The ''Syracuse Telegram'' was established in 1922 in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, by
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
.
Between the years 1922–1925, the newspaper was published as both ''Syracuse Telegram'' and ''Syracuse Evening Telegram'' and the Sunday edition was called the ''Syracuse American'',
and alternately the ''Syracuse Sunday American''.
In November, 1925, Hearst gained controlling interest in another Syracuse daily, the ''
Syracuse Journal'' (1899–1929) which he merged with the ''Telegram''.
The name was changed to the ''Journal-Telegram'' and was later shortened to ''Syracuse Journal''.
The ''Syracuse Telegram'' was a sole and separate company from a defunct newspaper called the ''
Syracuse Telegram and Courier
The ''Syracuse Telegram and Courier'' was a daily newspaper serving Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York fol ...
'' which operated during the years 1856 to 1905.
History
The ''Syracuse Telegram'' was established in
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, by
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
. It was later consolidated with the ''Syracuse Journal'', another Hearst newspaper in Syracuse. By 1922, Syracuse was the thirteenth city in which Hearst established a daily metropolitan newspaper. His papers had an aggregate circulation of more than 6,000,000 and consumed more than twelve percent of all the newsprint paper used in the United States.
Hearst took full advantage of the economic boom, and starting in 1921, he went on a "buying spree" and purchased three newspapers; the ''Times'' in Detroit, the ''Record'' in Boston, and the ''Post-Intelligencer'' in Seattle. In 1922, he added the ''Herald'' in Los Angeles, the ''Herald'' in Washington, D.C., established the ''New York Daily Mirror'' and started a new daily, the ''Oakland Post-Enquirer''
Hearst stepped into the political arena in
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
and by late 1922 he acquired five
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
papers; the ''Syracuse Telegram'', ''Rochester Journal'', the ''Post-Express'' in Albany, the ''Albany Times Union''
and the ''Oswego Daily Press'' in
Fulton, New York.
Established, 1922
Hearst purchased the ''Albany Times-Union'' in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
, in November, 1922, soon after a failed 1923 presidential bid. "The chief was still licking his wounds and viewed the Executive Mansion in Albany as a consolation prize."
[ ] At the same time, he established the ''Syracuse Telegram'' and three other
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
papers in order to "broaden his name recognition across upstate as he prepared to run for governor."
The ''Telegram'' publishers were pleased with the decision and announced to local readers;
The newspaper began operation as ''Syracuse Evening Telegram'' on September 25, 1922. The Sunday issue was known as the ''Syracuse American'' (also referred to as ''Syracuse Sunday American'') and hit the newsstands on October 1, 1922. Both were published by Hearst's, Syracuse American Newspaper Corporation.
Hearst building
The old ''Firestone Building'' at the corner of East Genesee and South State streets in Syracuse was purchased to house both newspapers.
Hearst paid $150,000 for the building which was described as "a large and admirably adapted building in the heart of the Syracuse business district." He also spent an additional $150,000 on the purchase and installation of machinery, presses, typesetting machinery and remodeling the building to make it a "thoroughly modern and a completely equipped newspaper publishing plant."
According to agent, Q. J. Coughlin, who handled the deal;
"Mr. Hearst's emissaries rushed the installation of equipment in order to begin publication before the ''Democratic State Convention'', held in Syracuse that year.
The total construction and remodel of the newly renamed ''Hearst Building'', located at 400 East Genesee Street, spanned a period of 14 days instead of three months, the usual time necessary for such a task.
For a period of two weeks, an army of artisans waged a "thrilling and fascinating race against time, working at top speed, morning, night and Sundays" to complete preparation for publication."
The mechanical equipment installed in the plant included a thirty-two page Duplex press, fifteen Intertype typesetting machines, a large stereotyping machine and scores of cases of display type."
The business office was headed by J. A. Easton, business manager.
In conformity with Hearst's company policy, "all the men holding executive positions will be Syracusans, and none but Syracuse workmen will be employed to produce the metropolitan Syracuse papers which are eagerly awaited."
Hearst advertised his new publications aggressively in local newspapers;
Published, 1922–1925
Hearst spared no expense with the new headquarters in an attempt to capture the attention of Syracusans. By October 1, 1922, just in time for the
1922 World Series
The 1922 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1922 season. The 19th edition of the World Series, it matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion New York Yankees. ...
, the company installed an "automatic board" that showed every play, in detail, "within a few seconds after it is made, every strike, every ball, every base hit, two-base hit, three-base hit, home run, double or triple play, error and run is illustrated just as you would see it on the home grounds." The
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
beat the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
in five games that year.
Hearst spared no expense with the new headquarters in an attempt to capture the attention of Syracusans. By October 1, 1922, just in time for the
1922 World Series
The 1922 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1922 season. The 19th edition of the World Series, it matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion New York Yankees. ...
, the company installed an "automatic board" that showed every play, in detail, "within a few seconds after it is made, every strike, every ball, every base hit, two-base hit, three-base hit, home run, double or triple play, error and run is illustrated just as you would see it on the home grounds." The
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
beat the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
in five games that year.
The "mammoth scoreboard" was placed on the front of the Hearst Building at State and Genesee streets at a point where thousands could view the entire game. All of the detail about the game was received by wire direct from the ball grounds and each play was reproduced within a few seconds after the play was made. "The big scoreboard will be operated by expert baseball players, and nothing will be missed in any of the games that is worth seeing."
Editorial department
Chief editor was R. C. McCabe.
Members of the Editorial Department included:
* John F. Cullen, from the ''Syracuse Journal''.
* W. H. Grady, experienced Syracuse newspaper writer.
* Mrs. Helen M. Green, former society editor for ''
The Post-Standard
''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''The ...
''.
* Fremont Hadley, from the ''Syracuse Journal''.
* J. J. Keating, experienced Syracuse newspaper writer.
* Birney P. Lynch, former sporting editor with ''
The Post-Standard
''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''The ...
''.
* Donald M. Luke, from the ''
Syracuse Herald'', ''Syracuse Journal'' and ''
The Post-Standard
''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''The ...
''.
* Frederick Martin, from the ''Syracuse Journal''.
* T. T. McGowan, experienced Syracuse newspaper writer.
* Mrs. M. L. Parsons, well known Syracuse features writer, formerly with the ''
Syracuse Herald''.
* J. F. Phelps, from ''
The Post-Standard
''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''The ...
''.
* J. A. Tiffany, from ''
The Post-Standard
''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''The ...
'' and the ''
Syracuse Herald''.
* W. H. Stearns, from the ''
Syracuse Herald''.
* Mrs. George D. Zett, wrote for the ''
Syracuse Herald'' under the name of Irene Murray, dramatic and motion picture editor.
Logos 1922
The new ''Syracuse Telegram'' logo appeared by mid-September, 1922:
At that same time, Hearst began publishing the Sunday edition, ''Syracuse American'' with ''"Character, Quality, Enterprise and Accuracy – An American Newspaper for the American People"'':
Merger 1925
The ''Syracuse Telegram'' was published by Hearst organization until November 24, 1925, when final issue, No. 925, was delivered.
At that time, the ''Syracuse Telegram'' and ''Sunday American'' merged with ''The Journal'', an old Syracuse institution that was established on July 4, 1844. In the days of extremely partisan newspapers, it held the reputation as one of the strongest Republican publications in
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
.
In the three years that
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
published the ''Syracuse Telegram'', he suffered an estimated loss of over $500 a day. Hearst never paid cash for anything. He had borrowed recklessly during the early 1920s to fund his newspaper empire. By the end of 1922, he had exhausted his working capital to pay off existing debt obligations and was still $500,000 short of meeting them all.
The merger was accomplished after Hearst acquired a controlling interest in ''The Journal'' for nearly $1,000,000.
in November 1925.
The transaction was carried out, and Hearst "sold" the publication for $1,000,000 to Syracuse Newspapers, Inc., a new corporation and publisher of the consolidated paper. After the merger was completed, Hearst was a director of the company and still played a major role in the decision making.
Before the merger, there were three evening newspapers in Syracuse and "the public was somewhat oversupplied."
The merger left two papers in the market: ''The Herald'' and the consolidated ''Journal-Telegram''.
Like its predecessors, the new publication was delivered in the evening, and the ''Sunday American'' on Sunday mornings. It was decided that the ''Journal'' operating plant and facilities would be used as the office and publishing plant for the combined effort.
The Hearst Building at the corner of Genesee and State streets was sold and 100 Hearst employees lost their jobs.
Syracuse Newspapers Inc.
On December 5, 1925, the name was changed to the ''Journal-Telegram'' which later reverted to ''Syracuse Journal''. It was published by Syracuse Newspapers Inc., which was established at the time of the merger.
The new paper retained all of the old features of the ''Journal'' and included several of the ''Telegram'' features as well.
Harvey D. Burrill, president and publisher at ''The Journal'', remained head of the combined publication, and the price remained the same as it had been before the merger, 3-cents.
The officers of the new corporation, Syracuse Newspapers Inc. included;
* Harvey D. Burrill, president
* Stewart F. Hancock, vice-president
* M. M. Andrews, treasurer
* Louis D. Burrill, secretary
List of directors;
*
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
* Harvey D. Burrill
* Stewart F. Hancock
References
External links
Hearst Family, The California Museum, Sacramento, California, 2008*Mott, Frank Luthe
''American journalism: a history of newspapers in the United States'' Routledge, 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syracuse Telegram
Defunct newspapers published in Syracuse, New York
Publications established in 1922
Publications disestablished in 1925
Daily newspapers published in New York (state)