Real Times Media LLC is the owner and publisher of the ''
Chicago Defender
''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...
'', the largest and most influential
African American weekly newspaper, as well as five other regional weeklies in the
eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
. Its headquarters are in
Midtown 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 ...
.
The company was founded in January 2003 by a consortium of Chicago and Detroit business leaders to take over the assets of Sengstacke Enterprises Inc., the longtime owner of five of the papers.
History
Sengstacke Enterprises
Robert Sengstacke Abbott
Robert Sengstacke Abbott (December 24, 1870 – February 29, 1940) was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher and editor. Abbott founded ''The Chicago Defender'' in 1905, which grew to have the highest circulation of any black-owned newspaper i ...
founded the ''
Chicago Defender
''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...
'' in 1905, billing it the "World's Greatest Weekly". The ''Defender'' served the growing African-American community of Chicago, which was often ignored by the mainstream newspapers of the day. Sengstacke also used the ''Defender'' as a means to grow the community, writing stories about Northern city life that enticed African-American residents of the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
to move to Chicago, a phenomenon that came to be known as the
Great Migration. Like other giants of the contemporary
black press
Black Press Group Ltd. is a Canadian publisher of prominent daily newspapers in Hawaii and Alaska and numerous non-daily newspapers in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, and (via Sound Publishing) the U.S. state of Washington.
Black Press M ...
, the ''Defender'' enjoyed substantial circulation across the nation.
Abbott's nephew
John H. Sengstacke, who became publisher in 1940, was a founder of the National Negro Publishers Association, later renamed the
National Newspaper Publishers Association
The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), formerly the National Negro Publishers Association, is an association of African American newspaper publishers from across the United States.
History
The NNPA was founded in 1940 when John ...
(NNPA), which now has 200 member black newspapers.
On February 6, 1956, the ''Defender'' became a
daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
and changed its name to the ''Chicago Daily Defender'', the nation's second black daily newspaper (after the ''
Atlanta Daily World
The ''Atlanta Daily World'' is the oldest black newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1928. Currently owned by Real Times Inc., it publishes daily online.
It was "one of the earliest and most influential black newspapers."
History Establ ...
'', founded in 1928). It published as a daily until 2003, when new owners converted the ''Defender'' back to a weekly.
Sengstacke also built his newspaper into a chain. He had previously established the ''
Michigan Chronicle
''The Chronicle'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1936 by John H. Sengstacke, editor of the ''Chicago Defender''. Together with the ''Defender'' and a handful of other African-American newspap ...
'' in
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 ...
in 1936, and turned the Chicago paper's Memphis bureau into the ''
Tri-State Defender
The ''Tri-State Defender'' is a weekly African-American newspaper serving Memphis, Tennessee, and the nearby areas of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. It bills itself as "The Mid-South's Best Alternative Newspaper".
The ''Defender'' was fou ...
'' weekly newspaper in 1951. In 1965, he purchased the assets of the recently defunct ''
Pittsburgh Courier
The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States.
It was acqu ...
'' and started the ''
New Pittsburgh Courier
The ''New Pittsburgh Courier'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned by Real Times.
The newspaper is named after the original ''Pittsburgh Courier
The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was ...
''
This chain became known as Sengstacke Enterprises Inc., or SEI. Following Sengstacke's death in 1997, SEI was held in a family trust until 2003, when it was sold for nearly $12 million to Real Times, a group of investors with several business and family ties to Sengstacke.
Real Times
![Globe Tobacco Building Detroit MI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Globe_Tobacco_Building_Detroit_MI.jpg)
Amid the uncertainty over the SEI papers' futures—Sengstacke had left instructions that the papers were to be sold upon his death, but the search for the right buyer took six years—longtime ''Michigan Chronicle'' publisher Sam Logan left the paper in 2000 and in May of that year formed a competing weekly, ''
The Michigan FrontPage
''The Michigan FrontPage'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Detroit, Michigan, serving the African-American community. It was founded in 2000 by a former publisher of the ''Michigan Chronicle'' and has been owned by the ''Chronicle ...
''. Logan was one of the investors in Real Times, and the company continued to publish ''FrontPage'' alongside the four Sengstacke titles.
In 2012, the ''Atlanta Daily World'' – which, despite its name, is now published weekly – merged with Real Times; its publisher said the sale would give the ''World'' more multimedia resources, calling it "truly a new beginning for the paper."
Corporate affairs
The company has its headquarters in
Midtown 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 ...
. At one time its headquarters were in the
Globe Tobacco Building
The Globe Tobacco Building is a manufacturing building located at 407 East Fort Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is the oldest tobacco manufactory extant in Detroit, and is listed by the National Register of Historic Places.
History
The ...
in
Downtown Detroit
Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Locally, downtown tends to refer to the 1.4 square mile region bordered by M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to the west, Interstate 75 ( ...
, and later the
Buhl Building
The Buhl Building is a skyscraper and class-A office center in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. Architect Wirt C. Rowland designed the Buhl in a Neo-Gothic style with Romanesque accents. Constructed in 1925, it stands at 26 stories in the Detroit ...
in Downtown Detroit.
Holdings
Real Times publishes seven newspapers in five different markets:
* ''
Atlanta Daily World
The ''Atlanta Daily World'' is the oldest black newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, founded in 1928. Currently owned by Real Times Inc., it publishes daily online.
It was "one of the earliest and most influential black newspapers."
History Establ ...
''
website of
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
* ''
Chicago Defender
''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...
''
website of
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
* ''
Michigan Chronicle
''The Chronicle'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Detroit, Michigan. It was founded in 1936 by John H. Sengstacke, editor of the ''Chicago Defender''. Together with the ''Defender'' and a handful of other African-American newspap ...
''
website of
Detroit, Michigan
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 ...
* ''
The Michigan FrontPage
''The Michigan FrontPage'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Detroit, Michigan, serving the African-American community. It was founded in 2000 by a former publisher of the ''Michigan Chronicle'' and has been owned by the ''Chronicle ...
'' of
Detroit, Michigan
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 ...
* ''
New Pittsburgh Courier
The ''New Pittsburgh Courier'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned by Real Times.
The newspaper is named after the original ''Pittsburgh Courier
The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was ...
''
website of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
* ''
Atlanta Tribune: The Magazine/ATM''
website of
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
The company also owns RTM Digital Studios, a videography company, and a large archive of newspaper clippings, artifacts and photographs connected with
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
history.
In 2009, Real Times purchased
Who's Who Publishing Company of
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, which publishes biographical and networking guides for and about African American businesspeople in 25 cities across the country.
See also
*
History of the African-Americans in Metro Detroit
Black Detroiters are black or African American residents of Detroit. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Black or African Americans living in Detroit accounted for 79.1% of the total population, or approximately 532,425 people as of 2017 estim ...
References
External links
Company Website
{{Authority control
African-American press
Companies based in Detroit
Companies established in 2003
Newspaper companies of the United States