''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 p ...

published in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. Along with the competing ''

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major

s published in the

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

area. The newspaper also published a ''St. Petersburg Tribune'' edition, sold and distributed in

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical ...

. It published a

Sunday magazine A Sunday magazine is a publication inserted into a Sunday newspaper. It also has been known as a Sunday supplement, Sunday newspaper magazine or Sunday magazine section. Traditionally, the articles in these magazines cover a wide range of subject ...

, ''Florida Accent'', during the 1960s and 1970s. ''The Tampa Tribune'' also operated ''

Highlands Today ''Highlands Today'' was a newspaper published in Sebring, Florida. It was associated with the ''Tampa Bay Times''; Copies of the Times distributed in Highlands County, Florida included the supplement, which focuses on issues relevant to Sebring, A ...

'', a daily newspaper in Sebring. The ''Tribune'' stopped publishing the '' Hernando Today'', which was located in Brooksville, on December 1, 2014, citing "a tough newspaper advertising climate." On May 3, 2016, the ''Tampa Bay Times'' announced that it had acquired the ''Tribune'', and was combining the ''Times'' and ''Tribune''s operations, ending publication of the ''Tribune''.

History

Daily publication of the ''Tribune'' started in 1895 when

Wallace Stovall Wallace Oliver Stovall Sr. (December 14, 1891 – May 19, 1966) was the publisher of the ''Tampa Tribune''. The Wallace Stovall building, built in 1926 according to designs by Tampa architect B. Clayton Bonfoey, was located at 416 Tampa Street ...

upgraded printing from once a week. In 1927, newspaper mogul John Stewart Bryan, of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and his business partner Samuel Emory Thomason, previously a vice-president with the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', purchased ''The Tampa Tribune'' for $900,000. The Tampa Tribune Publishing company grew to include the ''Tampa Tribune'', the ''Tampa Times'', ''TBO.com'', ''TampaBayOnline.com'', WFLA radio, and WFLA-TV. In 1966, the ''Tampa Tribune'', along with sister properties WFLA-AM- FM- TV, was purchased by Richmond Newspapers, becoming

Media General Media General was an American media company based in Richmond, Virginia. The company's origins can be traced back to 1887 when Richmond attorney Joseph Bryan acquired ''The Richmond Daily Times'', which later became ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch ...

in 1969. Since 2000, the ''Tribune'' partnered with WFLA-TV and TBO.com in a converged arrangement, all connected with one another under owner Media General. The large media complex is located on Parker Street in Downtown Tampa. The ''Tribune'' was a flagship newspaper under the Media General banner until it was sold in 2012. Executive editor

Janet Coats Janet Coats (born May 6, 1963, in Cleveland, Tennessee) is new media journalism director for the Patterson Foundation in Sarasota, Fla. Patterson Foundation New Media Journalism Facebook page Formerly she was executive editor of The Tampa Tribune.> ...

left the paper in December 2009 and was not replaced until May 17, 2012, when managing editor Richard "Duke" Maas was promoted to executive editor. On May 17, 2012, it was announced that investment company

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...

would be acquiring Media General's newspaper division; the purchase did not include the ''Tribune'' or its associated regional papers, which were being retained by Media General. No reason was given as to why Media General was retaining the ''Tribune'', but there was speculation that the paper would be sold to another party, such as

Halifax Media Group Halifax Media Group was an American newspaper company owning more than 30 newspapers in five Southeastern U.S. States. It was founded on March 31, 2010 when a group of investors purchased ''The Daytona Beach News-Journal'' from the Davidson fami ...

(which owns several papers in Florida) or a completely different owner, or that the paper would merge with the ''Tampa Bay Times''. In October 2012, ''The Tampa Tribune'' and its associated print and digital products were acquired by Tampa Media Group, Inc., a new company formed by Revolution Capital Group. On May 3, 2016, the ''Tampa Bay Times'' announced that it had acquired the ''Tribune'', and was combining the ''Times'' and ''Tribune''s operations, ending publication of the ''Tribune''. The acquisition also includes ''Highlands Today'', weekly newspaper ''The Suncoast News'', and weekly Spanish-language newspaper ''Centro''; all of these will continue publishing under Times' ownership. The ''Tampa Tribune'' name will be repurposed as a neighborhood news section of the Times.

''Tampa Daily Times'' trademark

In 1958, the ''Tribune'' acquired Tampa's struggling evening newspaper, the ''Tampa Daily Times.'' The ''Tribune'' published the paper as ''The Tampa Times'' until 1982. From then until the ''Tribune'' closed down, the ''Tribune'' displayed the logo for ''The Tampa Times'' in the masthead on the front section. This was part of an effort by the ''Tribune'' to keep its trademark on the ''Tampa Times'' name, and to avoid confusion with the then-''St. Petersburg Times,'' which long published a Tampa edition. In 2006, it was decided in a lawsuit that the ''Tribune'' could keep its exclusive use of the ''Tampa Times'' name, but only for five years. This exclusivity ended at the end of 2011, allowing the ''St. Petersburg Times'' to rename itself the ''Tampa Bay Times'', effective January 1, 2012. The decision did not restrict the use of ''The Tampa Times'' name by the ''Tribune'' after the expiration of exclusivity.

Awards

The ''Tampa Tribune'' won a Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for local investigative specialized reporting. The award went to John Anthony Frasca for his "investigation and reporting of two robberies that resulted in the freeing of an innocent man."

History

''Tampa Daily Times'' trademark

Awards

See also

References

Further reading