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 Good Life: Central New York'' magazine. ''The Post-Standard'' is published seven days a week and is home-delivered to subscribers on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

History

''The Post-Standard'' was founded in 1829 as ''The Onondaga Standard''. The first issue was published Sept. 10, 1829, after Vivus W. Smith consolidated the ''Onondaga Journal'' with the ''Syracuse Advertiser'' under ''The Onondaga Standard'' name. Through the 1800s, it was known variously as ''The Weekly Standard'', ''The Daily Standard'' and ''The Syracuse Standard''.

On July 10, 1894, ''The Syracuse Post'' was first published. On Dec. 26, 1898, the owners of ''The Daily Standard'' and ''The Syracuse Post'' merged to form ''The Post-Standard''. The first issue of the newly merged paper was published Jan. 1, 1899. The merged company was based at 136 E. Genesee St. in Syracuse.

By 1900, Syracuse had a population of 135,000 and the publication had a "sworn circulation" of 17,575 daily, 12,571 semi-weekly and 15,195 on Sunday. It was touted as "a clean, wholesome, aggressive, up-to-date newspaper." The newspaper bragged that "''The Post-Standard'' has a larger circulation than any other daily paper between Greater New York and Rochester."

On July 23, 1939, publisher Samuel I. Newhouse entered the Syracuse market, buying Syracuse's two evening papers, the ''Syracuse Herald'' and the ''Syracuse Journal'', and then merging them into the ''Syracuse Herald-Journal''. He also launched a Sunday paper, the ''Herald American''. In 1944, Newhouse bought ''The Post-Standard''. (Later, Newhouse became the benefactor of Syracuse University's acclaimed S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.)

The news and editorial departments of the newspapers operated independently from each other for decades. The ''Post-Standard'' was published in the morning, the ''Herald-Journal'' in the afternoon, and the ''Herald American'' on Sundays. Until 1971, when a new building on Clinton Square opened, the newspapers were published in separate locations. The newspapers became known collectively as ''The Syracuse Newspapers.'' By the turn of the century, it became apparent that Syracuse could no longer support two newspapers. The ''Herald-Journal'' closed in September 2001, and was merged into The Post-Standard.

The newspaper company was an early adopter of digital media. The company launched digital audio services delivered via telephone in the early 1990s under the direction of John Mariani and Stan Linhorst. The company, under then Director of New Media Stan Linhorst, started Syracuse.com in November 1994. The newspaper collaborated with Syracuse University's iSchool on the launch. At first, the website was branded Syracuse OnLine and until the summer of 1995 operated on a server hosted at syr.edu. Few newspapers were establishing websites back then; most were partnering with CompuServe, Prodigy (online service), America Online or other proprietary systems.

In December 2001, the newspaper began printing on a new offset lithography press made in Switzerland by Wifag. The 750-ton five-story press allowed for color on just about every page, and the newspaper soon began using the front-page motto, America's Most Colorful Paper. The press is housed in a 45,000-square-foot, glass-enclosed "press hall" constructed at the back of the newspaper building. The Wifag press replaced a 33-year-old machine using the letterpress technique. The new press and building expansion cost $39.5 million.

21st century

The newspaper is owned by the Newhouse family's Advance Publications, which also publishes the ''Staten Island Advance'', ''The Star-Ledger'' and '' The Jersey Journal'' in New Jersey, ''The Times-Picayune'' in New Orleans