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Chicago American

January 01, 1970

The Chicago American[1] was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago under various names from 1900 until its dissolution in 1975.

Chicago Herald-Examiner headline; in reality, the death toll was in excess of 695, not 1,000.

History edit

The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, as Hearst's Chicago American. It became the Morning American in 1902 with the appearance of an afternoon edition. The morning and Sunday papers were renamed as the Examiner in 1904. James Keeley bought the Chicago Record-Herald and Chicago Inter-Ocean in 1914, merging them into a single newspaper known as the Herald. William Randolph Hearst purchased the paper from Keeley in 1918.

 
Circulation figures for Chicago newspapers appearing in Editor & Publisher in 1919. The American's circulation of 330,216 placed it third in the city, behind the Chicago Tribune (424,026) and Chicago Daily News (386,498), and ahead of the Chicago Herald-Examiner (289,094).

Distribution of the Herald Examiner after 1918 was controlled by gangsters. Dion O'Banion, Vincent Drucci, Hymie Weiss and Bugs Moran first sold the Tribune. They were then recruited by Moses Annenberg, who offered more money to sell the Examiner, later the Herald-Examiner. This "selling" consisted of pressuring stores and news dealers. In 1939, Annenberg was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud and died in prison.

The newspaper joined the Associated Press on October 31, 1932.[2]

Under pressure from his lenders, Hearst consolidated the American and the Herald-Examiner in 1939. It continued as the Chicago Herald-American until 1953 when it became the Chicago American. The American was bought by the Chicago Tribune in 1956, and was renamed as Chicago's American in 1959.

As with many other afternoon daily newspapers the paper suffered in postwar years from declining circulation figures caused in part by television news and in part by population shifts from city to suburbs. The paper continued as an afternoon broadsheet until 1969 when the Tribune converted the paper to the tabloid-format Chicago Today. Measures to bolster the paper were unsuccessful, and Chicago Today published its final issue on September 13, 1974. The Chicago Tribune inherited many of the Today's writers and staff and became a 24-hour operation.

The American was the product of the merger or acquisition of 14 predecessor newspapers and inherited the tradition and the files of all of them.

As an afternoon paper, the American was dependent on street sales rather than subscriptions, and breaking news helped bring in street sales.

When Frank Lloyd Wright announced plans to build a mile-high building in Chicago, the American stole the drawings and printed them.[citation needed]

The tradition was exemplified by the longtime night city editor of the American, Harry "Romy" Romanoff, who could create news stories almost at will with only a telephone. He ran the city room at night with the help of two rewrite men (including Mike McGovern, noted below), one night photo editor, a sports desk editor (Brent Musburger's first job out of journalism school), and one night copy boy who cut and pasted AP and UPI wires for Harry's review. Since the afternoon paper was put together the previous evening, the night city editor was the key news editor. Romanoff enjoyed the fearful but absolute regard of pressmen, the composing room and the entire night staff of the Tribune Tower, which owned and housed the Chicago American's operations in its final decades.

One night, floods threatened Southern Illinois, and the American did not have a big story for the front page. Romanoff called fire departments and police stations throughout the region, posing as "Captain Parmenter of the state police" (a nonexistent individual), urging them to take action.[citation needed] One fire department, bemused by the call, asked what they should do. "Ring those fire bells! Call out the people!" Romanoff then turned to his rewrite man to dictate the lead story:

Fire bells rang over southern Illinois as police and fire departments called out the people to warn them of impending floods.

It never did flood, but the American had its banner headline. These headlines were necessary for sales of the early editions. Later in the day, breaking news would generally replace them or reduce their importance. Of course, many stories developed in this way were genuine scoops that would be expanded in later editions.

The American gave the same attention to smaller stories as to large ones. It was usually first with police news. One notable headline:

Mother of 14 kids kills father of 9 in police station

Headquarters for the paper was the Hearst Building, located at 326 West Madison Street in Chicago. In 1961, the offices of Chicago's American were moved adjacent to the Tribune Tower at 435 North Michigan Avenue, where they would remain until the ultimate demise of Chicago Today in 1974.

