fbpx
Wikipedia

Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. As of April 2016, it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. With its 1995 buy-out of long-time rival the Houston Post, the Chronicle became Houston's newspaper of record.

Houston Chronicle
Front page of the Houston Chronicle
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Hearst Communications
PublisherNancy Meyer
EditorMaria Reeve
Founded1901
HeadquartersHouston Chronicle Building, 4747 Southwest Fwy., Houston, Texas 77027
CountryUnited States
Circulation65,084 Average print circulation[1]
ISSN1074-7109
OCLC number30348909
Websitehoustonchronicle.com
chron.com

The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily paper owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation, a privately held multinational corporate media conglomerate with $10 billion in revenues. The paper employs nearly 2,000 people, including approximately 300 journalists, editors, and photographers. The Chronicle has bureaus in Washington, D.C. and Austin. It reports that its web site averages 125 million page views per month.[2]

The publication serves as the "newspaper of record" of the Houston area.[3] Previously headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building at 801 Texas Avenue, Downtown Houston, the Houston Chronicle is now located at 4747 Southwest Freeway.[4]

In addition to its daily print edition, the Chronicle offers Chron.com, a free online-only, ad-supported newspaper covering breaking news, weather, traffic, pop culture, and city life. Houstonchronicle.com, launched in 2012, is a subscriber-only paper that contains everything found in the daily print edition.[5]

History

 
Front page of the first edition of the Houston Chronicle, October 14, 1901

From its inception, the practices and policies of the Houston Chronicle were shaped by strong-willed personalities who were the publishers. The history of the newspaper can be best understood when divided into the eras of these individuals.

1901–1926: Marcellus E. Foster era

The Houston Chronicle was founded in 1901 by a former reporter for the now-defunct Houston Post, Marcellus E. Foster. Foster, who had been covering the Spindletop oil boom for the Post, invested in Spindletop and took $30 of the return on that investment—at the time equivalent to a week's wages—and used it to fund the Chronicle.

The Chronicle's first edition was published on October 14, 1901, and sold for two cents per copy, at a time when most papers sold for five cents each. At the end of its first month in operation, the Chronicle had a circulation of 4,378—roughly one tenth of the population of Houston at the time.[6] Within the first year of operation, the paper purchased and consolidated the Daily Herald.

In 1908, Foster asked Jesse H. Jones, a local businessman and prominent builder, to construct a new office and plant for the paper, "and offered [a] half-interest in the newspaper as a down payment, with twenty years to pay the remainder. Jones agreed, and the resulting Chronicle Building was one of the finest in the South."[6][7]

Under Foster, the paper's circulation grew from about 7,000 in 1901 to 75,000 on weekdays and 85,000 on Sundays by 1926. Foster continued to write columns under the pen name Mefo, and drew much attention in the 1920s for his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). He sold the rest of his interest to Jesse H. Jones on June 26, 1926, and promptly retired.[8]

Goodfellows

 
Illustration of the Houston Chronicle building, 1913[9]

In 1911, city editor George Kepple started Goodfellows.[10] On Christmas Eve 1911, Kepple passed a hat among the Chronicle's reporters to collect money to buy toys for a shoe-shine boy.

Goodfellows continues today through donations made by the newspaper and its readers. It has grown into a citywide program that provides needy children between the ages of two and ten with toys during the winter holidays. In 2003, Goodfellows distributed almost 250,000 toys to more than 100,000 needy children in the Greater Houston area.

1926–1956: Jesse H. Jones era

In 1926, Jesse H. Jones became the sole owner of the paper. He had approached Foster about selling, and Foster had answered, "What will you give me?" Jones described the buyout of Foster as follows:

Wanting to be liberal with Foster if I bought him out, since he had created the paper and originally owned most of the stock, and had made a success of it, I thought for a while before answering and finally asked him how much he owed. He replied, "On real estate and everything about 200,000 dollars." I then said to him that I would give him 300,000 dollars in cash, having in mind that this would pay his debts and give him 100,000 spending money. In addition, I would give him a note for 500,000 secured by a mortgage on the Chronicle Building, the note to be payable (interest and principal) at the rate of 35,000 a year for thirty-five years, which I figured was about his expectancy. I would also pay him 20,000 dollars a year as editor of the paper and 6,000 dollars a year to continue writing the daily front-page column, "MEFO", on the condition that either of us could cancel the editorship and/or the MEFO-column contracts on six months' notice, and that, if I canceled both the column and the editorship, I would give him an additional 6,000 dollars a year for life. I considered the offer substantially more than the Chronicle was worth at the time. No sooner had I finished stating my proposition than he said, "I will take it", and the transaction was completed accordingly.

— pp. 121–122 of Jesse H. Jones: The Man and the Statesman by Bascom N. Timmons, copyright 1956 Henry Holt and Company

In 1937, Jesse H. Jones transferred ownership of the paper to the newly established Houston Endowment Inc. Jones retained the title of publisher until his death in 1956.

According to the Handbook of Texas online, the Chronicle generally represented very conservative political views during the 1950s:

... the Chronicle generally represented the very conservative political interests of the Houston business establishment. As such, it eschewed controversial political topics, such as integration or the impacts of rapid economic growth on life in the city. It did not perform investigative journalism. This resulted in a stodgy newspaper that failed to capture the interests of newcomers to the city. By 1959, circulation of the rival Houston Post had pulled ahead of the Chronicle.[6]

Jones, a lifelong Democrat who organized the Democratic National Convention to be in Houston in 1928, and who spent long years in public service first under the Wilson administration, helping to found the Red Cross during World War I, and later famously under the Roosevelt administration, described the paper's mission in these terms:

I regard the publication of a newspaper as a distinct public trust, and one not to be treated lightly or abused for selfish purposes or to gratify selfish whims. A great daily newspaper can remain a power for good only so long as it is uninfluenced by unworthy motives, and unbought by the desire for gain. A newspaper which can be neither bought nor bullied is the greatest asset of a city or state. Naturally, a newspaper makes mistakes in judgment, as it does in type; but, so long as errors are honestly made, they are not serious when general results are considered.

The success or failure of a particular issue is of little consequence compared with the all-important principle of a fearless and honest newspaper. This I intend the Chronicle shall always be, a newspaper for all the people, democratic in fact and in principle, standing for the greatest good to the greatest number, championing and defending what it believes to be right, and condemning and opposing what it believes to be wrong.

Such have always been the policies of the Chronicle and to such it is now rededicated."[11]

Under Jones' watch, the Chronicle bought KTRH, one of Houston's oldest radio stations, in 1937. In 1954, Jones led a syndicate that signed on Houston's third television station, KTRK-TV.

1956–1965: John T. Jones era

The board of Houston Endowment named John T. Jones, nephew of Jesse H. Jones, as editor of the Chronicle. Houston Endowment president, J. Howard Creekmore, was named publisher. In 1961, John T. Jones hired William P. Steven as editor. Steven had previously been editor of the Tulsa Tribune and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and credited with turning around the declining readership of both papers. One of his innovations was the creation of a regular help column called "Watchem", where ordinary citizens could voice their complaints. The Chicago Tribune later called this column a pioneer and prototype of the modern newspaper "Action Line".[12]

Steven's progressive political philosophy soon created conflict with the very conservative views of the Houston Endowment board, especially when he editorially supported the election of Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic candidate for president. However, more than political philosophy was involved: Robert A. Caro revealed in his biography of Johnson that written assurance of this support from John T. Jones had been the price demanded by Johnson in January 1964 in return for approval of the merger of Houston's National Bank of Commerce, in which Jones had a financial interest, with another Houston bank, the Texas National.[13]

In 1964, the Chronicle purchased the assets of its evening newspaper competitor, the Houston Press,[6] becoming the only evening newspaper in the city. By then, the Chronicle had a circulation of 254,000 – the largest of any paper in Texas. The Atlantic Monthly credited the growth to the changes instigated by Steven.[14]

In the summer of 1965, Jones decided to buy a local television station that was already owned by the Houston Endowment. He resigned from the Houston Endowment board to avoid a conflict of interest, though he remained as publisher of the Chronicle. On September 2, 1965, Jones made a late-night visit to the Steven home, where he broke the news that the Endowment board had ordered him to dismiss Steven. Jones had to comply. On September 3, the paper published a story announcing that Everett Collier was now the new editor.[14]

No mention was made of Steven or the Houston Endowment board. Houston Post staff wrote an article about the change, but top management killed it. Only two weekly papers in Houston mentioned it: Forward Times (which targeted the African-American community) and the Houston Tribune (an ultra-conservative paper). Both papers had rather small circulations and no influence among the city's business community.[14] The two major newspapers in Houston never mentioned Steven for many years thereafter.

