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''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning
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 ...
of
Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
.


History


Early period

The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction of the
Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
and
Raccoon River The Raccoon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 26, 2011 tributary of the Des Moines River in central Iowa in the United States. As measured using the lon ...
. In 1854, ''The Star'' became the ''Iowa Statesman'' which was also a Democratic paper. In 1857, ''The Statesman'' became the ''Iowa State Journal'', which published 3 times per week. In 1870, ''The Iowa Statesman'' became the ''Iowa State Leader'' as a Democratic newspaper, which competed with pro-
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
''Iowa Daily State Register'' for the next 32 years. In 1902, George Roberts bought the ''Register'' and ''Leader'' and merged them into a morning newspaper. In 1903, Des Moines banker Gardner Cowles, Sr. purchased the ''Register and Leader''. The name finally became ''The Des Moines Register'' in 1915. (Cowles also acquired the ''
Des Moines Tribune ''The Des Moines Tribune'' was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Des Moines, Iowa. It was founded in 1906 and purchased in 1908 by the Cowles family, which owned the ''Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily mornin ...
'' in 1908. The ''Tribune'', which merged with the rival ''Des Moines News'' in 1924 and the ''Des Moines Capital'' in 1927, served as the evening paper for the Des Moines area until it ended publication on September 25, 1982.) Under the ownership of the Cowles family, the ''Register'' became Iowa's largest and most influential newspaper, eventually adopting the slogan "The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon." Newspapers were distributed to all four corners of the state by train and later by truck as Iowa's highway system was improving.


Nationwide development

In 1906, the newspaper's first front-page
editorial cartoon A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine a ...
, illustrated by
Jay Norwood Darling Jay Norwood Darling (October 21, 1876 – February 12, 1962), better known as Ding Darling, was an American cartoonist who won two Pulitzer Prizes. He was an important figure in the 20th century conservation movement and founded the National Wil ...
, was published; the tradition of front-page editorial cartoons continued until December 4, 2008 when 25-year veteran cartoonist Brian Duffy was let go in a round of staff cuts. The ''Register'' employed reporters in cities and towns throughout Iowa, and it covered national and international news stories from an Iowa perspective, even setting up its own news bureau in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
in 1933. During the 1960s, circulation of the ''Register'' peaked at nearly 250,000 for the daily edition and 500,000 for the Sunday edition–more than the population of Des Moines at the time. In 1935, the Register & Tribune Company founded radio station KRNT-AM, named after the newspapers' nickname, "the R 'n T." In 1955, the company, renamed Cowles Communications some years earlier, founded Des Moines' third television station, KRNT-TV, which was renamed
KCCI KCCI (channel 8) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Ninth Street in downtown Des Moines and a transmitter in Alleman. History KCCI start ...
after the radio station was sold in 1974. Cowles eventually acquired other newspapers, radio stations and television stations, but almost all of them were sold to other companies by 1985. In 1943, the ''Register'' became the first newspaper to sponsor a statewide
opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
when it introduced the Iowa Poll, modeled after Iowan George Gallup's national
Gallup poll Gallup, Inc. is an American analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Starting in the 1980s, Gallup transitioned its ...
. Sports coverage was increased under sports editor Garner "Sec" Taylor – for whom Sec Taylor Field at Principal Park is named – in the 1920s. For many years the ''Register'' printed its sports sections on
peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...
-colored paper, but that tradition ended for the daily paper in 1981 and for the ''Sunday Register's'' "Big Peach" in 1999. Another ''Register'' tradition – the sponsorship of
RAGBRAI RAGBRAI is an acronym and registered trademark for the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, which is a non-competitive bicycle ride organized by ''The Des Moines Register.'' The course runs across the state of Iowa from west to east ...
– began in 1973 when writer John Karras challenged columnist
Donald Kaul Donald William Kaul (December 25, 1934 – July 22, 2018) was an American journalist and pundit. He received a bachelor's degree in 1958 from the University of Michigan, where he also obtained a master's degree in journalism in 1960. A finalist ...
to do a border-to-border bicycle ride across Iowa. The liberal-leaning editorial page has brought Donald Kaul back for Sunday opinion columns. Other local columns have faded and given way to Gannett-distributed material.