Notable people edit

In addition to Romanoff, notable American staff members included:

Also:

  • John F. Kennedy, the future U.S. president, worked as a reporter at the Chicago Herald-American after serving in the Navy during World War II in 1945, where he covered the United Nations Conference held in San Francisco and the elections that ousted Winston Churchill in 1945 from London. The job was lined up by his influential father, Joseph P. Kennedy.

In the end, TV news brought an end to most afternoon papers, but up until the 1970s, Chicago had a competitive journalistic scene unmatched by most other American cities, five daily newspapers and four wire services in competition, and none were more competitive than Chicago's American.

The American's predecessor and successor newspapers edit

  1. Morning Record, March 13, 1893 – March 27, 1901 (originally News Record, aka Morning News, aka Chicago Daily News (Morning Edition) beginning July 24, 1881)
  2. Chicago Times, June 1, 1861 – March 4, 1895
  3. Chicago Republican, May 30, 1865 – March 22, 1872
  4. Inter Ocean, March 25, 1872 – May 10, 1914
  5. Chicago Daily Telegraph, March 21, 1878 – May 9, 1881
  6. Morning Herald, May 10, 1893 – March 3, 1895
  7. Times-Herald, March 4, 1895 – March 26, 1901
  8. Chicago American, July 4, 1900 – August 27, 1939
  9. Chicago Record-Herald, March 28, 1901 – May 10, 1914
  10. Chicago Examiner, March 3, 1907 – May 1, 1918
  11. Chicago Record Herald & Interocean, May 11, 1914 – June 1, 1914
  12. Chicago Herald, June 14, 1914 – May 1, 1918
  13. Herald-Examiner, May 2, 1918 – August 26, 1939
  14. Herald American, August 26, 1939 – April 5, 1953
  15. The Chicago American, April 6, 1953 – September 23, 1959
  16. Chicago's New American, Sep 23, 1959 – October 24, 1959 (purchased by Chicago Tribune)
  17. Chicago's American, October 25, 1959 – April 27, 1969
  18. Chicago Today American, April 28, 1969 – May 23, 1970
  19. Chicago Today, May 24, 1970 – September 13, 1974

See also edit

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ "1934" Chicago American, March 4, 1935 – an article about Holodomor.
  2. ^ "Chicago American Now A.P. Member", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Tuesday 1 November 1932, Volume 39, Section 1, Page 1. Associated Press.
  3. ^ Dave Zirin, After Forty-four Years, It's Time Brent Musburger Apologized to John Carlos and Tommie Smith, The Nation, June 4, 2012, Accessed September 10, 2012.
  4. ^ Murray, George The Madhouse on Madison Street (Chicago: Follett, 1965).

External links edit

  • February 1922 front pages from the Chicago American

January 01, 1970
chicago, american, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, march, 2. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Chicago American news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message The Chicago American 1 was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago under various names from 1900 until its dissolution in 1975 Chicago Herald Examiner headline in reality the death toll was in excess of 695 not 1 000 Contents 1 History 2 Notable people 3 The American s predecessor and successor newspapers 4 See also 5 Footnotes 6 External linksHistory editThe paper s first edition came out on July 4 1900 as Hearst s Chicago American It became the Morning American in 1902 with the appearance of an afternoon edition The morning and Sunday papers were renamed as the Examiner in 1904 James Keeley bought the Chicago Record Herald and Chicago Inter Ocean in 1914 merging them into a single newspaper known as the Herald William Randolph Hearst purchased the paper from Keeley in 1918 nbsp Circulation figures for Chicago newspapers appearing in Editor amp Publisher in 1919 The American s circulation of 330 216 placed it third in the city behind the Chicago Tribune 424 026 and Chicago Daily News 386 498 and ahead of the Chicago Herald Examiner 289 094 Distribution of the Herald Examiner after 1918 was controlled by gangsters Dion O Banion Vincent Drucci Hymie Weiss and Bugs Moran first sold the Tribune They were then recruited by Moses Annenberg who offered more money to sell the Examiner later the Herald Examiner This selling consisted of pressuring stores and news dealers In 1939 Annenberg was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud and died in prison The newspaper joined the Associated Press on October 31 1932 2 Under pressure from his lenders Hearst consolidated the American and the Herald Examiner in 1939 It continued as the Chicago Herald American until 1953 when it became the Chicago American The American was bought by the Chicago Tribune in 1956 and was renamed as Chicago s American in 1959 As with many other afternoon daily newspapers the paper suffered in postwar years from declining circulation figures caused in part by television news and in part by population shifts from city to suburbs The paper continued as an afternoon broadsheet until 1969 when the Tribune converted the paper to the tabloid format Chicago Today Measures to bolster the paper were unsuccessful and Chicago Today published its final issue on September 13 1974 The Chicago Tribune inherited many of the Today s writers and staff and became a 24 hour operation The American was the product of the merger or acquisition of 14 predecessor newspapers and inherited the tradition and the files of all of them As an afternoon paper the American was dependent on street sales rather than subscriptions and breaking news helped bring in street sales When Frank Lloyd Wright announced plans to build a mile high building in Chicago the American stole the drawings and printed them citation needed The tradition was exemplified by the longtime night city editor of the American Harry Romy Romanoff who could create news stories almost at will with only a telephone He ran the city room at night with the help of two rewrite men including Mike McGovern noted below one night photo editor a sports desk editor Brent Musburger s first job out of journalism school and one night copy boy who cut and pasted AP and UPI wires for Harry s review Since the afternoon paper was put together the previous evening the night city editor was the key news editor Romanoff enjoyed the fearful but absolute regard of pressmen the composing room and the entire night staff of the Tribune Tower which owned and housed the Chicago American s operations in its final decades One night floods threatened Southern Illinois and the American did not have a big story for the front page Romanoff called fire departments and police stations throughout the region posing as Captain Parmenter of the state police a nonexistent individual urging them to take action citation needed One fire department bemused by the call asked what they should do Ring those fire bells Call out the people Romanoff then turned to his rewrite man to dictate the lead story Fire bells rang over southern Illinois as police and fire departments called out the people to warn them of impending floods It never did flood but the American had its banner headline These headlines were necessary for sales of the early editions Later in the day breaking news would generally replace them or reduce their importance Of course many stories developed in this way were genuine scoops that would be expanded in later editions The American gave the same attention to smaller stories as to large ones It was usually first with police news One notable headline Mother of 14 kids kills father of 9 in police station Headquarters for the paper was the Hearst Building located at 326 West Madison Street in Chicago In 1961 the offices of Chicago s American were moved adjacent to the Tribune Tower at 435 North Michigan Avenue where they would remain until the ultimate demise of Chicago Today in 1974 Notable people editIn addition to Romanoff notable American staff members included Frank R Adams reporter for Herald Examiner author songwriter and screenwriter Ann Barzel dance critic 1951 1974 Seymour Berkson reporter for Herald Examiner later general manager of the International News Service and publisher for the New York Journal American Claude Binyon reporter for the Examiner became a Hollywood screenwriter and director Arthur Brisbane named editor of the Herald Examiner in 1918 later became a renowned New York newspaper editor and syndicated columnist Warren Brown sportswriter covered 50 consecutive World Series winner of Spink Award from baseball s Hall of Fame John P Carmichael sportswriter 1927 32 then Chicago Daily News columnist and sports editor until 1972 S S Chamberlain Chicago Examiner editor later editor of Cosmopolitan magazine Bartlett Cormack reporter for the American then a Hollywood screenwriter whose films included The Racket and Fury as well as the original adaptation of The Front Page Homer Davenport cartoonist came to Chicago Herald in 1893 during World s Columbian Exposition Billy DeBeck cartoonist creator of comic strip Barney Google John Denson editor executive editor of New York Journal American managing editor of Newsweek Eddie Doherty reporter for the Examiner and American then Oscar nominated screenwriter of The Fighting Sullivans Charles Dryden considered the best baseball writer of his era first hired in 1898 by the New York Journal capped his career with the Tribune and Herald Examiner coined the name Hitless Wonders for the 1906 White Sox Carl Ed cartoonist creator of comic strip Harold Teen James Enright sportswriter and basketball referee inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Dave Feldman the American s horse racing writer and handicapper from 1939 1968 then the same for the Daily News and Sun Times Leo Fischer sports editor of the American from 1943 1969 and also after the paper became Chicago Today for four years simultaneously was president of the National Basketball League precursor to today s NBA Tom Fitzpatrick worked as a reporter for the American before joining the Sun Times and winning a 1970 Pulitzer Prize Hugh Fullerton while covering the 1919 World Series for the Herald Examiner became suspicious of the Chicago White Sox s play his articles culminated in eight Sox players being accused of conspiring with gamblers and subsequently being banned from baseball for life Chester Gould cartoonist creator of Dick Tracy drew a number of comic strips for the Evening American before being hired away by the Chicago Tribune in 1931 Robert Gruenberg Washington bureau chief for the American 1963 65 Richard Hainey the American s executive editor Bob Hainey his brother and a Sun Times copy chief was found dead on a Chicago street at 35 the circumstances were addressed by Bob s son GQ magazine editor Michael Hainey in a 2013 book After Visiting Friends Sydney J Harris wrote for the Herald Examiner from 1934 41 before launching a long career as a columnist with the Daily News George Wheeler Hinman Herald Examiner publisher after first being owner and editor of the Chicago Inter Ocean died in 1929 Walter Howey managing editor of the American beginning in 1917 widely presumed to be the inspiration for the colorful character of editor Walter Burns in the play The Front Page and subsequent film adaptations including His Girl Friday Harold L Ickes reporter for the Record at the turn of the century U S Secretary of the Interior 1933 46 James Keeley owned the Herald from 1914 18 also served it as a World War I correspondent Frank King cartoonist 1906 09 creator of Gasoline Alley Ring Lardner writer for Examiner in 1900s before becoming Tribune columnist and renowned author Jonathan Latimer crime reporter covering Al Capone and others for the Herald Examiner before becoming a novelist and Hollywood screenwriter his scripts included Topper Returns The Glass Key and The Big Clock Jack Mabley columnist and associate editor for the American and Chicago Today 1961 1974 one of his most famous columns was about the measured water pressure during commercial breaks on national TV broadcasts determining that viewers were using the toilet during the breaks Hazel MacDonald born in 1890 wrote for Photoplay magazine then reviewed films for the American until she was let go for crossing a picket line in 1938 became a war correspondent for the Chicago Daily Times Charles Archibald MacLellan illustrator for the Examiner later drew many covers for the Saturday Evening Post Tiny Maxwell football player cub reporter for the Record Herald college football s Maxwell Award is named for him Maxwell McCrohon American reporter in 1958 became managing editor of Chicago Today in 1970 named editor of the Tribune in 1972 and later was the Los Angeles Herald Examiner editor when that paper closed Michael McGovern New York Daily