 TheCincinnati Enquirer front page on March 6, 2019 | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner | USA Today Co. |
| Editor | Beryl Love |
| Founded | 1841 (184 years ago) (1841) |
| Headquarters | Cincinnati,Ohio |
| Circulation |
|
| OCLC number | 41881827 |
| Website | cincinnati |
The Cincinnati Enquirer is a morning daily newspaper published byGannett inCincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, theEnquirer is the last remaining daily newspaper inGreater Cincinnati andNorthern Kentucky, although the dailyJournal-News competes with theEnquirer in the northern suburbs. TheEnquirer has the highest circulation of any print publication in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. A daily local edition for Northern Kentucky is published asThe Kentucky Enquirer. In addition to theCincinnati Enquirer andKentucky Enquirer, Gannett publishes a variety of print and electronic periodicals in the Cincinnati area, including 16Community Press weekly newspapers, 10Community Recorder weekly newspapers, andOurTown magazine. TheEnquirer is available online at theCincinnati.com website. The paper has won twoPulitzer Prizes, in 1991 and 2018.
The Kentucky Enquirer consists of an additional section wrapped around theCincinnati Enquirer and a remade Local section. The front page is remade from the Ohio edition, although it may contain similar elements. Reader-submitted content is featured in six zoned editions ofYour HomeTown Enquirer, a local news insert published twice-weekly on Thursdays and Saturdays inHamilton,Butler,Warren, andClermont counties.[2]
Since September 2015, theEnquirer and localFox affiliateWXIX-TV have partnered on news gathering and have shared news coverage and video among the paper, broadcasts, and online media.[3] In 2016, theEnquirer launched a true crime podcast calledAccused that reached the top of iTunes' podcasts chart.
For much of its history,The Enquirer has been regarded as aconservative,Republican-leaning newspaper, in contrast toThe Cincinnati Post, a former competing daily.[4]
In the1864 presidential election, the newspaper opposed the reelection ofAbraham Lincoln. On his second inauguration the paper wrote, "Mr. Lincoln commences today, a second term unfettered by constitutional restraint as if he were the Czar of Russia or the Sultan of Turkey."[5] From1920 to2012, the editorial board endorsed every Republican candidate for United States president. By contrast, the current editorial board claims to take a pragmatic editorial stance. According to then-editorPeter Bhatia, "It is made up of pragmatic, solution-driven members who, frankly, don't have much use for extreme ideologies from the right or the left. ... The board's mantra in our editorials has been about problem-solving and improving the quality of life for everyone in greater Cincinnati."[6] On September 24, 2016, theEnquirerendorsed Hillary Clinton for president,[7] its first endorsement of aDemocrat for president sinceWoodrow Wilson in1916.[6]
TheEnquirer's predecessor was thePhoenix, edited by Moses Dawson as early as 1828. It later became theCommercial Advertiser and in 1838 theCincinnati Advertiser and Journal. By the timeJohn and Charles Brough purchased it and renamed it theDaily Cincinnati Enquirer, it was considered anewspaper of record for the city. TheEnquirer's first issue, on April 10, 1841, consisted of "just four pages of squint-inducing text that was, at times, as ugly in tone as it was in appearance". It declared its staunch support for theDemocratic Party, in contrast to the threeWhig papers and two ostensibly independent papers then in circulation.[8][9] A weekly digest edition for regional farmers, theWeekly Cincinnati Enquirer, began publishing on April 14 and would continue until November 25, 1843, asThe Cincinnati Weekly Enquirer.[10][11]
In November 1843, theEnquirer merged with theDaily Morning Message to become theEnquirer and Message (theDaily Enquirer and Message beginning in May 1844).[12][13] In January 1845, the paper dropped theMessage name, becomingThe Cincinnati Daily Enquirer.[14] Finally, in May 1849, the paper becameThe Cincinnati Enquirer.[15]
In 1844,James J. Faran took an interest in theEnquirer. In 1848,Washington McLean and his brother S. B. Wiley McLean acquired an interest in theEnquirer.[11]
On March 22, 1866, a gas leak causedPike's Opera House to explode, taking with it theEnquirer offices next door. A competitor, theCincinnati Daily Times, allowed theEnquirer to print on its presses in the wake of the disaster. As a result, theEnquirer missed only one day of publication.[16] However, archives of the paper's first 25 years were lost.[8]
Washington McLean was a leadingCopperhead whose editorial policies led to the suppression of the paper by the United States government during theCivil War. After the war, McLean pursued an anti-Republican stance. One of his star writers wasLafcadio Hearn, who wrote for the paper from 1872 to 1875.James W. Faulkner served as the paper's political correspondent, covering the Ohio State Legislature and Statehouse, from 1887 until his death in 1923. TheFaulkner Letter was a well-known column often carried in regional newspapers.
In the 1860s, Washington McLean bought out Faran's interest in theEnquirer. In 1872, he sold a half interest in the newspaper to his son,John Roll McLean, who assumed full ownership of the paper in 1881.[11] He owned the paper until his death in 1916. Having little faith in his only child,Ned, John Roll McLean put theEnquirer and another paper he owned,TheWashington Post, in trust with theAmerican Security and Trust Company ofWashington, D.C., astrustee.[17] Ned successfully broke the trust regardingThe Post, an action that led to itsbankruptcy and eventual sale toEugene Meyer in 1933. TheEnquirer, however, continued to be held in trust until 1952.
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In the 1910s, theEnquirer was known for an attention-getting style of headline in which individual words or phrases cascaded vertically, beginning with a single word in large type. According to a 1912 college textbook on newspaper making, "TheEnquirer has printed some masterpieces replete with a majesty of diction that is most artistic; but there are few papers that can imitate it successfully."[18][19] During the 1930s and 1940s, theEnquirer was widely regarded among newspapers for its innovative and distinctivetypography.
In the 1920s, theEnquirer ran a promotion that offered a free plot of land nearLoveland, Ohio, along theLittle Miami River, after paying for a one-year subscription to the daily. TheLoveland Castle was built on two such plots. The surrounding community is now known asLoveland Park.[20]
By the late 1940s, sales of theEnquirer, Cincinnati's last remaining morning daily, had increased dramatically, fueled in part by the success of its Sunday morning monopoly; meanwhile,The Cincinnati Post and especiallyThe Cincinnati Times-Star faced a declining afternoon market.
In February 1952,The Cincinnati Times-Star offered to buy theEnquirer from the American Security and Trust Company for $7.5 million.[17] In response, the 845 employees of the paper pooled their assets, formed a committee, and obtained loans to successfully outbid theTimes-Star with an offer of $7.6 million, with the Portsmouth Steel Company as their agent. The deal closed on June 6, 1952.[21][22] In its first year under employee ownership, theEnquirer reported a net earnings of $349,421.[23]
The employees lacked sufficient capital and managerial expertise to run the paper. City editor John F. Cronin led a revolt against management on November 25, 1955; he was fired the following month.[24][25] Beset by financial problems and internal strife, they sold the paper toThe E. W. Scripps Company, owner ofThe Cincinnati Post, on April 26, 1956. Scripps purchased a 36.5% controlling interest in theEnquirer for $4,059,000, beating out The Times-Star Company's $2,380,051 andTribune Publishing's $15 per share, or $2,238,000.[26][27] Two years later, Scripps also acquired theTimes-Star, merging the afternoon paper with thePost.[28]
With theTimes-Star andEnquirer acquisitions, the Scripps family owned all of Cincinnati's dailies, along withWCPO-AM,WCPO-FM, andWCPO-TV.[29] The E. W. Scripps Company operated theEnquirer at arm's length, even omitting the Scripps lighthouse logo from theEnquirer's nameplate. Nevertheless, theUnited States Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against the company in 1964.[30][31]
In 1968, Scripps entered into aconsent decree to sell theEnquirer. It was sold to influential Cincinnati millionaireCarl Lindner Jr.'sAmerican Financial Corporation on February 20, 1971.[32] In turn, Lindner sold theEnquirer to aPhoenix-based company of his, Combined Communications, in 1975, for $30 million plus 500,000 shares ofcommon stock and 750,000 shares of commonstock warrants in Combined Communications.[33] Combined Communications merged withGannett Company in 1979.
On September 22, 1977, theEnquirer signed a joint operating agreement (JOA) withThe Cincinnati Post.[34] For two years, theEnquirer had secretly negotiated the terms of the JOA with thePost while securing concessions from labor unions. The two papers petitioned the Justice Department for an antitrust exemption under theNewspaper Preservation Act of 1970. This was the second JOA application under the Newspaper Preservation Act; the first, involving theAnchorage Daily News andAnchorage Times, was summarily approved but already seen as a failure.[35]
TheEnquirer–Post agreement was approved on November 26, 1979,[36] taking effect after negotiations and legal battles with unions.[35] As the more financially sound paper, theEnquirer received an 80% stake in the business and handled all business functions of both papers, including printing, distribution, and selling advertising.[37] Gannett opened a new printing press off Western Avenue in the West End to print both papers.[38]
In August 1980,William J. Keating appointed George Blake to serve as theEnquirer's first new editor since the Gannett acquisition. Blake, who was previously editor atThe News-Press ofFort Myers, Florida, had a tendency to delegate that contrasted with the hands-on style of his predecessor, Luke Feck. TheEnquirer underwent a staff reorganization and introduced a new format in September 1982.[39]
Under Blake, theEnquirer had a reputation for friendliness to corporate interests,[40] exemplified in its weak coverage of thesavings and loan crisis that engulfed financierCharles Keating, brother ofEnquirer publisher William J. Keating. The paper's approach changed dramatically in January 1993 with the arrival of president and publisher Harry Whipple and editor Lawrence Beaupre fromGannett Suburban Newspapers inWhite Plains, New York. Beaupre emphasized investigative reporting, beginning with aggressive coverage of Charles Keating's conviction. By 1995, he had brought his team of aggressive investigative reporters from White Plains to theEnquirer. The paper won awards forMichael Gallagher's 1996 investigation intoFluor Daniel's cleanup of theuranium processing plant atFernald Feed Materials Production Center.[41]
On May 3, 1998, theEnquirer published a special 18-page section, titled "Chiquita Secrets Revealed", that accused the Cincinnati-based fruit company of labor abuses, polluting, bribery, and other misdeeds.[42] Chiquita, owned by formerEnquirer owner Lindner, denied all of the allegations. Gallagher was charged and convicted for illegally obtaining some of the evidence throughvoicemail hacking, and theEnquirer fired him for lying about his sources. Faced with a potential lawsuit over the voicemail hacking, theEnquirer settled with Chiquita out of court, paying the company $14 million. Under the terms of the agreement, the paper published an unprecedented three-day-long, front-page retraction of the entire series, destroyed any evidence they had gathered against Chiquita, and transferred Beaupre to Gannett headquarters.[41][43][44] The paper largely reverted to its former approach to business coverage.[40]
On April 10, 2000, theEnquirer andPost downsized from a traditional12+5⁄16-inch-wide (313 mm)broadsheet format to an11+5⁄8-inch-wide (300 mm) format similar toBerliner. They also began publishing in color every day of the week. Gannett promoted the narrower format as being "easier to handle, hold, and read" but also cited reduced newsprint costs.[45][46]
In May 2003, Gannett replaced Harry Whipple with Cincinnati native Margaret E. Buchanan as president and publisher. Buchanan, previously publisher of theIdaho Statesman, was the newspaper's first woman publisher. The same year, Tom Callinan became editor of theEnquirer after stints as editor ofThe Arizona Republic, theDemocrat and Chronicle ofRochester, New York, and theLansing State Journal.[47] One of his first moves was to reassign media critics to reporting positions.[40]
Callinan originally attempted to address declining circulation by focusing on lifestyle content aimed at younger readers; however, this approach alienated the paper's older core audience. The paper responded by reemphasizing national news in the newspaper and creating niche, crowdsourced products online for younger audiences.[40][48] In October 2003,The Enquirer began publishing and distributingCiN Weekly, a free lifestyle magazine aimed at younger readers, to compete againstCincinnati CityBeat. In 2004, Gannett purchased local magazinesDesign andInspire and increased coverage inThe Kentucky Enquirer.[49] In November 2004, Gannett purchased HomeTown Communications Network, publisher of a daily newspaper and 62 weekly and biweekly newspapers brandedThe Community Press in Ohio andThe Community Recorder in Kentucky.[50] The Department of Justice cleared the purchase the following March.[51]
In January 2004, theEnquirer informed thePost of its intention to let the JOA expire.[34][52] ThePost published its final print edition upon the JOA's expiration on December 31, 2007,[53] leaving theEnquirer as the only daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Following thePost's closure, theEnquirer made efforts to appeal toThe Kentucky Post's former readership, for example referring to theCincinnati metropolitan area as "Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky" rather than simply "Greater Cincinnati".[54]
In April 2006,The Enquirer was cited by The Associated Press with the news cooperative's General Excellence Award, namingThe Enquirer as the best major daily newspaper in Ohio. Earlier that year, parent Gannett Co. namedThe Enquirer the most improved of the more than 100 newspapers in the chain.[citation needed]
In December 2010, Callinan left for a professorship at theUniversity of Cincinnati[47] and was succeeded byCarolyn Washburn as editor.[55]
In October 2012, the online version of theEnquirer went behind ametered paywall.
In March 2013, Gannett closed its West End printing facility and contracted withThe Columbus Dispatch to print theEnquirer in Columbus. Shortly after, theEnquirer began publishing in a smallercompact tabloid format.[56] FormerPost andEnquirer pressman Al Bamberger purchased the formerEnquirer facility that June and sold it to Wegman Company, an office furniture installation company.[38]
Buchanan retired in March 2015. Gannett named Rick Green, the editor ofThe Des Moines Register and a formerEnquirer assistant editor, as president and publisher.[55] In August 2016, Gannett eliminated theEnquirer's Publisher position, transferring Green to theNorth Jersey Media Group in New Jersey.[57][58]
The paper's photographic archive, covering the years 1945 to 1995, was donated to theCincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library in 2023.[59][60]
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TheEnquirer has published from many downtown Cincinnati locations. From Fifth Street between Main and Sycamore, it moved to Third Street, then to the corner of Third and Main, then to Main between Third and Pearl. In 1866, theEnquirer began publishing from offices in the 600 block of Vine Street, near Baker Street.[61] From 1916 to 1928, the newspaper constructed a new headquarters and printing plant, theCincinnati Enquirer Building, on this property.[62] In 1992, the newspaper moved to 312 Elm Street.[63]
At the end of 2022, the newspaper's 30-year lease agreement at Elm Street expired, and theEnquirer's news operation moved one block west, to 312 Plum Street.[64]
TheEnquirer operated twonews bureaus until July 2013. TheNorthern Kentucky bureau producedThe Kentucky Enquirer andThe Community Recorder, while theWest Chester bureau coveredButler andWarren counties forThe Cincinnati Enquirer's northern zones and produced some editions ofThe Community Press.[54][65]
From 1977 to 2013, theEnquirer was printed from a 130,000-square-foot (12,000 m2) press off Western Avenue in the West End. Until 2007, this facility also printedThe Cincinnati Post under ajoint operating agreement.[38] Since March 2013, Gannett has contracted withThe Columbus Dispatch in Columbus to print all its Cincinnati publications, including theEnquirer.[56] Similarly, Gannett has contracted with theLafayette, Indiana,Journal & Courier to printCommunity Press andCommunity Recorder editions since 2007.[66]
TheEnquirer launched its first website,Enquirer.com, on November 1, 1996. Due to ajoint operating agreement withThe Cincinnati Post, it launched concurrently with thePost's site,@The Post. A shared website,GoCincinnati!,[67] located at gocinci.net, displayedclassified advertising and offereddial-up Internet access subscriptions. Local access numbers were available in cities throughout the country through a network of Gannett publications.[68] Both papers' home pages moved to a more memorable domain,Cincinnati.com, on November 1, 1998.[69] The new brand encompassed about 300 local commercial sites and some community organizations.[70]
From May 2002 to March 2007,Cincinnati.com also includedWCPO.com, the website ofPost sister companyWCPO-TV.[71] ThePost closed at the end of 2007, ending Scripps' involvement inCincinnati.com. TheCiN Weekly,Community Press, andCommunity Recorder weekly newspapers have also been online partners with theEnquirer.
In October 2005, theEnquirer launchedNKY.com, a website covering news fromBoone,Campbell, andKenton counties in Northern Kentucky.NKY.com was one of the first newspaper-published websites to make extensive use ofuser-created content, which it featured prominently on 38 community pages. In August 2006,Cincinnati.com launched 186 community pages covering towns and neighborhoods in Ohio and Indiana and began soliciting and publishing stories and articles from readers, which appear inYour Hometown Enquirer inserts.
Since October 2012,Cincinnati.com has operated behind ametered paywall that allows readers to view 10 stories a month before paying a subscription fee. As a Gannett property,Cincinnati.com is branded as "part of theUSA Today Network". Its primary competitor in the market isWCPO-TV's website,WCPO.com.[72]
Archives ofEnquirer articles can be found in online subscription databases.ProQuest contains full text of articles from 1841 to 1922 and from 1999 to present, as well as "digital microfilm" of articles from 2010 to 2012.[73] As of September 2016[update],Newspapers.com has scans of 4.2 million pages from 1841 to present.[74]
TheEnquirer won its firstPulitzer Prize in 1991 forJim Borgman's editorial cartoons.[75]
Under then-editorPeter Bhatia, theEnquirer became the first newsroom in the nation to dedicate a reporter to covering the heroin epidemic full time.[76] That reporter, Terry DeMio, and reporter Dan Horn helped lead a staff of about 60 journalists to report the heroin project, "Seven Days of Heroin", that won the newspaper its second Pulitzer Prize in 2018.[77][78][79]
Former employees and contributors:
FormerEnquirer owners and publishers:
Conventional wisdom has it thatThe Enquirer is the ultraconservative, till-death-do-us-part Republican Party mouthpiece, whileThe Post is the moderate, working-class, comparatively progressive paper.
Gannett Company Inc. is eliminating 31 jobs in the former Community Press newspaper operation as it transfers the printing of its 27 neighborhood newspapers to a Gannett paper in Lafayette, Ind., and moves to a new page format. The move affects all Community Press and Community Recorder newspapers in the Tri-State, as well as several specialty publications that used the Para Drive printing plant in Bond Hill.