Under Gannett ownership

In 1985, faced with declining circulation and revenues, the Cowles family sold off its various properties to different owners, with the ''Register'' going to Gannett. At the time of sale, only ''The New York Times'' had won more Pulitzer Prizes for national reporting. In 1990, the ''Register'' began to reduce its coverage of news outside of the Des Moines area by closing most of its Iowa news bureaus and ending carrier distribution to outlying counties, although an "Iowa Edition" of the ''Register'' was still being distributed throughout most of the state. Many of the ''Register's'' news stories and editorials focus on Des Moines and its suburbs. The ''Register'' opened a new printing and distribution facility on the south side of Des Moines in 2000. The news & advertising offices remained in downtown Des Moines. After 95 years in the Des Moines Register Building at 715 Locust Street, the ''Register'' announced in 2012 that they would move to a new location in 2013, settling for Capital Square three blocks to the east. On June 15, 2013, the Register moved to its new location from 715 Locust Street to 400 Locust Street. In 2014, the old building has been sold for $1.6 million and will be redeveloped into a combination of apartments and retail space. In 2019, the Register switched from two print editions - a State and Metro edition - to one edition statewide. The ''Register'' came under scrutiny in September 2019 after uncovering a pair of controversial tweets made by Carson King, a 24-year-old Iowa man whose beer sign on '' ESPN College GameDay'' resulted in over $3 million in contributions to a children's hospital. King was 16 at the time of the posts. According to Carol Hunter, the paper's executive editor, the Register elected to include the information toward the end of a story about King. "Reasonable people can look at the same set of facts and disagree on what merits publication. But rest assured such decisions are not made lightly and are rooted in what we perceive as the public good," she explained after receiving complaints from readers. Some readers later found social media comments previously made by the reporter, Aaron Calvin, which contained racial slurs and condemnation of law enforcement. The ''Register'' defended its decision and announced that they would launch an investigation into the "inappropriate social media posts" made by a staff member, though it did not name anyone involved. On September 27, the ''Register'' announced that Calvin was no longer employed by the newspaper. Calvin later wrote an op-ed in the ''
Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, an ...
'' blaming Gannett and the ''Register'' for what he considered to be an "unfair" firing. In October 2022, the ''Register'' was discovered to have provided commercial printing services to a "
pink slime Pink slime (also known as lean finely textured beef or LFTB, finely textured beef, or boneless lean beef trimmings or BLBT) is a meat by-product used as a food additive to ground beef and beef-based processed meats, as a filler, or to red ...
" media client, Local Government Information Services, which the
Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, an ...
describes as publishing "multiple misleading, decontextualized, and often nonfactual stories on hot-button issues in Illinois."


Editorial philosophy

In the three decades before the Cowles family acquired the ''Register'' in 1903, the ''Register'' was a "voice of pragmatic conservatism."William B. Friedricks,
Covering Iowa: The History of the Des Moines Register and Tribune Company, 1849-1985
" pp. 40-44 (Blackwell Pub. 2000), .
However, Gardner Cowles Sr., who served as a Republican in the
Iowa General Assembly The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Repres ...
, was a delegate to the 1916 Republican National Convention, and served in the administration of President
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
,Herbert Strentz,
Gardner Cowles, Sr.
" at Cowles Family Publishing Legacy, Drake University (accessed 2009-03-08).
was an advocate of progressive Republicanism. The new owners presented a variety of viewpoints, including Darling cartoons that frequently made fun of progressive politicians. During the Cowles family's ownership, the ''Register''s editorial page philosophy was generally more liberal in its outlook than editorial pages of other Iowa newspapers, but there were notable exceptions. The publishers strongly supported Republican
Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican ...
's 1940 presidential campaign against Democrat
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
.Herbert Strentz,
Gardner (Mike) Cowles, Jr.
" at Cowles Family Publishing Legacy, Drake University (accessed 2009-03-08).
The newspaper also supported Republican
Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
's campaigns for the Republican nomination and general election in 1952, and again in 1956. Although the ''Register'' endorsed presidential candidates
Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
in 1964,"How Iowa Dailies See Candidates", ''Des Moines Register'', October 25, 1964 at 6-F.
Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...
in 1968, and
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
in 1976, it endorsed
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
in 1960 and 1972. The paper was a severe critic of
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's warrantless wiretapping strategy and claimed that in doing so, "President Bush has declared war on the American people." In December 2007, two weeks before the 2008 Iowa caucuses, the ''Register'' endorsed
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
(in the Democratic caucuses) and
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
(in the Republican caucuses). In October 2008, it endorsed
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
for president in the general election. In 2011, 24 days before the 2012 Iowa caucuses, the newspaper endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican Iowa Caucuses. The Register endorsed Romney over Obama ten days before the general election on October 27, 2012, the first time that it supported a Republican for president since 1972. On July 24, 2015, the newspaper announced that it had been denied press credentials to cover a
Donald Trump presidential campaign There have been four Political campaign, presidential campaigns waged by Donald Trump for President of the United States. He has additionally mused about running on several other occasions. Donald Trump presidential campaign may refer to: * Donal ...
family picnic in
Oskaloosa, Iowa Oskaloosa is a city in, and the county seat of, Mahaska County, Iowa, United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oskaloosa was a national center of bituminous coal mining. The population was 11,558 in the 2020 U.S. Ce ...
, because of an editorial the previous week that had called on Trump to drop out of the race. On January 23, 2016, it endorsed Republican Senator Marco Rubio for the GOP nomination and
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
for the Democratic candidate. On October 13, 2018, the ''Register'' endorsed all Democratic candidates standing for the House of Representatives in the 2018 elections and stated that Republicans have "failed to govern." On January 25, 2020, the newspaper endorsed Democratic Senator
Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...
for her party's presidential nomination.


