 The July 27, 2005, front page of The Blade | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Block Communications |
| Publisher | John Robinson Block |
| Editor | Kim Bates |
| Founded | 1835 |
| Headquarters | 541 North Superior Street Toledo, Ohio 43660 |
| Circulation | 119,901 daily 141,141 Sunday (as of 2008)[1] |
| OCLC number | 12962717 |
| Website | toledoblade.com |
The Blade, also known as theToledo Blade, is anewspaper inToledo, Ohio, published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday byBlock Communications.[2] The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835.[3]
The first issue of what was then theToledo Blade was printed on December 19, 1835. It has been published daily since 1848 and is the oldest continuously run business in Toledo.[4]
David Ross Locke gained national fame for the paper during theCivil War era by writing under the pen name Petroleum V. Nasby. Under this name, he wrote satires ranging on topics fromslavery, to the Civil War, to temperance. PresidentAbraham Lincoln was fond of the Nasby satires and sometimes quoted them. In 1867 Locke bought theToledo Blade.
The paper dropped "Toledo" from its masthead in 1960.[4]
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In 2004The Blade won thePulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting with a series of stories entitled "Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths".[5] The story brought to light the story of theTiger Force, a Vietnam fighting force that brutalized the local population. In 2006,The Blade was a finalist for aPulitzer Prize, and winner of the National Headliner Award, for breaking the scandal in Ohio known asCoingate.
As of 2015, theeditor in chief is John Robinson Block.[6] His family purchased the paper in 1926. They also own the media conglomerateBlock Communications, which owns cable systems, television stations, and theInternet service provider Buckeye Express.
As of 2008[update]The Blade had the 83rd largest daily newspaper circulation in the United States.[1]
The ToledoBlade was named for the famedswordsmithing industry of the original city ofToledo, Spain. Its motto, on the nameplate below the title, is "One of America's Great Newspapers."
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In 2007photojournalistAllan Detrich leftThe Blade when it was discovered that he had digitally altered a photo that was published on the front page of the March 31, 2007, edition. A subsequent investigation revealed that he had digitally altered and submitted 79 photos during the first 14 weeks of 2007, 58 of which ran either inThe Blade or on itswebsite.[7][8]
Members of severalunions worked without contracts from March to August 2006. Over the course of August 2006,The Blade locked out over 25% of itsemployees.[9] The strike and lockout ended in May 2007.[10]
In May 2014, Block Communications announced plans to closeThe Blade's production facility, including theprinting presses, located in the downtown headquarters building.[11]
In October 2011,The Blade filed a lawsuit against rival publication theToledo Free Press, claiming that formerBlade general manager and currentFree Press publisher Thomas F. Pounds violated a 2004 separation agreement containing anon-compete clause.[12] According to theFree Press,The Blade took exception to aneditorial cartoon criticizingThe Blade's stance on downtown development plans byRave Cinemas andHollywood Casino Toledo;The Blade cited the cartoon among the grounds for its lawsuit: "On or about August 21, 2011, Pounds... permittedToledo Free Press to publish a cartoon that depicted a characterization of John R. Block and Allan Block together withThe Blade as casting an eclipsing shadow on jobs, tax revenue, investment and development in Toledo, Ohio."[13]
In December 2011, theFree Press responded to the lawsuit and filed a counterclaim, asserting thatBlade ownersBlock Communications were "attempting to exerciseprior restraint" on theFree Press and that since the non-compete agreement expired in 2005, theBlade's use of it as a legal weapon in 2011 was "simply as a tool to economically harm" theFree Press and its publisher, and "well beyond the bounds of fair and legal competition."[14]
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