''The Leader'' is an American

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 ...

published in

Corning, New York Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,551 at the 2020 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company t ...

. It is owned by

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field * Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and

Erwin Erwin may refer to: People Given name * Erwin Chargaff (1905–2002), Austrian biochemist * Erwin Dold (1919–2012), German concentration camp commandant in World War 2 * Erwin Hauer (1926–2017), Austrian-born American sculptor * Egon Erwin Kisc ...

, in Steuben County, and

Horseheads Horseheads is a town in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 19,412 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is derived from the number of bleached horses' skulls once found there. Horseheads is north of the city of Elmi ...

, in

Chemung County Chemung County is a county in the southern tier of the U.S. state of New York. The population was 84,148 as of the 2020 census. Its county seat is Elmira. Its name is derived from a Delaware Indian village whose name meant "big horn". Chemung ...

History

The history of ''The Leader'' stretches back to two competing newspapers in Corning in the mid-19th century. Its earliest predecessor was ''The Corning Journal'', a

weekly newspaper A weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly new ...

established in 1847 as "an independent family newspaper, free from party politics". George W. Pratt served as editor of the ''Journal'' for a half-century, from 1851 until his death in 1906. His son, future Congressman Harry H. Pratt, ran the paper until 1918. The weekly ''Corning Sun'' debuted in 1853, later changing its name to the ''Southern Tier Farmer'' and then, in April 1857, the ''Corning Democrat'', to reflect its ties to the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. The ''Democrat'' established a daily newspaper in 1884, and in 1903 changed its name to ''The Evening Leader''. Another future congressman, Edwin Underhill, served as publisher of ''The Evening Leader'' and oversaw its repudiation of 19th century-style partisan journalism. ''The Corning Journal'' merged with ''The Evening Leader'' in 1920. Ownership of the combined afternoon paper remained in the Underhill family until 1972, when it was sold to

Howard Publications Howard Publications was a family-owned company of newspapers in the United States. It owned 16 daily newspapers when it sold to Lee Enterprises for $694 million in 2002. Robert S. Howard founded the company in 1961.York, Tom (2 December 2019)Speci ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

.(31 May 1972)
Corning Leader Sold to Howard Publications
''Elmira Star-Gazette'', p. 9 (paywall) The paper published as ''The Evening Leader'' until 1954, then as the ''Corning Leader'' until September 24, 1965, and as ''The Leader'' thereafter. Publication was interrupted during late June 1972 during the

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes in 1972 was the costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, from the Caribbean to Canada, ...

flood, which caused millions of dollars of damage to the ''Leader'' building. On June 24, 1972, the ''Leader'' banded with its competitors to publish a special flood edition called the ''Leader-Star-Gazette''.

Sister papers

GateHouse Media, which owns ''The Leader'', also owns two other daily newspapers in the

Southern Tier The Southern Tier is a geographic subregion of the broader Upstate New York region of New York State, consisting of counties west of the Catskill Mountains in Delaware County and geographically situated along or very near the northern border ...

, ''

The Evening Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' of Hornell, and the ''

Wellsville Daily Reporter The ''Wellsville Daily Reporter'' is an American daily newspaper published Sundays and weekdays in Wellsville, New York The ''Daily Reporter'' is the newspaper of record for Allegany County, New York, and the only daily published in the county. I ...

''. The company owns the ''Steuben Courier'' of

and two other nearby weeklies, ''The Chronicle-Express'' of

Penn Yan Penn Yan is an incorporated village and the county seat of Yates County, New York, United States. The population was 5,159 at the 2010 census. It lies at the north end of the east branch of Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes. Penn Yan, New York ...

and the ''

Genesee Country Express The ''Genesee Country Express'' is a newspaper published in Dansville, Livingston County, New York, Dansville in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It covers the town of Dansville and the surrounding communities of Southern Livingston a ...

'' of Dansville.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leader Corning Gannett publications Chemung County, New York Daily newspapers published in New York (state) Steuben County, New York Newspapers established in 1847 1847 establishments in New York (state)