1965–1987: J. Howard Creekmore era

John J. Jones left the Chronicle not long after Steven's ouster. J. Howard Creekmore, president of the Houston Endowment, took John Jones' place at the Chronicle. Everett D. Collier replaced Steven as editor. Collier remained in this position until his retirement in 1979.

J. Howard Creekmore was born in Abilene, Texas, in 1905. His parents died while he was young, so he was raised by his stepmother. The family moved to Houston in 1920. Howard enrolled in Rice Institute, where he graduated with degrees in history and English. After graduation, he went to work for Jesse Jones as a bookkeeper. Jones took an interest in the young man's career, and put him through law school. Creekmore passed the bar exam in 1932 and returned to work for Jones. He held several positions in the Jones business empire. In 1959, he was named to the board of Houston Endowment, and was promoted to president of the board in 1964.[15]

By 1965, Creekmore had persuaded other directors of Houston Endowment to sell several business properties, including the Chronicle. Houston oilman John Mecom offered $85 million for the newspaper, its building, a 30 percent interest in Texas National Bank of Commerce, and the historic Rice Hotel. Early in 1966, Mecom encountered problems raising the additional cash to complete the transaction. He then began lining up potential buyers for the newspaper, which included non-Houstonians such as Sam Newhouse, Otis Chandler and the Scripps-Howard organization. Creekmore strongly believed that local persons should own the paper. He insisted that Mecom pay the $84 million debt immediately in cash. Mecom cancelled his purchase agreement.[16]

In 1968, the Chronicle set a Texas newspaper circulation record. In 1981, the business pages—which until then had been combined with sports—became its own section of the newspaper. Creekmore remained as publisher until Houston Endowment sold the paper to the Hearst Corporation.

1987–present: Hearst Corporation era

On May 1, 1987, the Hearst Corporation purchased the Houston Chronicle from Houston Endowment for $415 million.[17] Richard J. V. Johnson, who had joined the paper as a copy editor in 1956, and worked up to executive vice president in 1972, and president in 1973, remained as chairman and publisher until he retired on April 1, 2002.[18] He was succeeded by Jack Sweeney.

In 1994, the Chronicle switched to being a morning-only paper. With the demise of the Houston Post on April 18 the next year, the Chronicle became Houston's sole major daily newspaper.

On October 18, 2008, the paper endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, the first Democrat to be endorsed by the newspaper since 1964, when it endorsed Texan Lyndon B. Johnson.[19][20] It endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012,[21] but endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016,[22] and Joe Biden in 2020.[23]

Locally, the Chronicle endorsed Wendy Davis for governor in 2014,[24] and Sylvester Turner for mayor in 2015.[25] Additionally, the Chronicle initially endorsed Jeb Bush for the 2016[26] Republican primary, but did not endorse any other candidate after he dropped out.[27]

2018 source-fabrication scandal

In September 2018, then-executive editor Nancy Barnes released a statement on the Chronicle's website notifying readers for the first time that the paper's Austin bureau chief, Mike Ward, had resigned and was the subject of an internal investigation after questions were raised by a staff member over fabricating sources.[28] Barnes opted not to disclose the source-fabrication or Ward's resignation to Chronicle readers and the general public until she was contacted by reporters at other outlets pursuing a story about the Chronicle's scandal—one full week after Ward had resigned. By the time Barnes informed the public about what would turn into the biggest journalism scandal of 2018, it had already become one of the worst kept secrets in Austin among the capitol press corps that writes about Texas politicians. The scandal had also become popular fodder among staffers who work at the capital. Within 45 minutes of being contacted by a freelance reporter for the Texas Observer, Barnes hastily issued a press release announcing that one of her reporters bad been caught making up sources over the course of several years. Barnes never explained why the Chronicle decided against being transparent to it readers immediately, instead of waiting for word to leak to the extent that other news outlets started planning stories.[citation needed]

The sources being questioned in Ward's reporting were the product of "man-on-the-street" interviews from a story dealing with rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Harvey. Barnes said Houston Chronicle researchers had problems finding a number of sources quoted in Ward's story, so the newspaper hired investigative journalist David Wood, a Pulitzer Prize winner.[29]

On Nov. 8, 2018, one day before Barnes left for a position as senior vice president of news at National Public Radio, the Houston Chronicle released some of Wood's findings. The paper announced it was retracting a total of eight stories.[30]

Barnes later went on to tell Columbia Journalism Review that the widespread fabrication apparent in Ward's articles was unprecedented, in her experience: "I've been an editor a long time and I have never seen anything like this, period.".[31] None of the Chronicle's editors responsible for overseeing Ward's stories—including then-managing editor Vernon Loeb—assumed any responsibility for the fact that one of their reporters had been cheating for years under their noses. In many instances over the course of years, Loeb worked directly with Ward and even rewrote his stories for final publication.

The Austin American Statesman, where Ward worked as a reporter for 25 years covering the state's political class prior to joining the Houston Chronicle in 2014, also conducted an internal review of "his final years" of work at the paper.[32]

A copy of the original story that led to the investigation has been removed from the Chronicle's website. But Austin-based NPR affiliate KUT interviewed Ward for the radio in the days after the story ran and still has the story posted on its website, despite the fact that the sources used in Ward's reporting are suspected of being fake.[33]

Headquarters

4747 Southwest Freeway

 
The current Houston Chronicle headquarters, formerly the Houston Post headquarters

On July 21, 2014, the Chronicle announced that its Downtown employees were moving to the 610 Loop campus,[34] at the intersection of the 610 Loop and U.S. Route 59/I-69 (Southwest Freeway).[35]

The facility, previously used as the Houston Post headquarters, will have a total of seven buildings with a total of over 440,000 square feet (41,000 m2) of space. The original building is a 1970s four story "New Brutalist" building.[36]

As of 2016 the building housed the Chronicle Production Department,[36] as well as the offices of the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Houston.[35]

801 Texas Avenue

 
Houston Chronicle headquarters in Downtown Houston before its demolition

The Houston Chronicle building[citation needed] in Downtown Houston was the headquarters of the Houston Chronicle.[37] The facility included a loading dock, office space, a press room, and production areas. It had ten stories above ground and three stories below ground. The printing presses used by the newspaper spanned three stories.[38] The presses were two stories below ground and one above. In the Downtown facility, the presses there were decommissioned in the late 2000s.[citation needed] The newsroom within the facility had bull-pen style offices with a few private cubicles and offices on the edges.[39] The facility was connected to the downtown Houston tunnel system.[40] Turner wrote that "in recent decades," 801 Texas Avenue "offered viewers an architectural visage of unadorned boxiness.... An accretion of five buildings made into one, it featured a maze of corridors, cul-de-sacs and steps that seemed to spring on strollers at the most unexpected times."[36]

The facility, which was 106 years old in 2016, was originally four separate structures, which were joined together to make one building.[41] Jesse H. Jones erected the first Chronicle building, a narrow and long structure clad in granite, on the corner of Travis Street and Texas Avenue in 1910. The second building, the Majestic Theater, was built west of the Chronicle building. The second building built by Jones opened in 1910. In 1918, the third Jones building, Milam Building, opened west of the theater. An annex was built on the north side of the main building in 1938 and gained a fifth floor in the 1960s. The fifth building was a production plant, built north of the original four buildings. They were joined together in a major renovation and modernisation project, wjhich was completed in the late 1960s.[36]

On April 25, 2017, it was imploded and reduced to rubble.[42] The site is now occupied by the Texas Tower.

People

Awards

  • 2000: Houston's M. D. Anderson Cancer Center gave the Chronicle its Joseph T. Ainsworth Volunteer Community Award for making the newspaper available at a "greatly reduced rate" to the hospital and its patients.[43]
  • 2002: Holocaust Museum Houston awarded the Chronicle its "Guardian of the Human spirit" award. The presenter, Janis Goldstein, said the award was given "because the Houston Chronicle embraces the causes most dear to it with a depth and scope that goes well beyond what is expected." Also, that "the Chronicle gives of itself to build a community that will embrace tolerance, understanding, and diversity and will speak out against prejudice and unfairness of any kind."[44]

Individual awards

  • 1963: William Porterfield won an Ernie Pyle Award.[14]
  • 1989–1997: Carlos Antonio Rios, a Chronicle photographer since 1978, has repeatedly been honored for his photojournalism by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.[45]
  • 2003: James Howard Gibbons received third place in the "Hearst Distinguished Journalism Awards", an internal contest held between Hearst's newspapers, for his editorial piece "When Will the U.S. Liberate Texas?"[46]
  • Leon Hale, a long-time columnist and author of 11 books, recently received the Lon Tinkle Award for Excellence Sustained Throughout a Career from the Texas Institute of Letters, of which Hale is a member.[47]
  • Jason Witmer won first place in the 48 Hour–Web category of the National Press Photographers Association's annual Best of Photojournalism in 2010 for his piece, "Too Manly for Quilt Show".[48] Whitmer won second place in the News Feature–Web category for "Suddenly homeless in Houston".[49]

Pulitzer Prize

The newspaper and its staff have several times been Pulitzer finalists:

  • Dudley Althaus – 1992 finalist in international reporting: "For his articles on the causes of the cholera epidemic in Peru and Mexico."[51]
  • Tony Freemantle – 1997 finalist in international reporting: "For his reporting from Rwanda, South Africa, El Salvador and Guatemala on why crimes against humanity go unstopped and unpunished."[52]
  • Nick Anderson – 2007 finalist for editorial cartooning: "For his pungent cartoons on an array of issues, and for his bold use of animation."[53] Anderson won the Pulitzer in 2005 when working for The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.[54]
  • Staff – 2009 finalist for breaking news coverage: "For taking full advantage of online technology and its newsroom expertise to become a lifeline to the city when Hurricane Ike struck, providing vital minute-by-minute updates on the storm, its flood surge and its aftermath."[55]
  • Staff - 2017 finalist for public service. "For exposing the grave injustice of arbitrary cost-cutting by the State of Texas that denied tutoring, counseling and other vital special education services to families, hindering the futures of tens of thousands of children.[56]
  • Joe Holley and Evan Mintz — 2017 finalist for editorial writing. "For editorials on gun laws, gun culture and gun tragedies that combined wit, eloquence and moral power in a fine brew of commonsense argumentation."[57]
  • Staff - 2018 finalist for breaking news. "For comprehensive and dynamic coverage of Hurricane Harvey that captured real-time developments of the unprecedented scale of the disaster and provided crucial information to its community during the storm and its aftermath."[58]

Other notable people

Other publications

In April 2004 the Houston Chronicle began carrying a Spanish-language supplement, the entertainment magazine La Vibra. La Vibra caters to speakers of Spanish and bilingual English-Spanish speakers, and is mainly distributed in Hispanic neighborhoods. In December 2004 the Chronicle acquired the Spanish-language newspaper La Voz de Houston.[35]

Criticism

Robert Jensen on the September 11 attacks

In the weeks following the September 11 attacks, the Houston Chronicle published a series of opinion articles by University of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen that asserted the United States was "just as guilty" as the hijackers in committing acts of violence and compared that attack with the history of U.S. attacks on civilians in other countries. The opinion piece resulted in hundreds of angry letters to the editor and reportedly over 4,000 angry responses to Jensen.[59]

Among them were claims of insensitivity against the newspaper and of giving an unduly large audience to a position characterized as being extremist. University of Texas president Larry Faulkner issued a response denouncing Jensen's as "a fountain of undiluted foolishness on issues of public policy", noting "[h]e is not speaking in the University's name and may not speak in its name."[60]

Light rail controversy[clarification needed]

The document[which?] was online for only an hour, but long enough to be viewed by some readers. Soon after, the Houston Review, a conservative newspaper published by students at the University of Houston, printed the memo's full text and an accompanying commentary that criticized the paper.[61][62]

Harris County District Attorney Rosenthal later dismissed the Chronicle's complaint, finding it without merit on the grounds that the statute did not apply. Rosenthal's involvement in the probe itself came under fire by the Houston Press, which in editorials questioned whether Rosenthal was too close to TTM: from 2000 to 2004, Rosenthal accepted some $30,000 in donations from known TTM supporters.[63]

Sandoval family interview

In early 2004, Chronicle reporter Lucas Wall interviewed the family of Leroy Sandoval, a Marine from Houston who was killed in Iraq. After the article appeared, Sandoval's stepfather and sister called into Houston talk radio station KSEV and said that a sentence alleging "President Bush's failure to find weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq misrepresented their views on the war and President George W. Bush, that Wall had pressured them for a quotation that criticized Bush, and that the line alleging Bush's "failure" was included against the wishes of the family.[64]

A dispute ensued between KSEV radio show host/owner Dan Patrick and an assistant managing editor at the Chronicle. The incident prompted Patrick to join the call for a boycott of the paper.[65] The story was also picked up by the local Houston television stations and, a week later, the O'Reilly Factor. Eventually, Chronicle publisher Jack Sweeney contacted the Sandoval family to apologize.[65]

Purchase of Houston Post assets

Internal memos obtained via FOIA from the Justice Department antitrust attorneys who investigated the closing of the Houston Post said the Chronicle's parent organization struck a deal to buy the Post six months before it closed. The memos, first obtained by the alternative paper the Houston Press, say the Chronicle's conglomerate and the Post "reached an agreement in October, 1994, for the sale of Houston Post Co.'s assets for approximately $120 million."[66]

Tom DeLay poll

In January 2006 the Chronicle hired Richard Murray of the University of Houston to conduct an election survey in the district of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, in light of his 2005 indictment by District Attorney Ronnie Earle for alleged campaign money violations. The Chronicle said that its poll showed "severely eroded support for U.S. Rep Tom DeLay in his district, most notably among Republicans who have voted for him before."[67]

Former Texas Secretary of State Jack Rains contacted the Chronicle's James Howard Gibbons, alleging that the poll appeared to incorrectly count non-Republican Primary voters in its sample. Rains also asserted that Murray had a conflict of interest in the poll, as Murray's son Keir was a political consultant working for Nick Lampson, DeLay's Democratic challenger in 2006.[68]

Availability of Houston Post articles

Some Houston Post articles had been made available in the archives of the Houston Chronicle website, but by 2005 they were removed. The Houston Chronicle online editor Mike Read said that the Houston Chronicle decided to remove Houston Post articles from the website after the 2001 United States Supreme Court New York Times Co. v. Tasini decision; the newspaper originally planned to filter articles not allowed by the decision and to post articles that were not prohibited by the decision. The Houston Chronicle decided not to post or re-post any more Houston Post articles because of difficulties in complying with the New York Times Co. v. Tasini decision with the resources that were available to the newspaper.[69]

People interested in reading Houston Post articles may view them on microfilm. The Houston Public Library has the newspaper on microfilm from 1880 to 1995 and the Houston Post Index from 1976 to 1994. The 1880–1900 microfilm is in the Texas and Local History Department of the Julia Ideson Building, while 1900–1995 is in the Jesse H. Jones Building, the main building of the Central Library. In addition, the M.D. Anderson Library at the University of Houston has the Houston Post available on microfilm from 1880 to 1995, and the Houston Post Index from 1976 to 1979 and from 1987 to 1994.[69]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Turvill, William (June 24, 2022). "Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Print sales fall another 12% in 2022". Press Gazette. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  2. ^ "Web Services". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
  3. ^ Stolzenberg, Lisa, and Stewart J. D'Alessio (criminal justice professors from Florida International University School of Policy and Management). "Capital punishment, execution publicity and murder in Houston, Texas". (.) Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Northwestern University School of Law, January 1, 2004. Volume 94, Issue 2 (Winter), Article 4. Retrieved on May 15, 2015. Posted by Gale Group/Cengage Learning. pp. 351–380. JSTOR 3491373. Available at Thefreelibrary. CITED: p. 364. "The Houston Chronicle is the newspaper of record for Houston and has the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the city."
  4. ^ "Houston Chronicle". Hearst Corporation. Retrieved on February 7, 2016. "4747 Southwest Fwy. Houston, TX 77027"
  5. ^ O'Laughlin, John (November 18, 2012). "Letter to our readers announcing HoustonChronicle.com". Chron. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d The Handbook of Texas Online. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  7. ^ Timmons, Bascom Nolly (1956). Jesse H. Jones, the Man and the Statesman. London: Greenwood Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0-8371-7925-4.
  8. ^ Handbook of Texas Online. "Foster, Marcellus Elliot (1870–1942)". Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  9. ^ Gonzales, J. R. "Another way to get your news from the Chronicle." Houston Chronicle. October 14, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2010. The image is not from the J. R. Gonzalez article, but the picture in the Gonzales article depicts the same building that is seen in the illustration.
  10. ^ "Home". Houston Chronicle.
  11. ^ Jesse H. Jones, The Man and the Statesman, pp. 122–123
  12. ^ Heise, Kenan. "W. P. Steven, Ex-newspaper Executive." Chicago Tribune. August 11, 1991. Retrieved October 5, 2011.[1]
  13. ^ Caro 2012, pp. 523–527.
  14. ^ a b c d Bagdikian, Ben H. theatlantic.com "Houston's Shackled Press". Atlantic Monthly. August 1966. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
  15. ^ Ackerman, Todd. "At the helm: Chronicle publishers." Houston Chronicle. October 12, 2001. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
  16. ^ Time. “Newspapers: A Deal Done In” June 17, 1966. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
  17. ^ Houston Chronicle Archives, "Houston Chronicle purchase completed by Hearst Corp." May 1, 1987.
  18. ^ "Richard J.V. Johnson: September 22, 1930 – January 14, 2006". American Advertising Federation Houston. January 19, 2006. Retrieved December 2, 2009.
  19. ^ "The presidential ticket". Houston Chronicle. October 18, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  20. ^ Dunham, Richard (October 19, 2008). "Houston Chronicle endorses Obama over McCain – the first time the Chron has picked a Democrat since LBJ in 1964". Houston Chronicle (Blog). Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  21. ^ "Romney for president". Houston Chronicle. October 21, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  22. ^ "These are unsettling times that require a steady hand". Houston Chronicle. July 29, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  23. ^ "We recommend Joe Biden for president". Houston Chronicle. October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  24. ^ Caruba, Lauren (November 4, 2014). "A Handy Guide to the Major Texas Newspaper Endorsements". Texas Monthly. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  25. ^ "Sylvester Turner for mayor". Houston Chronicle. October 11, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  26. ^ "For Bush". Houston Chronicle. February 12, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  27. ^ "2016 Texas Primary Endorsements". Houston Chronicle. February 29, 2016. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  28. ^ "Houston Chronicle reporter accused of faking sources resigns". AP NEWS. September 11, 2018.
  29. ^ "David Wood of The Huffington Post". Pulitzer.
  30. ^ "A note from the editor of the Houston Chronicle". Houston Chronicle.
  31. ^ "Broken trust at the Houston Chronicle". Columbia Journalism Review.
  32. ^ "Former Statesman reporter suspected of fabricating sources at Houston paper". Austin American Statesman.
  33. ^ "For Most Affected By Harvey, Anger At Government Has Subsided". KUT.
  34. ^ Pulsinelli, Olivia (July 21, 2014). "Houston Chronicle to move downtown employees to Southwest Freeway facility". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  35. ^ a b c Moreno, Jenalia (December 3, 2004). "Chronicle buys La Voz Spanish newspaper". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  36. ^ a b c d Turner, Allan (February 13, 2016). "The Chronicle leaves the ghosts behind at 801 Texas". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 26, 2016. "The new complex, formerly the home of the Houston Post, will provide more than 440,000 square feet in seven buildings.[...]The plant at 4747 Southwest Freeway was acquired after the Post closed in 1995, and has for a number of years been the site of the Chronicle's production departments.
  37. ^ "HOUSTON CHRONICLE." Hearst Corporation. Retrieved May 5, 2013. "801 Texas Avenue Houston, TX 77002"
  38. ^ . Houston Chronicle Tour. Houston Chronicle, Inc. Archived from the original on June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 27, 2011. ()
  39. ^ . Houston Chronicle Tour. Houston Chronicle, Inc. Archived from the original on April 16, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2011. ()
  40. ^ Murphy, Bill (August 18, 2008). "Downtown Houston tunnels unkind to wheelchair users". Chron.com. Retrieved July 22, 2021. At the northern end of today's underground maze, the tunnels provide access to the Chase Tower, the Houston Chronicle and 717 Texas Avenue (formerly known as the Calpine Tower).
  41. ^ . Houston Chronicle Tour. Houston Chronicle, Inc. Archived from the original on February 3, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  42. ^ Hlavaty, Craig (April 25, 2017). "The old Houston Chronicle building is officially gone". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  43. ^ "Mdanderson.org".
  44. ^ "Holocaust Museum Houston". hmh.org.
  45. ^ "New.latinosandmedia.org".
  46. ^ Hearstcorp.com
  47. ^ "Winedale - Leon Hale". www.winedalebooks.com.
  48. ^ BOP.nppa.org
  49. ^ BOP.nppa.org
  50. ^ "2015 Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org.
  51. ^ "1992 Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org.
  52. ^ "1997 Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org.
  53. ^ "2007 Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org.
  54. ^ "2005 Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org.
  55. ^ "2009 Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org.
  56. ^ "Finalist: Houston Chronicle".
  57. ^ "Finalist: Joe Holley and Evan Mintz of Houston Chronicle".
  58. ^ "Finalist: Staff of Houston Chronicle". www.pulitzer.org.
  59. ^ Jensen, Robert. "Four months later, no regrets for writing against U.S. policy." Houston Chronicle. January 20, 2002. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  60. ^ CWRL.texas.edu
  61. ^ . December 4, 2002. Archived from the original on December 4, 2002.
  62. ^ Connelly, Richard. "Trainspotting." Houston Press. September 11, 2003. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  63. ^ Ties That Bind? The D.A. shares something with those he's supposed to be probing: campaign support, Houston Press, January 15, 2004
  64. ^ "PubliusTX.net". www.publiustx.net.
  65. ^ a b Abrahams, Tom. "." KTRK-TV. April 4, 2004. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  66. ^ Reclaimthemedia.org
  67. ^ Mack, Kristen. "Troubles erode support for DeLay in 22nd District." Houston Chronicle. January 14, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
  68. ^ Lonestartimes.com
  69. ^ a b Newkirk, Jim. "Houston Post archives permanently unavailable online, maybe, likely, really..." Houston Chronicle. July 1, 2005. Retrieved July 3, 2010.

