came aboard at the request of his wife's father. Booth went on to construct Michigan's largest newspaper empire, founding the independent Booth Newspapers chain (now owned by S.I. Newhouse's

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, an ...

) with his two brothers. ''The Detroit News'' building was erected in 1917. It was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Albert Kahn, who included a faux-stone concrete building with large street-level arches to admit light. The arches along the east and south side of the building were bricked-in for protection after the 12th Street Riot in 1967. The bricked-in arches on the east and south ends of the building were reopened during renovations required when the ''Free Press'' relocated its offices there 20 years later. In 1931, ''The Detroit News'' made history when it bought a three-place

Pitcairn PCA-2 The Pitcairn PCA-2 was an autogyro (designated as "autogiro" by Pitcairn) developed in the United States in the early 1930s.Taylor 1989, p.735 It was Harold F. Pitcairn's first autogyro design to sell in quantity. It had a conventional design fo ...

auto-gyro as a camera aircraft that could take off and land in restricted places and semi-hover for photos. It was the ancestor of today's well-known news helicopter. In 1935 a single Lockheed Model 9 Orion was purchased and modified by Lockheed as a news camera plane for ''The Detroit News''. To work in that role, a pod was built into the frontal leading edge of the right-wing about out from the fuselage. This pod had a glass dome on the front and a mounted camera. To aim the camera the pilot was provided with a primitive grid-like gun sight on his windshield. Deb Price’s debut column in ''The Detroit News'' in 1992 was the first syndicated national column in American mainstream media that spoke about gay life. On July 13, 1995,

Newspaper Guild The NewsGuild-CWA is a trade union, labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's busin ...

employees of the ''Detroit Free Press'' and ''The News'' along with pressmen, printers and

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the ...

, working for the "Detroit Newspapers" distribution arm, went on strike. Approximately half of the staffers crossed the picket line before the unions ended their strike in February 1997. The strike was resolved in court three years later, with the journalists' union losing its unfair labor practices case on appeal. Still, the weakened unions remain active at the paper, representing a majority of the employees under their jurisdiction. August 3, 2005, Gannett announced that it would sell ''The News'' to MediaNews Group and purchase the ''Free Press'' from the

Knight Ridder Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, it was the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspaper brand ...

company. With this move, Gannett became the managing partner in the papers' joint operating agreement. On May 7, 2006, the combined Sunday ''Detroit News and Free Press'' was replaced by a stand-alone Sunday ''Free Press''. On December 16, 2008, Detroit Media Partnership announced a plan to limit weekday home delivery for both dailies to Thursday and Friday only. On other weekdays the paper sold at newsstands would be smaller, about 32 pages, and redesigned. This arrangement went into effect on March 30, 2009. Detroit News Building

In February 2014, the DMP announced its offices along with those of ''The News'' and the ''Free Press'' would move from the West Lafayette building to six floors in both the old and new sections of the former

Federal Reserve building The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building houses the main offices of the Board of Governors of the United States' Federal Reserve System. It is located at the intersection of 20th Street and Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. Th ...

at 160 West Fort Street. The partnership expected to place signs on the exterior similar to those on the former offices. The move took place October 24–27, 2014. Editorially, ''The News'' is considered more

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

than the ''Free Press.'' However, it considers itself

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

. In an editorial statement printed in 1958, ''The News'' described itself as consistently conservative on economic issues and consistently liberal on civil liberties issues. It has never endorsed a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, and has only failed to endorse a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

presidential candidate five times: twice during the

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

era; in 2004, when it did not endorse

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

for re-election; in 2016, when it endorsed Libertarian Party nominee

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

rather than Republican nominee

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, and in 2020, when it continued to withhold its endorsement from Trump and did not endorse a candidate.

Staff

The staff of ''The Detroit News'' includes columnists Nolan Finley, Ingrid Jacques, Bankole Thompson; design writer Maureen Feighan; food critic Melody Baetens; sports columnists

Bob Wojnowski Bob "Wojo" Wojnowski is an American reporter and columnist for ''The Detroit News'' and host of a radio show on WXYT-FM in Detroit, Michigan. Wojnowski also appears often on Fox 2 WJBK's ''Sunday Night Sports Works'' roundtable. Wojnowski pr ...

and John Niyo; sportswriters Angelique Chengelis, Tony Paul, Justin Rogers, Chris McCosky, Mike Curtis, Rod Beard, David Goricki, Matt Charboneau, Nolan Bianchi, Ted Kulfan and James Hawkins; auto critic Henry Payne and business columnist Daniel Howes. The staff also includes metro reporter Robert Snell, who was named Michigan Journalist of the Year in 2014, 2018, and 2020 by the Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Former staff

* Jack Berry, sportswriter from 1971 to 1993

Awards

*2017

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

Christine MacDonald *1994

Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting The Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting was presented from 1991 to 2006 for a distinguished example of beat reporting characterized by sustained and knowledgeable coverage of a particular subject or activity. From 1985 to 1990 it was known as the ...

Eric Freedman and Jim Mitzelfeld *1982

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...

The Detroit News *1977 Penney-Missouri Award for General Excellence. *1942

Pulitzer Prize for Photography The Pulitzer Prize for Photography was one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It was inaugurated in 1942 and replaced by two photojournalism prizes in 1968: the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography and "Pulitzer Pri ...

Milton Brooks (the first winner of a photojournalism Pulitzer)

References

External links