Blog 2; EOTO 1 - The History of the New York Tribune

 The History of the New York Tribune

    The New York Tribune was an American newspaper first established on April 10, 1841 by Horace Greeley, who would continue as editor for the next thirty years. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the dominant newspaper of the American Whig Party. In the 1850s the paper generated a circulation of about 200,000, making it the largest daily paper in New York City at the time. The Tribune's editorials were very influential on shaping public opinion. 

    Distinguishing features of the early penny press papers were their inexpensiveness, their appeal to the average reader, their coverage of diverse types of news, and, in some instances, a distinguished political independence. While mainly providing political news, special articles, lectures, book reviews/excerpts, and poetry, the Tribune was not against improving circulation by including stories that involved sex and crime, however they were careful to present this material in the manner of cautionary tales and often played down crime reports and scandals. This was a strategy similar to other penny papers at this time.

    Greeley's mission was to print all of the daily information that anyone could be looking for. He wanted his paper to be versatile so that a lawyer, banker, author, politician, or anyone else could find whatever they needed to know without having to look all over to find information. Throughout its existence, the Tribune gathered an impressive array of editors and featured writers. Including, but not limited too, Margaret Fuller, Henry J. Raymond, and for a while Karl Marx served as the London correspondent for the paper. 

    In 1872 Horace Greeley died and left the paper under Whitelaw Reid from 1873 until 1912. Under his control it become one of the nation's leading Republican daily newspapers. In 1912 his son, Ogden Reid, succeeded him. Ogden also purchased the New York Herald and merged the two papers in 1924 creating the New York Herald Tribune. This "new" newspaper was noted for its high quality writing, political columnists, foreign reporting, and typographical excellence. The Herald Tribune would reign as the voice of Republicanism and journalism for the next four decades.

    Following Ogden Reid's death in 1947, the paper began a steady decline after having to undergo numerous financial setbacks. In 1961 media entrepreneur John Hay Whitney became majority shareholder, publisher and editor-in-chief, investing a lot of money in a vain attempt to save the paper. The newspaper's last issue as the Herald Tribune was published April 24, 1966. It then merged with two other struggling New York papers to form the World Journal Tribune, which began publishing September 12, 1966 after a lengthy strike. It ceased publication May 5, 1967.   

    Due to the work from the New York Tribune and other well-known newspapers of this time, this country now understands and relies on the importance of journalism and its evolutions throughout time. Without these influential papers and writers of this time we would not know journalism the way it is today.