Sources

External links

  • Official website
  • Chron.com
  • Houston Chronicle: History of the Largest Newspaper in Texas

houston, chronicle, largest, daily, newspaper, houston, texas, united, states, april, 2016, update, third, largest, newspaper, sunday, circulation, united, states, behind, only, york, times, angeles, times, with, 1995, long, time, rival, houston, post, chronic. The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Houston Texas United States As of April 2016 update it is the third largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States behind only The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times With its 1995 buy out of long time rival the Houston Post the Chronicle became Houston s newspaper of record Houston ChronicleFront page of the Houston ChronicleTypeDaily newspaperFormatBroadsheetOwner s Hearst CommunicationsPublisherNancy MeyerEditorMaria ReeveFounded1901HeadquartersHouston Chronicle Building 4747 Southwest Fwy Houston Texas 77027CountryUnited StatesCirculation65 084 Average print circulation 1 ISSN1074 7109OCLC number30348909Websitehoustonchronicle wbr com chron wbr comMedia of the United StatesList of newspapersThe Houston Chronicle is the largest daily paper owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation a privately held multinational corporate media conglomerate with 10 billion in revenues The paper employs nearly 2 000 people including approximately 300 journalists editors and photographers The Chronicle has bureaus in Washington D C and Austin It reports that its web site averages 125 million page views per month 2 The publication serves as the newspaper of record of the Houston area 3 Previously headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building at 801 Texas Avenue Downtown Houston the Houston Chronicle is now located at 4747 Southwest Freeway 4 In addition to its daily print edition the Chronicle offers Chron com a free online only ad supported newspaper covering breaking news weather traffic pop culture and city life Houstonchronicle com launched in 2012 is a subscriber only paper that contains everything found in the daily print edition 5 Contents 1 History 1 1 1901 1926 Marcellus E Foster era 1 2 Goodfellows 1 3 1926 1956 Jesse H Jones era 1 4 1956 1965 John T Jones era 1 5 1965 1987 J Howard Creekmore era 1 6 1987 present Hearst Corporation era 1 7 2018 source fabrication scandal 2 Headquarters 2 1 4747 Southwest Freeway 2 2 801 Texas Avenue 3 People 3 1 Awards 3 2 Individual awards 3 3 Pulitzer Prize 3 4 Other notable people 4 Other publications 5 Criticism 5 1 Robert Jensen on the September 11 attacks 5 2 Light rail controversy clarification needed 5 3 Sandoval family interview 5 4 Purchase of Houston Post assets 5 5 Tom DeLay poll 6 Availability of Houston Post articles 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Citations 8 2 Sources 9 External linksHistory Edit Front page of the first edition of the Houston Chronicle October 14 1901 From its inception the practices and policies of the Houston Chronicle were shaped by strong willed personalities who were the publishers The history of the newspaper can be best understood when divided into the eras of these individuals 1901 1926 Marcellus E Foster era Edit The Houston Chronicle was founded in 1901 by a former reporter for the now defunct Houston Post Marcellus E Foster Foster who had been covering the Spindletop oil boom for the Post invested in Spindletop and took 30 of the return on that investment at the time equivalent to a week s wages and used it to fund the Chronicle The Chronicle s first edition was published on October 14 1901 and sold for two cents per copy at a time when most papers sold for five cents each At the end of its first month in operation the Chronicle had a circulation of 4 378 roughly one tenth of the population of Houston at the time 6 Within the first year of operation the paper purchased and consolidated the Daily Herald In 1908 Foster asked Jesse H Jones a local businessman and prominent builder to construct a new office and plant for the paper and offered a half interest in the newspaper as a down payment with twenty years to pay the remainder Jones agreed and the resulting Chronicle Building was one of the finest in the South 6 7 Under Foster the paper s circulation grew from about 7 000 in 1901 to 75 000 on weekdays and 85 000 on Sundays by 1926 Foster continued to write columns under the pen name Mefo and drew much attention in the 1920s for his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan KKK He sold the rest of his interest to Jesse H Jones on June 26 1926 and promptly retired 8 Goodfellows Edit Illustration of the Houston Chronicle building 1913 9 In 1911 city editor George Kepple started Goodfellows 10 On Christmas Eve 1911 Kepple passed a hat among the Chronicle s reporters to collect money to buy toys for a shoe shine boy Goodfellows continues today through donations made by the newspaper and its readers It has grown into a citywide program that provides needy children between the ages of two and ten with toys during the winter holidays In 2003 Goodfellows distributed almost 250 000 toys to more than 100 000 needy children in the Greater Houston area 1926 1956 Jesse H Jones era Edit In 1926 Jesse H Jones became the sole owner of the paper He had approached Foster about selling and Foster had answered What will you give me Jones described the buyout of Foster as follows Wanting to be liberal with Foster if I bought him out since he had created the paper and originally owned most of the stock and had made a success of it I thought for a while before answering and finally asked him how much he owed He replied On real estate and everything about 200 000 dollars I then said to him that I would give him 300 000 dollars in cash having in mind that this would pay his debts and give him 100 000 spending money In addition I would give him a note for 500 000 secured by a mortgage on the Chronicle Building the note to be payable interest and principal at the rate of 35 000 a year for thirty five years which I figured was about his expectancy I would also pay him 20 000 dollars a year as editor of the paper and 6 000 dollars a year to continue writing the daily front page column MEFO on the condition that either of us could cancel the editorship and or the MEFO column contracts on six months notice and that if I canceled both the column and the editorship I would give him an additional 6 000 dollars a year for life I considered the offer substantially more than the Chronicle was worth at the time No sooner had I finished stating my proposition than he said I will take it and the transaction was completed accordingly pp 121 122 of Jesse H Jones The Man and the Statesman by Bascom N Timmons copyright 1956 Henry Holt and Company In 1937 Jesse H Jones transferred ownership of the paper to the newly established Houston Endowment Inc Jones retained the title of publisher until his death in 1956 According to the Handbook of Texas online the Chronicle generally represented very conservative political views during the 1950s the Chronicle generally represented the very conservative political interests of the Houston business establishment As such it eschewed controversial political topics such as integration or the impacts of rapid economic growth on life in the city It did not perform investigative journalism This resulted in a stodgy newspaper that failed to capture the interests of newcomers to the city By 1959 circulation of the rival Houston Post had pulled ahead of the Chronicle 6 Jones a lifelong Democrat who organized the Democratic National Convention to be in Houston in 1928 and who spent long years in public service first under the Wilson administration helping to found the Red Cross during World War I and later famously under the Roosevelt administration described the paper s mission in these terms I regard the publication of a newspaper as a distinct public trust and one not to be treated lightly or abused for selfish purposes or to gratify selfish whims A great daily newspaper can remain a power for good only so long as it is uninfluenced by unworthy motives and unbought by the desire for gain A newspaper which can be neither bought nor bullied is the greatest asset of a city or state Naturally a newspaper makes mistakes in judgment as it does in type but so long as errors are honestly made they are not serious when general results are considered The success or failure of a particular issue is of little consequence compared with the all important principle of a fearless and honest newspaper This I intend the Chronicle shall always be a newspaper for all the people democratic in fact and in principle standing for the greatest good to the greatest number championing and defending what it believes to be right and condemning and opposing what it believes to be wrong Such have always been the policies of the Chronicle and to such it is now rededicated 11 Under Jones watch the Chronicle bought KTRH one of Houston s oldest radio stations in 1937 In 1954 Jones led a syndicate that signed on Houston s third television station KTRK TV 1956 1965 John T Jones era Edit The board of Houston Endowment named John T Jones nephew of Jesse H Jones as editor of the Chronicle Houston Endowment president J Howard Creekmore was named publisher In 1961 John T Jones hired William P Steven as editor Steven had previously been editor of the Tulsa Tribune and the Minneapolis Star Tribune and credited with turning around the declining readership of both papers One of his innovations was the creation of a regular help column called Watchem where ordinary citizens could voice their complaints The Chicago Tribune later called this column a pioneer and prototype of the modern newspaper Action Line 12 Steven s progressive political philosophy soon created conflict with the very conservative views of the Houston Endowment board especially when he editorially supported the election of Lyndon B Johnson the Democratic candidate for president However more than political philosophy was involved Robert A Caro revealed in his biography of Johnson that written assurance of this support from John T Jones had been the price demanded by Johnson in January 1964 in return for approval of the merger of Houston s National Bank of Commerce in which Jones had a financial interest with another Houston bank the Texas National 13 In 1964 the Chronicle purchased the assets of its evening newspaper competitor the Houston Press 6 becoming the only evening newspaper in the city By then the Chronicle had a circulation of 254 000 the largest of any paper in Texas The Atlantic Monthly credited the growth to the changes instigated by Steven 14 In the summer of 1965 Jones decided to buy a local television station that was already owned by the Houston Endowment He resigned from the Houston Endowment board to avoid a conflict of interest though he remained as publisher of the Chronicle On September 2 1965 Jones made a late night visit to the Steven home where he broke the news that the Endowment board had ordered him to dismiss Steven Jones had to comply On September 3 the paper published a story announcing that Everett Collier was now the new editor 14 No mention was made of Steven or the Houston Endowment board Houston Post staff wrote an article about the change but top management killed it Only two weekly papers in Houston mentioned it Forward Times which targeted the African American community and the Houston Tribune an ultra conservative paper Both papers had rather small circulations and no influence among the city s business community 14 The two major newspapers in Houston never mentioned Steven for many years thereafter 1965 1987 J Howard Creekmore era Edit John J Jones left the Chronicle not long after Steven s ouster J Howard Creekmore president of the Houston Endowment took John Jones place at the Chronicle Everett D Collier replaced Steven as editor Collier remained in this position until his retirement in 1979 J Howard Creekmore was born in Abilene Texas in 1905 His parents died while he was young so he was raised by his stepmother The family moved to Houston in 1920 Howard enrolled in Rice Institute where he graduated with degrees in history and English After graduation he went to work for Jesse Jones as a bookkeeper Jones took an interest in the young man s career and put him through law school Creekmore passed the bar exam in 1932 and returned to work for Jones He held several positions in the Jones business empire In 1959 he was named to the board of Houston Endowment and was promoted to president of the board in 1964 15 By 1965 Creekmore had persuaded other directors of Houston Endowment to sell several business properties including the Chronicle Houston oilman John Mecom offered 85 million for the newspaper its building a 30 percent interest in Texas National Bank of Commerce and the historic Rice Hotel Early in 1966 Mecom encountered problems raising the additional cash to complete the transaction He then began lining up potential buyers for the newspaper which included non Houstonians such as Sam Newhouse Otis Chandler and the Scripps Howard organization Creekmore strongly believed that local persons should own the paper He insisted that Mecom pay the 84 million debt immediately in cash Mecom cancelled his purchase agreement 16 In 1968 the Chronicle set a Texas newspaper circulation record In 1981 the business pages which until then had been combined with sports became its own section of the newspaper Creekmore remained as publisher until Houston Endowment sold the paper to the Hearst Corporation 1987 present Hearst Corporation era Edit On May 1 1987 the Hearst Corporation purchased the Houston Chronicle from Houston Endowment for 415 million 17 Richard J V Johnson who had joined the paper as a copy editor in 1956 and worked up to executive vice president in 1972 and president in 1973 remained as chairman and publisher until he retired on April 1 2002 18 He was succeeded by Jack Sweeney In 1994 the Chronicle switched to being a morning only paper With the demise of the Houston Post on April 18 the next year the Chronicle became Houston s sole major daily newspaper On October 18 2008 the paper endorsed Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States in the 2008 U S Presidential Election the first Democrat to be endorsed by the newspaper since 1964 when it endorsed Texan Lyndon B Johnson 19 20 It endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012 21 but endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 22 and Joe Biden in 2020 23 Locally the Chronicle endorsed Wendy Davis for governor in 2014 24 and Sylvester Turner for mayor in 2015 25 Additionally the Chronicle initially endorsed Jeb Bush for the 2016 26 Republican primary but did not endorse any other candidate after he dropped out 27 2018 source fabrication scandal Edit In September 2018 then executive editor Nancy Barnes released a statement on the Chronicle s website notifying readers for the first time that the paper s Austin bureau chief Mike Ward had resigned and was the subject of an internal investigation after questions were raised by a staff member over fabricating sources 28 Barnes opted not to disclose the source fabrication or Ward s resignation to Chronicle readers and the general public until she was contacted by reporters at other outlets pursuing a story about the Chronicle s scandal one full week after Ward had resigned By the time Barnes informed the public about what would turn into the biggest journalism scandal of 2018 it had already become one of the worst kept secrets in Austin among the capitol press corps that writes about Texas politicians The scandal had also become popular fodder among staffers who work at the capital Within 45 minutes of being contacted by a freelance reporter for the Texas Observer Barnes hastily issued a press release announcing that one of her reporters bad been caught making up sources over the course of several years Barnes never explained why the Chronicle decided against being transparent to it readers immediately instead of waiting for word to leak to the extent that other news outlets started planning stories citation needed The sources being questioned in Ward s reporting were the product of man on the street interviews from a story dealing with rebuilding efforts following Hurricane Harvey Barnes said Houston Chronicle researchers had problems finding a number of sources quoted in Ward s story so the newspaper hired investigative journalist David Wood a Pulitzer Prize winner 29 On Nov 8 2018 one day before Barnes left for a position as senior vice president of news at National Public Radio the Houston Chronicle released some of Wood s findings The paper announced it was retracting a total of eight stories 30 Barnes later went on to tell Columbia Journalism Review that the widespread fabrication apparent in Ward s articles was unprecedented in her experience I ve been an editor a long time and I have never seen anything like this period 31 None of the Chronicle s editors responsible for overseeing Ward s stories including then managing editor Vernon Loeb assumed any responsibility for the fact that one of their reporters had been cheating for years under their noses In many instances over the course of years Loeb worked directly with Ward and even rewrote his stories for final publication The Austin American Statesman where Ward worked as a reporter for 25 years covering the state s political class prior to joining the Houston Chronicle in 2014 also conducted an internal review of his final years of work at the paper 32 A copy of the original story that led to the investigation has been removed from the Chronicle s website But Austin based NPR affiliate KUT interviewed Ward for the radio in the days after the story ran and still has the story posted on its website despite the fact that the sources used in Ward s reporting are suspected of being fake 33 Headquarters Edit4747 Southwest Freeway Edit The current Houston Chronicle headquarters formerly the Houston Post headquarters On July 21 2014 the Chronicle announced that its Downtown employees were moving to the 610 Loop campus 34 at the intersection of the 610 Loop and U S Route 59 I 69 Southwest Freeway 35 The facility previously used as the Houston Post headquarters will have a total of seven buildings with a total of over 440 000 square feet 41 000 m2 of space The original building is a 1970s four story New Brutalist building 36 As of 2016 the building housed the Chronicle Production Department 36 as well as the offices of the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Houston 35 801 Texas Avenue Edit Houston Chronicle headquarters in Downtown Houston before its demolition The Houston Chronicle building citation needed in Downtown Houston was the headquarters of the Houston Chronicle 37 The facility included a loading dock office space a press room and production areas It had ten stories above ground and three stories below ground The printing presses used by the newspaper spanned three stories 38 The presses were two stories below ground and one above In the Downtown facility the presses there were decommissioned in the late 2000s citation needed The newsroom within the facility had bull pen style offices with a few private cubicles and offices on the edges 39 The facility was connected to the downtown Houston tunnel system 40 Turner wrote that in recent decades 801 Texas Avenue offered viewers an architectural visage of unadorned boxiness An accretion of five buildings made into one it featured a maze of corridors cul de sacs and steps that seemed to spring on strollers at the most unexpected times 36 The facility which was 106 years old in 2016 was originally four separate structures which were joined together to make one building 41 Jesse H Jones erected the first Chronicle building a narrow and long structure clad in granite on the corner of Travis Street and Texas Avenue in 1910 The second building the Majestic Theater was built west of the Chronicle building The second building built by Jones opened in 1910 In 1918 the third Jones building Milam Building opened west of the theater An annex was built on the north side of the main building in 1938 and gained a fifth floor in the 1960s The fifth building was a production plant built north of the original four buildings They were joined together in a major renovation and modernisation project wjhich was completed in the late 1960s 36 On April 25 2017 it was imploded and reduced to rubble 42 The site is now occupied by the Texas Tower People EditAwards Edit 2000 Houston s M D Anderson Cancer Center gave the Chronicle its Joseph T Ainsworth Volunteer Community Award for making the newspaper available at a greatly reduced rate to the hospital and its patients 43 2002 Holocaust Museum Houston awarded the Chronicle its Guardian of the Human spirit award The presenter Janis Goldstein said the award was given because the Houston Chronicle embraces the causes most dear to it with a depth and scope that goes well beyond what is expected Also that the Chronicle gives of itself to build a community that will embrace tolerance understanding and diversity and will speak out against prejudice and unfairness of any kind 44 Individual awards Edit 1963 William Porterfield won an Ernie Pyle Award 14 1989 1997 Carlos Antonio Rios a Chronicle photographer since 1978 has repeatedly been honored for his photojournalism by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists 45 2003 James Howard Gibbons received third place in the Hearst Distinguished Journalism Awards an internal contest held between Hearst s newspapers for his editorial piece When Will the U S Liberate Texas 46 Leon Hale a long time columnist and author of 11 books recently received the Lon Tinkle Award for Excellence Sustained Throughout a Career from the Texas Institute of Letters of which Hale is a member 47 Jason Witmer won first place in the 48 Hour Web category of the National Press Photographers Association s annual Best of Photojournalism in 2010 for his piece Too Manly for Quilt Show 48 Whitmer won second place in the News Feature Web category for Suddenly homeless in Houston 49 Pulitzer Prize Edit 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing Lisa Falkenberg Michael Lindenberger Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary Lisa Falkenberg 2015 winner for commentary For vividly written groundbreaking columns about grand jury abuses that led to a wrongful conviction and uncovered other egregious problems in the legal and immigration systems 50 The newspaper and its staff have several times been Pulitzer finalists Dudley Althaus 1992 finalist in international reporting For his articles on the causes of the cholera epidemic in Peru and Mexico 51 Tony Freemantle 1997 finalist in international reporting For his reporting from Rwanda South Africa El Salvador and Guatemala on why crimes against humanity go unstopped and unpunished 52 Nick Anderson 2007 finalist for editorial cartooning For his pungent cartoons on an array of issues and for his bold use of animation 53 Anderson won the Pulitzer in 2005 when working for The Courier Journal Louisville Ky 54 Staff 2009 finalist for breaking news coverage For taking full advantage of online technology and its newsroom expertise to become a lifeline to the city when Hurricane Ike struck providing vital minute by minute updates on the storm its flood surge and its aftermath 55 Staff 2017 finalist for public service For exposing the grave injustice of arbitrary cost cutting by the State of Texas that denied tutoring counseling and other vital special education services to families hindering the futures of tens of thousands of children 56 Joe Holley and Evan Mintz 2017 finalist for editorial writing For editorials on gun laws gun culture and gun tragedies that combined wit eloquence and moral power in a fine brew of commonsense argumentation 57 Staff 2018 finalist for breaking news For comprehensive and dynamic coverage of Hurricane Harvey that captured real time developments of the unprecedented scale of the disaster and provided crucial information to its community during the storm and its aftermath 58 Other notable people Edit Fernando Dovalina Jr former assistant managing editor Maxine Mesinger gossip columnist Leon Hale columnist Richard Justice sports writer Heidi Van Horne automotive columnist Ken Hammond editor Texas Magazine Chronicle Sunday Edition Sunny Nash contributor columnist photographer author Marjorie Paxson influential women s page editor Julie Mason newspaper and radio journalistOther publications EditIn April 2004 the Houston Chronicle began carrying a Spanish language supplement the entertainment magazine La Vibra La Vibra caters to speakers of Spanish and bilingual English Spanish speakers and is mainly distributed in Hispanic neighborhoods In December 2004 the Chronicle acquired the Spanish language newspaper La Voz de Houston 35 Criticism EditRobert Jensen on the September 11 attacks Edit In the weeks following the September 11 attacks the Houston Chronicle published a series of opinion articles by University of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen that asserted the United States was just as guilty as the hijackers in committing acts of violence and compared that attack with the history of U S attacks on civilians in other countries The opinion piece resulted in hundreds of angry letters to the editor and reportedly over 4 000 angry responses to Jensen 59 Among them were claims of insensitivity against the newspaper and of giving an unduly large audience to a position characterized as being extremist University of Texas president Larry Faulkner issued a response denouncing Jensen s as a fountain of undiluted foolishness on issues of public policy noting h e is not speaking in the University s name and may not speak in its name 60 Light rail controversy clarification needed Edit The document which was online for only an hour but long enough to be viewed by some readers Soon after the Houston Review a conservative newspaper published by students at the University of Houston printed the memo s full text and an accompanying commentary that criticized the paper 61 62 Harris County District Attorney Rosenthal later dismissed the Chronicle s complaint finding it without merit on the grounds that the statute did not apply Rosenthal s involvement in the probe itself came under fire by the Houston Press which in editorials questioned whether Rosenthal was too close to TTM from 2000 to 2004 Rosenthal accepted some 30 000 in donations from known TTM supporters 63 Sandoval family interview Edit In early 2004 Chronicle reporter Lucas Wall interviewed the family of Leroy Sandoval a Marine from Houston who was killed in Iraq After the article appeared Sandoval s stepfather and sister called into Houston talk radio station KSEV and said that a sentence alleging President Bush s failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq misrepresented their views on the war and President George W Bush that Wall had pressured them for a quotation that criticized Bush and that the line alleging Bush s failure was included against the wishes of the family 64 A dispute ensued between KSEV radio show host owner Dan Patrick and an assistant managing editor at the Chronicle The incident prompted Patrick to join the call for a boycott of the paper 65 The story was also picked up by the local Houston television stations and a week later the O Reilly Factor Eventually Chronicle publisher Jack Sweeney contacted the Sandoval family to apologize 65 Purchase of Houston Post assets Edit Internal memos obtained via FOIA from the Justice Department antitrust attorneys who investigated the closing of the Houston Post said the Chronicle s parent organization struck a deal to buy the Post six months before it closed The memos first obtained by the alternative paper the Houston Press say the Chronicle s conglomerate and the Post reached an agreement in October 1994 for the sale of Houston Post Co s assets for approximately 120 million 66 Tom DeLay poll Edit In January 2006 the Chronicle hired Richard Murray of the University of Houston to conduct an election survey in the district of U S Rep Tom DeLay in light of his 2005 indictment by District Attorney Ronnie Earle for alleged campaign money violations The Chronicle said that its poll showed severely eroded support for U S Rep Tom DeLay in his district most notably among Republicans who have voted for him before 67 Former Texas Secretary of State Jack Rains contacted the Chronicle s James Howard Gibbons alleging that the poll appeared to incorrectly count non Republican Primary voters in its sample Rains also asserted that Murray had a conflict of interest in the poll as Murray s son Keir was a political consultant working for Nick Lampson DeLay s Democratic challenger in 2006 68 Availability of Houston Post articles EditSome Houston Post articles had been made available in the archives of the Houston Chronicle website but by 2005 they were removed The Houston Chronicle online editor Mike Read said that the Houston Chronicle decided to remove Houston Post articles from the website after the 2001 United States Supreme Court New York Times Co v Tasini decision the newspaper originally planned to filter articles not allowed by the decision and to post articles that were not prohibited by the decision The Houston Chronicle decided not to post or re post any more Houston Post articles because of difficulties in complying with the New York Times Co v Tasini decision with the resources that were available to the newspaper 69 People interested in reading Houston Post articles may view them on microfilm The Houston Public Library has the newspaper on microfilm from 1880 to 1995 and the Houston Post Index from 1976 to 1994 The 1880 1900 microfilm is in the Texas and Local History Department of the Julia Ideson Building while 1900 1995 is in the Jesse H Jones Building the main building of the Central Library In addition the M D Anderson Library at the University of Houston has the Houston Post available on microfilm from 1880 to 1995 and the Houston Post Index from 1976 to 1979 and from 1987 to 1994 69 See also Edit Texas portal Journalism portalHouston Post Houston PressReferences EditCitations Edit Turvill William June 24 2022 Top 25 US newspaper circulations Print sales fall another 12 in 2022 Press Gazette Retrieved June 28 2022 Web Services Houston Chronicle Retrieved January 25 2017 Stolzenberg Lisa and Stewart J D Alessio criminal justice professors from Florida International University School of Policy and Management Capital punishment execution publicity and murder in Houston Texas Archive Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Northwestern University School of Law January 1 2004 Volume 94 Issue 2 Winter Article 4 Retrieved on May 15 2015 Posted by Gale Group Cengage Learning pp 351 380 JSTOR 3491373 Available at Thefreelibrary CITED p 364 The Houston Chronicle is the newspaper of record for Houston and has the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the city Houston Chronicle Hearst Corporation Retrieved on February 7 2016 4747 Southwest Fwy Houston TX 77027 O Laughlin John November 18 2012 Letter to our readers announcing HoustonChronicle com Chron Retrieved December 22 2018 a b c d The Handbook of Texas Online Houston Chronicle Retrieved December 2 2009 Timmons Bascom Nolly 1956 Jesse H Jones the Man and the Statesman London Greenwood Press p 77 ISBN 978 0 8371 7925 4 Handbook of Texas Online Foster Marcellus Elliot 1870 1942 Retrieved March 26 2010 Gonzales J R Another way to get your news from the Chronicle Houston Chronicle October 14 2008 Retrieved May 26 2010 The image is not from the J R Gonzalez article but the picture in the Gonzales article depicts the same building that is seen in the illustration Home Houston Chronicle Jesse H Jones The Man and the Statesman pp 122 123 Heise Kenan W P Steven Ex newspaper Executive Chicago Tribune August 11 1991 Retrieved October 5 2011 1 Caro 2012 pp 523 527 a b c d Bagdikian Ben H theatlantic com Houston s Shackled Press Atlantic Monthly August 1966 Retrieved March 25 2010 Ackerman Todd At the helm Chronicle publishers Houston Chronicle October 12 2001 Retrieved May 11 2010 Time Newspapers A Deal Done In June 17 1966 time com Retrieved May 10 2010 Houston Chronicle Archives Houston Chronicle purchase completed by Hearst Corp May 1 1987 Richard J V Johnson September 22 1930 January 14 2006 American Advertising Federation Houston January 19 2006 Retrieved December 2 2009 The presidential ticket Houston Chronicle October 18 2008 Retrieved July 26 2010 Dunham Richard October 19 2008 Houston Chronicle endorses Obama over McCain the first time the Chron has picked a Democrat since LBJ in 1964 Houston Chronicle Blog Retrieved July 26 2010 Romney for president Houston Chronicle October 21 2012 Retrieved July 30 2016 These are unsettling times that require a steady hand Houston Chronicle July 29 2016 Retrieved July 30 2016 We recommend Joe Biden for president Houston Chronicle October 11 2020 Retrieved October 11 2020 Caruba Lauren November 4 2014 A Handy Guide to the Major Texas Newspaper Endorsements Texas Monthly Retrieved July 30 2016 Sylvester Turner for mayor Houston Chronicle October 11 2015 Retrieved October 11 2015 For Bush Houston Chronicle February 12 2016 Retrieved July 30 2016 2016 Texas Primary Endorsements Houston Chronicle February 29 2016 Retrieved July 30 2016 Houston Chronicle reporter accused of faking sources resigns AP NEWS September 11 2018 David Wood of The Huffington Post Pulitzer A note from the editor of the Houston Chronicle Houston Chronicle Broken trust at the Houston Chronicle Columbia Journalism Review Former Statesman reporter suspected of fabricating sources at Houston paper Austin American Statesman For Most Affected By Harvey Anger At Government Has Subsided KUT Pulsinelli Olivia July 21 2014 Houston Chronicle to move downtown employees to Southwest Freeway facility Houston Business Journal Retrieved February 26 2016 a b c Moreno Jenalia December 3 2004 Chronicle buys La Voz Spanish newspaper Houston Chronicle Retrieved January 8 2012 a b c d Turner Allan February 13 2016 The Chronicle leaves the ghosts behind at 801 Texas Houston Chronicle Retrieved February 26 2016 The new complex formerly the home of the Houston Post will provide more than 440 000 square feet in seven buildings The plant at 4747 Southwest Freeway was acquired after the Post closed in 1995 and has for a number of years been the site of the Chronicle s production departments HOUSTON CHRONICLE Hearst Corporation Retrieved May 5 2013 801 Texas Avenue Houston TX 77002 Printing Houston Chronicle Tour Houston Chronicle Inc Archived from the original on June 3 2011 Retrieved January 27 2011 Newsroom Houston Chronicle Tour Houston Chronicle Inc Archived from the original on April 16 2008 Retrieved January 27 2011 Murphy Bill August 18 2008 Downtown Houston tunnels unkind to wheelchair users Chron com Retrieved July 22 2021 At the northern end of today s underground maze the tunnels provide access to the Chase Tower the Houston Chronicle and 717 Texas Avenue formerly known as the Calpine Tower Chronicle Building Houston Chronicle Tour Houston Chronicle Inc Archived from the original on February 3 2008 Retrieved January 27 2011 Hlavaty Craig April 25 2017 The old Houston Chronicle building is officially gone Houston Chronicle Retrieved August 16 2017 Mdanderson org Holocaust Museum Houston hmh org New latinosandmedia org Hearstcorp com Winedale Leon Hale www winedalebooks com BOP nppa org BOP nppa org 2015 Pulitzer Prizes www pulitzer org 1992 Pulitzer Prizes www pulitzer org 1997 Pulitzer Prizes www pulitzer org 2007 Pulitzer Prizes www pulitzer org 2005 Pulitzer Prizes www pulitzer org 2009 Pulitzer Prizes www pulitzer org Finalist Houston Chronicle Finalist Joe Holley and Evan Mintz of Houston Chronicle Finalist Staff of Houston Chronicle www pulitzer org Jensen Robert Four months later no regrets for writing against U S policy Houston Chronicle January 20 2002 Retrieved January 8 2012 CWRL texas edu The Houston Review December 4 2002 Archived from the original on December 4 2002 Connelly Richard Trainspotting Houston Press September 11 2003 Retrieved October 20 2011 Ties That Bind The D A shares something with those he s supposed to be probing campaign support Houston Press January 15 2004 PubliusTX net www publiustx net a b Abrahams Tom Radio talk show host launches boycott against local newspaper KTRK TV April 4 2004 Retrieved October 20 2011 Reclaimthemedia org Mack Kristen Troubles erode support for DeLay in 22nd District Houston Chronicle January 14 2006 Retrieved October 20 2011 Lonestartimes com a b Newkirk Jim Houston Post archives permanently unavailable online maybe likely really Houston Chronicle July 1 2005 Retrieved July 3 2010 Sources Edit Caro Robert A 2012 The Passage of Power The Years of Lyndon Johnson Vol IV New York City Alfred A Knopf pp 523 527 ISBN 978 0 679 40507 8 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Houston Chronicle Official website Chron com Hearst subsidiary profile of the Houston Chronicle Houston Chronicle History of the Largest Newspaper in Texas Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Houston Chronicle amp oldid 1133395816, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.