The ''Journal Star'' is the major 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 ...

for Peoria, Illinois, and surrounding area. First owned locally, then employee-owned, it became a

Copley Press Copley Press was a privately held newspaper business, founded in Illinois, but later based in La Jolla, California. Its flagship paper was ''The San Diego Union-Tribune''. History Founder Ira Clifton Copley launched Copley Press c. 1905, eventu ...

entity in 1996. In 2007, the paper was sold to Fairport, New York-based GateHouse Media.

History

The oldest ancestor of the ''Journal Star'', the ''Peoria Daily Transcript'', was founded by N.C. Nason and first published on December 17, 1855. The ''Peoria Journal'' founded as an afternoon paper by Eugene F. Baldwin, the owner of the ''

El Paso Journal EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

'' and a former editor of the ''Daily Transcript'', and J. B. Barnes, and first publisher on December 3, 1877. Henry Means Pindell started the ''Peoria Herald'' in 1889; and soon bought out the ''Daily Transcript'', forming the ''Herald-Transcript''. Baldwin, who had since left the ''Journal'', started the ''Peoria Star'', with Charles M. Powell on November 7, 1897. Pindell bought the ''Journal'' in 1900, sold the ''Herald-Transcript'' in 1902, and, after that newspaper had become the ''Transcript'', bought it back in 1916 and merged it with the ''Journal'', creating the ''Peoria Journal-Transcript'', with the ''Transcript'' in the morning and the ''Journal'' in the afternoon. In 1944, the ''Journal'' and ''Transcript'' and their rival ''Star'' combined presses as Peoria Newspapers Inc. with the ''Star'' as a morning paper and the ''Journal-Transcript'' as an afternoon paper, but retained their competition in journalism until 1954, when a full merger was agreed to. Once the agreement was reached, both the morning and afternoon papers immediately changed their names to the ''Journal Star''. To hold the merged newspaper, the current newspaper headquarters were built near War Memorial Drive ( U.S. Route 150) and the McClugage Bridge; the first edition from the new presses was on November 14, 1955. During a newspaper strike in 1958, members of the

Newspaper Guild The NewsGuild-CWA is a trade union, labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's busin ...

printed a temporary paper, ''The Peoria Citizen''. In the 1980 presidential election, the ''Journal Star'' endorsed Libertarian candidate

Ed Clark Edward E. Clark (born May 4, 1930) is an American lawyer and politician who ran for governor of California in 1978, and for president of the United States as the nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1980 presidential election. Clark is an h ...

. Doherty, Brian. '' Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement'', pg. 414 Between 1984 and 1990, the ''Journal Star''

Employee Stock Ownership Plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

bought about 83 percent of the company, making it effectively employee-owned. It company also bought the ''

Galesburg Register-Mail ''The Register-Mail'' is an American daily newspaper published in Galesburg, Illinois. The paper was owned by the Pritchard family from 1896 to 1989, when it was sold to the '' Journal Star''. Copley Press bought both papers for $174.5 million. In ...

'' of Galesburg, Illinois, in 1989. However, the success for the employees had the opposite effect for the company itself, as it had to buy back stock of large numbers of early retirees. The paper was sold to

, owned by Helen Copley, in 1996; Copley also owned the

downstate Illinois Downstate Illinois refers to the part of the U.S. state of Illinois south of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is in the northeast corner of the state and has been dominant in American history, politics, and culture. It is defined as the part ...

papers the '' State Journal-Register'' in Springfield, Illinois and the ''

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Courier''. When Copley purchased the paper in 1996, the daily circulation was 75,000+. According to a Knight Foundation report in 2005, the ''Journal Star'' circulation is now 65,126. The ''Journal Star'' is the highest-circulation newspaper in downstate Illinois and the fourth-highest circulation Illinois newspaper. As of September 2006, the ''Journal Star'' was the 136th-largest newspaper in the United States.

References

External links

pjstar.com
— ''Peoria Journal Star'' official website {{Gannett Newspapers established in 1855 1855 establishments in Illinois Copley Press publications Newspapers published in Illinois Gannett publications Mass media in Peoria, Illinois