''The Press Democrat'', with the largest circulation in

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's North Bay, is a daily

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published in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area ...

History

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The newspaper was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley who merged his ''Evening Press'' and Thomas Thompson's ''Sonoma Democrat'' (originally created as a voice for the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

). Finley also bought the ''Santa Rosa Republican'' in 1927 and merged it with the ''Press Democrat'' in 1948. Ernest L. Finley, his wife Ruth, daughter Ruth, and son-in-law Evert Person owned and published the "PD" between 1897 and 1985. Evert and Ruth Finley Person sold the paper to

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in 1985. The most popular feature in the newspaper for many years was Gaye LeBaron's community column, according to a readership survey. LeBaron produced more than 8,000 columns between 1961 and her semi-retirement in 2001, writing on human interest, cultural events, ethnic history and local politics. ''The Press Democrat'' is now owned by Sonoma Media Investments, LLC after it was purchased from Halifax Media Group. The New York Times Company bought the paper from the Finley family in 1985, as well as the ''North Bay Business Journal'' and the ''Petaluma Argus-Courier'', which were also acquired by the Halifax Media Holdings LLC. Halifax resold its California papers at the end of 2012 to a local ownership group that includes Douglas H. Bosco and Jean Schulz, the widow of ''Peanuts'' comic strip creator Charles M. Schulz. In 2019, Sonoma Media Investments acquired the ''Sonoma County Gazette'' of Forestville, California, Forestville, a monthly newspaper.

Awards and honors

''The Press Democrat''s staff was the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize, 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for "[f]or lucid and tenacious coverage of historic wildfires that ravaged the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County." Former staff photographer Annie Wells also won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize, 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography "for her dramatic photograph of a local firefighter rescuing a teenager from raging floodwaters." The newspaper was also the 2004 recipient of the George Polk Awards, George Polk Award for Regional Reporting, given annually by Long Island University to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Press Democrat, The George Polk Award recipients Daily newspapers published in the San Francisco Bay Area Publications established in 1897 Mass media in Santa Rosa, California 1897 establishments in California History of Sonoma County, California Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers