''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American

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 an ...

published in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is border ...

, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of the 1914 union of ''The Picayune'' with the ''Times-Democrat'') by the New Orleans edition of '' The Advocate'' (based in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

), which began publication in 2013 as a response to ''The Times-Picayune'' switching from a daily publication schedule to a Wednesday/Friday/Sunday schedule in October 2012 (''The Times-Picayune'' resumed daily publication in 2014). ''The Times-Picayune'' was awarded the

Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...

in 2006 for its coverage of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cos ...

. Four of ''The Times-Picayune'''s staff reporters also received Pulitzers for breaking-news reporting for their coverage of the storm. The paper funds the Edgar A. Poe Award for journalistic excellence, which is presented annually by the

White House Correspondents' Association The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor t ...

History

Established as ''The Picayune'' in 1837 by Francis Lumsden and

George Wilkins Kendall George Wilkins Kendall (1809–1867) was a journalist, war correspondent, and pioneer Texas sheepman, known as the father of the Texas sheep business. Kendall County, Texas is named for him. In 1837, Kendall and Francis Lumsden established ''The ...

, the paper's initial price was one

picayune A picayune was a Spanish coin, worth half a real or one sixteenth of a dollar. Its name derives from the French ''picaillon'', which is itself from the Provençal ''picaioun'', the name of an unrelated small copper coin from Savoy. By extensio ...

, a Spanish coin equivalent to 6¼¢ (half a

bit The bit is the most basic unit of information in computing and digital communications. The name is a portmanteau of binary digit. The bit represents a logical state with one of two possible values. These values are most commonly represented ...

, or one-sixteenth of a

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

). Under

Eliza Jane Nicholson Pearl Rivers (pen name of Eliza Jane Nicholson; formerly Holbrook; née Poitevent; March 11, 1843 – February 15, 1896) was an American journalist and poet, and the first female editor of a major American newspaper. After being the literary edit ...

, who inherited the struggling paper when her husband died in 1876, the ''Picayune'' introduced innovations such as

society reporting In journalism, the society page of a newspaper is largely or entirely devoted to the social and cultural events and gossip of the location covered. Other features that frequently appear on the society page are a calendar of charity events and pi ...

(known as the "Society Bee" columns), children's pages, and the first women's advice column, which was written by

Dorothy Dix Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer (November 18, 1861 – December 16, 1951), widely known by the pen name Dorothy Dix, was an American journalist and columnist. As the forerunner of today's popular advice columnists, Dix was America's highest paid ...

. Between 1880 and 1890, the paper more than tripled its circulation. The paper became ''The Times-Picayune'' after merging in 1914 with its rival, the New Orleans ''Times-Democrat''. In 1962,

Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr. Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. (born Solomon Isadore Neuhaus; May 24, 1895 – August 29, 1979) was an American broadcasting businessman, as well as a magazine and newspaper publisher. He was the founder of Advance Publications. Early life Newhouse w ...

, bought the morning daily ''The Times-Picayune'' and the other remaining New Orleans daily, the afternoon ''States-Item''. The papers were merged on June 2, 1980 and were known as ''The Times-Picayune/States-Item'' (except on Sundays; the ''States-Item'' did not publish a Sunday edition) until September 30, 1986. In addition to the flagship paper, specific community editions of the newspaper are also circulated and retain the ''Picayune'' name, such as the ''Gretna Picayune'' for nearby

Gretna, Louisiana Gretna is the second-largest city in, and parish seat of, Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. "Gretna, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes), ''City Data'', 2007, webpage: C-Gretna "Census 2000 Data for the State of Lou ...

. The paper is owned by Georges Media, whose chairman is New Orleans businessman

John Georges John Georges ( el, Υιάννης Γεωργής) (born October 16, 1960) is an American businessman from New Orleans, who owns Louisiana's two largest newspapers and online news sites. He formerly served on the Louisiana Board of Regents, the ...

. In the vernacular of its circulation area, the newspaper is often called the ''T-P''.

Hurricane Katrina

became a significant part of ''The Times-Picayunes history, not only during the storm and its immediate aftermath, but for years afterward in repercussions and editorials. As Hurricane Katrina approached on Sunday, August 28, 2005, dozens of the newspaper's staffers who opted not to evacuate rode out the storm in their office building, sleeping in sleeping bags and on air mattresses. Holed up in a small, sweltering interior office space—the photography department—outfitted as a "hurricane bunker," the newspaper staffers and staffers from the paper's affiliated website, NOLA.com, posted continual updates on the internet until the building was evacuated on August 30. With electrical outages leaving the presses out of commission after the storm, newspaper and web staffers produced a "newspaper" in electronic PDF format. On NOLA.com, meanwhile, tens of thousands of evacuated New Orleans and Gulf Coast residents began using the site's forums and blogs, posting pleas for help, offering aid, and directing rescuers. NOLA's nurturing of so-called

citizen journalism Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, a ...

on a massive scale was hailed by many journalism experts as a watershed, while a number of agencies credited the site with leading to life-saving rescues and reunions of scattered victims after the storm. After deciding to evacuate on Tuesday, August 30, because of rising floodwaters and possible security threats, the newspaper and web staff set up operations at ''

The Houma Courier ''The Houma Courier'' is a newspaper published daily in Houma, Louisiana, United States, covering Terrebonne Parish. It was owned by Halifax Media Group until 2015, when In 2015, Halifax was acquired by GateHouse Media.Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

, on the

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

campus. A small team of reporters and photographers volunteered to stay behind in New Orleans to report from the inside on the city's struggle, looting, and desperation. They armed themselves for security and worked out of a private residence. The August 30, August 31, and September 1 editions were not printed, but were available online, as was the paper's breaking news blog: After three days of online-only publication, the paper began printing again, first in Houma, La., and beginning September 15, 2005, in Mobile, Ala.; it resumed publication in New Orleans on October 10, 2005. The paper was awarded the

in 2006 for its coverage of the storm, and several of its staff reporters also received the award for breaking news reporting for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina––Gordon Russell,

Jed Horne Jed Horne is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who was for many years city editor of ''The Times-Picayune'', the New Orleans daily newspaper. He is the author of two books: ''Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great Amer ...

and Bob Marshall––marking the first time a Pulitzer had been awarded for online journalism. In a January 14, 2006 address to the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acade ...

Communications Lawyers Forum, ''Times-Picayune'' editor

Jim Amoss Walter James Amoss III (born October 22, 1947) is former editor of ''The Times-Picayune''. Under his leadership and that of the publisher, Ashton Phelps Jr., the paper won two Pulitzer Prizes in 1997 for public service and editorial cartooning, ...

commented on perhaps the greatest challenge that the staff faced then, and continued to face as the future of New Orleans is contemplated:

Limited publication dates, launch of ''The New Orleans Advocate''

Save the Picayune Allen Toussaint Rock Bowl Lot June 2012

On May 24, 2012, the paper's owner, Advance Publications, announced that the print edition of the ''Times-Picayune'' would be published three days a week (Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday) beginning at the end of September. News of the change was first revealed the night before in a blog post by ''New York Times'' media writer David Carr. A new company, NOLA Media Group, was created to oversee both the paper and its website, NOLA.com. Along with the change in its printing schedule, Advance also announced that significant cuts would be coming to the newsroom and staff of the ''Picayune''. A second new company, Advance Central Services Louisiana, was created to print and deliver the newspaper. The decision to end daily circulation led to protests calling for continued publication for the common good; fifty local businesses wrote an open letter to the Newhouse family, urging them to sell the paper instead, since they had stated it was still profitable. An group of community institutions and civic leaders, The Times-Picayune Citizens Group, was formed to seek alternatives for the continued daily publication of the newspaper. In October 2012, ''The Times-Picayune'' began publishing its

broadsheet A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid–compact formats. Description Many broadsheets measure roughly ...

paper on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Along with the change, the paper began publishing a special tabloid-sized edition following Sunday and Monday

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

football games and an "early" Sunday broadsheet edition, available on Saturdays. The thrice-weekly publication schedule made New Orleans the largest American city not to have a

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 ...

, until ''The Advocate'' of Baton Rouge began publishing a New Orleans edition each day to fill the perceived gap on August 18, 2013. On June 12, 2012, Advance followed through with its layoff plans, as about 200 ''Times-Picayune'' employees (including almost half of the newsroom staff) were notified that they would lose their jobs. In January 2013, NOLA Media Group moved its news-gathering operation, along with sales, marketing and other administrative functions, from its building at 3800 Howard Avenue, New Orleans, to offices on the 32nd and 31st floors of the One Canal Place office tower at 365 Canal Street, New Orleans. Advance Central Services Louisiana employees remained at Howard Avenue. In April 2018, NOLA Media Group moved from the offices at One Canal Place to a newly renovated location at 201 St. Joseph Street, New Orleans. Its news staff, sales and sales support staff, marketing, and other administrative staff now work from the Warehouse District offices, offices in St. Tammany Parish at 500 River Highlands Blvd., Covington, and the existing East Jefferson Times Picayune Bureau at 4013 N Interstate 10 Service Road W, Metairie.

''The Times-Picayunes resumption of daily publication

On April 30, 2013, the paper's publisher announced plans to print a tabloid version of ''The Times-Picayune'', called ''Times-Picayune Street'', on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, sold only through newsstands and retail locations. The move returned the paper to a daily printing schedule (including the "early" Sunday edition offered at newsstands on Saturdays). The ''TP Street'' edition first went on sale Monday, June 24, 2013. The new edition removed from New Orleans the designation as the largest city in the United States without its own daily newspaper; with ''The Times-Picayune'', along with the New Orleans edition of ''The Advocate'', the city now has two. However, in reporting its print circulation figures to the

Alliance for Audited Media The Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) is a North American non-profit industry organization founded in 1914 by the Association of National Advertisers to help ensure media transparency and trust among advertisers and media companies. Originally k ...

, ''The Times-Picayune'' still provides data only for the home-delivery days of Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. The paper returned to a full broadsheet format on September 6, 2014, for all editions and ceased using the "TP Street" name. On the same date, NOLA Media Group began publishing "bonus" editions of ''The Times-Picayune'' on Saturdays and Mondays to be home-delivered to all three-day subscribers at no additional cost. The bonus editions were delivered for 17 weeks, the duration of the 2014 football season. On January 3, 2015, NOLA Media Group returned the paper to its previous three-day home delivery, printing two-section papers for street sales only on the other four days. On Saturday, February 13, 2016, NOLA Media Group debuted a street-sales only "Early Sunday" edition, a hybrid of features from the former Saturday street-sales only paper and sections from the Sunday paper, offered at the Sunday price.

Additional cuts

On October 21, 2014, the paper announced it would begin printing and packaging ''The Times-Picayune'' in Mobile, Alabama, sometime in late 2015 or early 2016, closing the plant on Howard Avenue in New Orleans and eliminating more than 100 jobs at Advance Central Services Louisiana. The Howard Avenue building, which housed all aspects of the newspaper operation, opened in 1968. The building's lobby is lined with custom panels by sculptor Enrique Alferez showing symbols used in communication throughout history. Although NOLA Media Group said in 2014 that it hoped to donate the building to a nonprofit institution in the community, it ultimately sold the building on September 2, 2016, to a local investor group for $3.5 million. The newspaper of Sunday, January 17, 2016, was the last ''Times-Picayune'' to be printed in New Orleans. The street-sales-only newspaper of Monday, January 18, 2016, was the first to be printed in Mobile. The New Orleans presses were to be decommissioned. The circulation numbers for the printed ''Times-Picayune'' were the largest of any newspaper in Louisiana until the end of 2014. By then, declines in its sales, combined with circulation gains by ''The Advocate'', dropped ''The Times-Picayune'' to second place behind ''The Advocate''. NOLA Media Group announced on June 15, 2015, that it would join with Alabama Media Group in a new regional media company across Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, to be called Southeast Regional Media Group. Additional job losses were expected in Louisiana; those cuts came September 17, 2015, when NOLA Media Group fired 37 journalists, 28 of them full-time employees and nine part-timers. Hardest-hit were the Baton Rouge bureau, which had been expanded in the 2012 makeover, as well as ''The Times-Picayunes high school prep sports staff and its music reporting staff. The merged company was named Advance Media Southeast, registered in New Orleans. A facility to design and produce the pages of ''The Times-Picayune'' and four newspapers in Alabama and Mississippi—''

The Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' is the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The paper is owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its founding through September 30, 2012. After that day, the ''News'' and its two ...

'', the ''

Mobile Press-Register The ''Press-Register'' (known from 1997 to 2006 as the ''Mobile Register'') is a thrice-weekly newspaper serving the southwest Alabama counties of Mobile and Baldwin. The newspaper is a descendant of one founded in 1813, making the ''Press-Reg ...

'', ''

The Huntsville Times ''The Huntsville Times'' is a thrice-weekly newspaper published in Huntsville, Alabama, and printed in Birmingham, Alabama. It also serves the surrounding areas of north Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The ''Times'' formerly operated as an af ...

'', and '' The Mississippi Press'' in Pascagoula—was opened in January 2016 in a former suburban bureau of ''The Times-Picayune'' in Metairie, emptying the Howard Avenue building of the remaining staff. The Metairie building also houses Advance Central Services Southeast, formed from the combined Advance Central Services units in Louisiana and Alabama. Production of another Advance newspaper, ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'', was moved to the Metairie location in late 2016.

2019 acquisition

On May 2, 2019, Advance Publications announced that ''The Times-Picayune'' had been sold to Georges Media, owner of ''The Advocate''. The new owners stated that both papers would be folded into a single operation by June 2019, and that the NOLA.com brand would be maintained for the combined newspaper's digital operations. A filing required under the

WARN Act The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (the "WARN Act") is a U.S. labor law that protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar-day advance ...

stated that the entire staff of the ''Times-Picayune'' had been laid off, resulting in a loss of 161 jobs, including 65 journalists. The merged paper initially re-hired 10 of those journalists, and about 12 other employees. The paper, carrying the nameplates of both ''The Times-Picayune'' and ''The New Orleans Advocate'', began publication on July 1.

''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' online

''The Times-Picayune''s first foray onto the internet came in 1995, with the www.NewOrleans.net website. Among the website's features was the "Bourbocam", placed in the window of a French Quarter bar to broadcast images of Bourbon Street. During the 1996

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "F ...

, it was one of the first internet webcams to carry a live news event. In early 1998, that site was superseded by www.nolalive.com, launched by

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc., doing business as Advance, is an American media company owned by the descendants of S.I. Newhouse Sr., Donald Newhouse and S.I. Newhouse Jr. It owns a large number of subsidiary companies, including Condé Nast, and ...

Internet. The site's format was similar to other websites launched in connection with Advance newspapers in New Jersey; Cleveland, Ohio; Michigan; Oregon; and Alabama. Although nolalive.com was affiliated with ''The Times-Picayune'' and posted content created by the ''T-P'' newsroom, it was operated independently, and it also hosted blogs and forums. In early 2001, the site was renamed NOLA.com. After a management change at NOLA.com in February 2009, content on the website more closely reflected that of ''The Times-Picayune''. Articles written for the newspaper were posted to the website using the

Movable Type Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation ...

content management system. In October 2018, the paper switched from Movable Type to Arc, the content management system created by developers at the Washington Post. Led by Advance, the site underwent several redesigns over the years. On May 8, 2012, the site debuted its most dramatic redesign, by Mule Design Studio of San Francisco. With bright yellow accents, the design echoed that of Advance's bellwether site in Michigan, mlive.com. Following complaints from the public, NOLA.com developed a toned-down palette and new typography. However, the concept – a continually updated "river" of combined news, sports and entertainment content – remained the same. After the October 1, 2012, launch of NOLA Media Group, the publication workflow of the newspaper and website was reversed. All staff-produced content is published first to NOLA.com; content then was harvested from the website for publication in the printed ''Times-Picayune''. NOLA.com also offers apps for mobile and tablet users; ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' offers subscribers an e-edition only.