Register and Tribune Syndicate

In 1922, Gardner Cowles' son
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
launched the Register and Tribune Syndicate. At its peak, the syndicate offered other newspapers some 60 to 75 features, including editorial cartoonist
Herblock Herbert Lawrence Block, commonly known as Herblock (October13, 1909October7, 2001), was an American editorial cartoonist and author best known for his commentaries on national domestic and foreign policy. During the course of a career stretch ...
and commentaries by
David Horowitz David Joel Horowitz (born January 10, 1939) is an American conservative writer. He is a founder and president of the right-wing David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website '' FrontPage Magazine''; and director of Disco ...
,
Stanley Karnow Stanley Abram Karnow (February 4, 1925 – January 27, 2013) was an American journalist and historian. He is best known for his writings on the Vietnam War. Education and career After serving with the United States Army Air Forces in the China B ...
, and others. The cartoons and comic strips included '' Spider-Man''.
Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...
's ''
The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of Register and Trib ...
'' was part of a 16-page Sunday supplement known colloquially as "The Spirit Section". This was a tabloid-sized newsprint comic book sold as part of eventually 20 Sunday newspapers with a combined circulation of as many as five million copies. The most successful comics feature was ''
The Family Circus ''The Family Circus'' (originally ''The Family Circle'', also ''Family-Go-Round'') is a syndicated comic strip created by cartoonist Bil Keane and, since Bil's death in 2011, is currently written, inked, and rendered (colored) by his son, Jef ...
'', eventually distributed to more than 1,000 newspapers. In 1986, the Register and Tribune Syndicate was sold to Hearst and the
King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...
for $4.3 million.


Columnists and notable journalists

Brianne Pfannenstiel Brianne Pfannenstiel is an American journalist who is the chief politics reporter for ''The Des Moines Register''. Pfannenstiel co-moderated the seventh Democratic debate with Wolf Blitzer and Abby Phillip on January 14, 2020. Early life and e ...
was selected chief politics reporter for the
2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...
and co-moderated the seventh Democratic debate with
Wolf Blitzer Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist, television news anchor, and author who has been a CNN reporter since 1990, and who currently serves as one of the principal anchors at the network. He is the host of ''The Situa ...
and
Abby Phillip Abigail Daniella Phillip (born November 25, 1988) is an American journalist who works as a political correspondent and weekend anchor for CNN. She previously worked for ''The Washington Post'', ABC News, and Politico. Early life and education P ...
on January 14, 2020. Rekha Basu is a current ''Register'' columnist. Former columnist Rob Borsellino authored the book ''So I'm Talkin' to This Guy...'' (). Steve Deace started his career as a sports reporter at the ''Register.'' Bloomberg's Senior White House Reporter Jennifer Jacobs was formerly Chief Political Reporter at the Register.


Awards

The ''Register'' has won 16
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
s: * 6 for
National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National. L ...
: 1954, 1958, 1968, 1976, 1979, and 1985 * 4 for Editorial Writing: 1938, 1943, 1956, and 2018 * 3 for
Editorial Cartooning An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or curren ...
: 1924, 1943, and 1963 * 1 for
Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
: 1952 * 1 for Feature Photography: 1987 * 1 for Breaking News Photography: 2010 * 1 for
Public Service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
: 1991 ''Register'' photographer Robert Modersohn was one of four finalists for the 1976
Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or phot ...
for a selection of photographs the jury described as unusual. ''Register'' writer Clark Kauffman was one of three finalists for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for his exposure of glaring injustice in the handling of traffic tickets by public officials in Iowa. Editorial writer Andie Dominick was a finalist for the 2014
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style ...
for her series of editorials on Iowa's job licensing laws,Register's Andie Dominick named Pulitzer finalist
The Des Moines Register
and later won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize.


Iowa Sports Hall of Fame

The ''Register'' sponsors the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.


References

*


Further reading

* Friedricks, William B. ''Covering Iowa: The History of the Des Moines Register and Tribune Company, 1849-1985'' (1991)


External links

*
Juice's
website
Des Moines Metromix

Iowa Newspaper Association


(Register and Tribune Syndicate comic strip) at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 4, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Des Moines Register, The Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers Gannett publications Freedom of information in the United States Newspapers published in Iowa Mass media in Des Moines, Iowa Publications established in 1849 1849 establishments in Iowa Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners