 | |
| Company type | private |
|---|---|
| Founded | c. 1905; 121 years ago (1905) |
| Founder | Ira Clifton Copley |
| Defunct | 2009; 17 years ago (2009) |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Products | Newspapers |
| Owner | Copley family |
| Subsidiaries | The San Diego Union-Tribune Copley News Service |
Copley Press was a privately heldnewspaper business, founded inIllinois but later based inLa Jolla, California.[1] Its flagship paper wasThe San Diego Union-Tribune.
FounderIra Clifton Copley launched Copley Press c. 1905, eventually amassing over two dozen papers. After selling the Western Utility Corporation, Copley purchased twenty-four newspapers inSouthern California for $7.5 million. He managed these publishing holdings as Copley Press, Inc. and was its first president, serving until 1942.
Copley Press purchasedSpringfield'sIllinois State Journal in 1927. In 1942, Copley bought theJournal's Democratic-oriented competitor, theIllinois State Register, promising that theRegister could keep its independenteditorial voice.[2] The two papers were merged in 1974 intoThe State Journal-Register.
In 1928, Copley bought theSan Diego Union andSan Diego Tribune, which eventually became the company's flagship publications. Later that year, SenatorGeorge W. Norris accused Copley Press of receiving money from public utility companies, but Copley successfully defended his position before theFederal Trade Commission in 1929.[citation needed] The two papers operated separate editions until 1992, when they were merged asThe San Diego Union-Tribune.
In 1992, Copley acquiredThe Naperville Sun, and 4 other newspapers from Harold White.[3]
Copley News Service — a wire service that distributed news, political cartoons, and opinion columns — was founded in 1955.[4]
Copley Press began selling off properties in the 2000s. Hollinger International bought the Company's Chicago-area publications (The Herald News,The Beacon News,The Courier News, andThe News Sun, along with several smaller papers) in 2000. The remaining Illinois papers (The State Journal-Register, thePeoria Journal Star,The Repository, and some smaller papers) were sold toGateHouse Media in 2007.
In 2006, theDaily Breeze was sold toHearst. In December 2007, theUnion-Tribune reported that Copley Press was selling La Casa del Zorro, a resort it owned inBorrego Springs. Copley News Service itself was sold toCreators Syndicate for an undisclosed price and renamed Creators News Service, on 1 July 2008.
In late July 2008, the company began seeking buyers for theUnion-Tribune, as well as several other businesses likeEnlace, a free Spanish-language tabloid, and SignOnSanDiego.com, the online arm of the U-T.[5] The announcement did not make clear what, if anything, would be left with the Copley Press name.Platinum Equity agreed in March 2009 to purchase theUnion-Tribune for an unspecified sum.[6] Copley Press currently[when?] is working withEvercore Partners, the same company that helped sell off other business units, to determine a price for the remaining assets.[citation needed]
Declining advertising revenue was cited as the reason for the company'sdissolution.[5]
Copley News Service and The San DiegoUnion-Tribune, with notable work byMarcus Stern andJerry Kammer, won the 2006 National Reporting prize for their disclosure that former CongressmanRandy Cunningham received bribes, which ultimately led to his criminal conviction and imprisonment.[7][8]
Additionally, the San DiegoEvening Tribune, predecessor of theUnion-Tribune, won Pulitzer Prizes in 1987 and 1979.
In the late 1970s, the American media reported that the Copley Press was used as a front by theCentral Intelligence Agency. Reporters Joe Trento and Dave Roman claimed thatJames S. Copley, who served as publisher until 1973, had cooperated with the CIA since its founding in 1947. They also reported that a subsidiary division, Copley News Service, was used in Latin America by the CIA as a front.
Trento and Roman also said that reporters at the Copley-ownedSan DiegoUnion and Evening News spied on antiwar protesters for the FBI. They alleged that, at the height of these operations, at least two dozen Copley employees were simultaneously working for the CIA. James S. Copley was also accused of involvement in the CIA-fundedInter-American Press Association.[9][10][11]
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