Notable people

The writers

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

and

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include " The Gift of the ...

worked for ''The Times-Picayune''. The Louisiana historian

Sue Eakin Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits island ...

was formerly a ''Times-Picayune'' columnist. A weekly political column is penned by Robert "Bob" Mann, a Democrat who holds the Douglas Manship Chair of Journalism at

. ''The Times-Picayune'' was the longtime journalistic home of British-American satiric columnist James Gill, although he moved to ''The Advocate'' in 2013, along with many former ''Times-Picayune'' editorial staffers. For more than a decade, ''The Times-Picayune'' was also the newspaper home of

Lolis Eric Elie Lolis Eric Elie (born April 10, 1963) is an American writer, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and food historian best known for his work as story editor of the HBO drama '' Treme'' and story editor of AMC's ''Hell on Wheels''. Early life and ...

who wrote a thrice weekly metro column, before he went on to write for television, most notably HBO's '' Treme'' and AMC's '' Hell on Wheels''. Already widely known, the journalist and television commentator Iris Kelso joined ''The Times-Picayune'' in 1979. She had been particularly known for her coverage of the civil rights movement.

Editorial stance

''The Times-Picayune'' endorsed George W. Bush for President in 2000, but endorsed no Presidential candidate in 2004. In 2008 and 2012, the paper endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for President. It endorsed Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. In

gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of politica ...

contests it endorsed Mike Foster, Bobby Jindal, and David Vitter. In the mayoral race of 2006, ''The Times-Picayune'' endorsed right-leaning Democrat

Ron Forman Ron Forman (born Leon Ronald Forman, c. 1947) is the head of the Audubon Nature Institute and was one of the leading candidates in the 2006 New Orleans mayoral election. A past president of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Ron Forman b ...

in the primary election and Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu in the

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...

. The Picayune endorsed Governor candidate

Edwin Washington Edwards Edwin Washington Edwards (August 7, 1927 – July 12, 2021) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the U.S. representative for from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms (1972–1 ...

in 1971 and 1975, but went against him in 1983 (endorsing incumbent

David C. Treen David Conner Treen Sr. (July 16, 1928 – October 29, 2009) was an American politician and attorney from Louisiana. A member of the Republican Party, Treen served as U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 1973 to 1 ...

), 1987 (endorsing challenger and eventual winner Buddy Roemer) and 1991 (endorsed Roemer in the primary, but switched to Edwards in the general election due to Edwards' opponent being former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke). The T-P also stung Edwards in 1979 even though he was barred from running for a third term, refusing to endorse Edwards' hand-picked candidate,

Louis Lambert Louis Lambert is a politician, lawyer, and teacher from Prairieville, Louisiana. He is best known for his campaign for the 1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election, which he lost to David Treen in one of the closest elections in recent memory. B ...

, in favor of Treen both in the primary and general election.

Journalism prizes and awards

Lee Zurik and the crew of Louisana Purchased at the 73rd Annual Peabody Awards

''The Times-Picayune'' was awarded a 1997 Pulitzer Prize for a series analyzing the threatened global fish supply; that same year, staff cartoonist Walt Handelsman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. ''The Times-Picayune'' shared the

2006 Pulitzer Prize The 2006 Pulitzer Prizes were announced on April 17, 2006. The board announced in December 2005, that they will consider more online material in all 14 journalism categories. For the first time since 1997, the Pulitzer board declined to award a Pu ...

for public service coverage of

with '' The Sun Herald'' in similarly affected Biloxi, Mississippi. In addition, staff reporters Doug MacCash, Manuel Torres,

Trymaine Lee Trymaine D. Lee (born September 20, 1978) is an American journalist. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of Hurricane Katrina as part of a team at '' The Times-Picayune'' of New Orleans. From 2006 to 2010, Lee wrote for '' T ...