News investigative reporter once went door to door through Evanston Illinois asking each woman in one neighborhood if she was the illegitimate daughter of Warren G Harding citation needed Buddy McHugh thinly disguised as McCue in The Front Page Arthur Meeker Jr novelist and socialite wrote travel articles for the American Merrill C Meigs publisher during the 1920s also an aviator for whom Meigs Field was named Edgar Munzel baseball writer later of the Sun Times winner of Spink Award earning him induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame Brent Musburger night sports editor of the American became a prominent television sports personality for CBS and ABC penned an infamous column describing Tommie Smith and John Carlos as black skinned storm troopers for their protest of racial injustice in the United States during the 1968 Summer Olympics 3 George Murray was once sent to Central America and told to find a lost city which he promptly did wrote a memoir about the paper called The Madhouse on Madison Street 4 Wallace Rice reporter for the Herald American author designed the Flag of Chicago Charles Edward Russell muckraking journalist for the American in the early 20th century 1928 Pulitzer Prize winning author E C Segar cartoonist for the American creator of Popeye Vaughn Shoemaker two time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist ended his career with Chicago s American and Chicago Today retiring in 1972 after drawing approximately 14 000 cartoons Sidney Smith cartoonist for the Examiner 1908 11 Wallace Smith correspondent covered Pancho Villa campaigns and Washington D C politics became a Hollywood screenwriter his films including 1927 s Two Arabian Knights and 1934 s The Captain Hates the Sea Wendell Smith pioneering African American sports reporter who was requested by Branch Rickey to travel with Jackie Robinson while he was breaking into triple A and Major League Baseball later a sportscaster for WGN TV Ashton Stevens drama critic for Examiner and Herald American inspired Joseph Cotten s character in Citizen Kane Roger Treat vocal critic of segregation and editor of the first Pro Football Encyclopedia William Veeck Sr sports columnist who was hired away to be Chicago Cubs vice president by William Wrigley Jr in 1917 after a series he wrote criticizing the team after the Cubs won the 1918 National League pennant he was promoted to club president Lloyd Wendt editor of the American from 1961 69 editor and publisher of Chicago Today 1969 70 Brand Whitlock reporter for the Herald later mayor of Toledo Ohio and ambassador to Belgium Frank Willard cartoonist 1914 18 creator of Moon Mullins Also John F Kennedy the future U S president worked as a reporter at the Chicago Herald American after serving in the Navy during World War II in 1945 where he covered the United Nations Conference held in San Francisco and the elections that ousted Winston Churchill in 1945 from London The job was lined up by his influential father Joseph P Kennedy In the end TV news brought an end to most afternoon papers but up until the 1970s Chicago had a competitive journalistic scene unmatched by most other American cities five daily newspapers and four wire services in competition and none were more competitive than Chicago s American The American s predecessor and successor newspapers editMorning Record March 13 1893 March 27 1901 originally News Record aka Morning News aka Chicago Daily News Morning Edition beginning July 24 1881 Chicago Times June 1 1861 March 4 1895 Chicago Republican May 30 1865 March 22 1872 Inter Ocean March 25 1872 May 10 1914 Chicago Daily Telegraph March 21 1878 May 9 1881 Morning Herald May 10 1893 March 3 1895 Times Herald March 4 1895 March 26 1901 Chicago American July 4 1900 August 27 1939 Chicago Record Herald March 28 1901 May 10 1914 Chicago Examiner March 3 1907 May 1 1918 Chicago Record Herald amp Interocean May 11 1914 June 1 1914 Chicago Herald June 14 1914 May 1 1918 Herald Examiner May 2 1918 August 26 1939 Herald American August 26 1939 April 5 1953 The Chicago American April 6 1953 September 23 1959 Chicago s New American Sep 23 1959 October 24 1959 purchased by Chicago Tribune Chicago s American October 25 1959 April 27 1969 Chicago Today American April 28 1969 May 23 1970 Chicago Today May 24 1970 September 13 1974See also editWandt v Hearst s Chicago AmericanFootnotes edit 1934 Chicago American March 4 1935 an article about Holodomor Chicago American Now A P Member The San Bernardino Daily Sun San Bernardino California Tuesday 1 November 1932 Volume 39 Section 1 Page 1 Associated Press Dave Zirin After Forty four Years It s Time Brent Musburger Apologized to John Carlos and Tommie Smith The Nation June 4 2012 Accessed September 10 2012 Murray George The Madhouse on Madison Street Chicago Follett 1965 External links editFebruary 1922 front pages from the Chicago American Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chicago American amp oldid 1213591105, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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