The ''Reading Eagle'' is the major 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 ...

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

. A family-owned newspaper until the spring of 2019, its reported circulation is 37,000 (daily) and 50,000 (Sundays). It serves the Reading and

Berks County Berks County ( Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading. The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware River ...

region of Pennsylvania. After celebrating its

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

of local ownership and editorial control in 2018, the ''Reading Eagle'' was acquired by the

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado-based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns over 100 newspa ...

(also known as Digital First Media) in May 2019.

History

The newspaper was founded on January 28, 1868. Initially an afternoon paper, it was published Monday through Saturday with a Sunday-morning edition added later. In 1940, the ''Eagle'' acquired the ''Reading Times'', which was a morning paper, but they remained separate papers. The staff of the two papers was combined in 1982. In June 2002, the ''Reading Times'' ceased publication, and the ''Eagle'' became a morning paper. Both papers had been publishing a joint Saturday-morning edition since 1988. Author

John Updike John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short-story writer, art critic, and literary critic. One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once (the others being Booth ...

worked at the ''Eagle'' as a copyboy in his youth for several summer internships in the early 1950s, and wrote several feature articles. In 2009, the newspaper switched to a Berliner format and laid off 52 employees in late April of that year. After celebrating its

of local ownership and editorial control, the family-owned newspaper suffered financial hardships, and cut 16 percent of its newsroom staff on May 23, 2018, also reverting to its previous broadsheet size a couple of months later. Less than a year later, the company announced it was filing for bankruptcy protection on March 20, 2019. In May 2019, the newspaper was acquired by the

-based

(also known as Digital First Media) in May 2019.Mekeel, "After 151 years of local ownership, Reading Eagle readers reflect on community coverage," ''Reading Eagle''. As of July 1, 2021, MNG has laid off numerous employees from the newsroom, where no salary increases have been issued since 2008. MNG also doesn't contribute to a 401(k) plan.

Sunday edition

For many years, the Sunday ''Reading Eagle'' featured a banner on its

Sunday comics The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...

section saying "Biggest Comics Section in the Land", running over 50 features until the late 1980s, and occupying two sections until 1995. It carried half pages of ''

Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full stretc ...

'', ''

Hägar the Horrible ''Hägar the Horrible'' is the title and main character of an American comic strip created by cartoonist Dik Browne and syndicated by King Features Syndicate. It first appeared in February 1973 and was an immediate success. Since Browne's reti ...

'', and ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

'', as well as smaller versions of ''

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''Detroit Mirror'', and it ...

'', ''

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The charact ...

'', and many popular humor strips. On July 8, 2018, however, it followed the path of most dwindling American newspapers, and reduced the size of its comics section and of the strips it carries.

References

External links

''Reading Eagle''

Google News archives 1868-2008
{{authority control 1868 establishments in Pennsylvania Daily newspapers published in Pennsylvania Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019 Publications established in 1868 Reading, Pennsylvania