, and Mark Schleifstein were awarded a Pulitzer for breaking news reporting. This award marked the first Pulitzer given for exclusively online journalism. For its coverage of

, ''The Times-Picayune'' also received the 2005

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for Metropolitan Reporting,. Former ''Times-Picayune'' editorial cartoonist

Mike Luckovich Michael Edward Luckovich ( ; born January 28, 1960) is a liberal editorial cartoonist who has worked for ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' since 1989. He is the 2005 winner of the Reuben, the National Cartoonists Society's top award for cart ...

won the Pulitzer for his cartoons in '' The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', some of which were also featured in ''New Orleans Magazine''.

Loving Cup Award

Since 1901, ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' has annually awarded a Loving cup to individuals who have contributed to improving life in the New Orleans area, through civic, cultural, social, or religious activities. Representative awardees include: Eleanor McMain,

Albert W. Dent Albert Walter Dent (1904–1984) was an academic administrator who served initially as Business administration, business administrator of Flint-Goodridge Hospital and later as University president, president of Dillard University (1941–1969), a ...

Edgar B. Stern Sr Edgar Bloom Stern Sr. (1886–1959) was an American leader in civic, racial, business and governmental affairs for the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. He was successful at an early age in the cotton business in New Orleans, later diversifying in ...

Scott Cowen Scott S. Cowen (born 27 July 1946) is the President Emeritus and Distinguished University Chair of Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was also Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor in the A.B. Freeman School of Business and p ...

, Gary Solomon Sr., Millie Charles, Mark Surprenant, Leah Chase, Norman Francis, Tommy Cvitanovich,

Edith Rosenwald Stern Edith Rosenwald Stern (1895–1980) was an American philanthropist and champion of educational causes in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. She was instrumental in formation of the David Stern (activist)#Stern Family Fund, Stern Family Fund a ...

, and Bill Goldring.

Ongoing criticism of FEMA

Soon after ''The Times-Picayune'' was able to restart publication following

, the newspaper printed a strongly worded open letter to President George W. Bush in its September 4, 2005, edition, criticizing him for the federal government's response to the disaster, and calling for the firing of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief

Michael D. Brown Michael DeWayne Brown (born November 8, 1954) is an American attorney and former government official who served as the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from 2003 to 2005. He joined FEMA as general counsel in 2001 an ...

. Brown tendered his resignation eight days later. ''The Times-Picayune'' long continued to editorialize on FEMA. A searing editorial on April 18, 2009, lambasted FEMA and labeled "insulting" the alleged "attitude" of its spokesman Andrew Thomas toward people who were cash-strapped after the evacuation from Hurricane Gustav, which in the meantime had become part of the melange of problems associated with hurricanes and governmental agencies. A second editorial on the same day blasted the State of Louisiana's

Road Home Road Home is a program funded by the U.S. government which has provided federal grant money to help Louisiana residents rebuild or sell houses severely damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This federally funded program is administered by th ...

program and its contractor ICF. The post-Katrina experience affected the paper's staff. On August 8, 2006, staff photographer John McCusker was arrested and hospitalized after he led police on a

high-speed chase A car chase or vehicle pursuit is the vehicular overland chase of one party by another, involving at least one automobile or other wheeled motor vehicle in pursuit, commonly hot pursuit of suspects by law enforcement. The rise of the automot ...

and then used his vehicle as a weapon, apparently hoping that they would kill him. McCusker was released from the hospital by mid-August, saying he could not recall the incident at all, which was apparently sparked by the failure to receive an insurance settlement for his damaged house. On December 13, 2007, Judge Camille Buras reduced the charges against McCusker to misdemeanors. The episode led to the establishment of a support fund for McCusker and for other ''Times-Picayune'' staff, which collected some $200,000 in a few days. In October 2006, columnist Chris Rose admitted to seeking treatment for clinical depression after a year of "crying jags" and other emotionally isolating behavior.

References

External links

* *
NOLA.com New Orleans Metro Real-Time NewsPrint editions of the ''Times-Picayune'' during Hurricane Katrina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Times-Picayune, The 1837 establishments in Louisiana George Polk Award recipients Newspapers published in New Orleans Newspapers established in 1837 Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners