 The July 27, 2005 front page ofThe Press-Enterprise | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Digital First Media |
| Founder | James H. Roe |
| Publisher | Ron Hasse[1] |
| Editor | Frank Pine |
| Founded | 1878 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 1825 Chicago Ave, Suite 100 Riverside,California 92507,United States |
| Circulation | 2011 92,697 Daily 114,405 Sunday[2] 2009 Ranked 65 of 100 172,593 Daily 178,062 Sunday[5] |
| Sister newspapers | La Prensa (Spanish-language weekly) |
| ISSN | 0746-4258 |
| Website | pressenterprise |
The Press-Enterprise is a paid daily newspaper published byDigital First Media that serves theInland Empire inSouthern California. Headquartered in downtownRiverside, California, it is the primary newspaper forRiverside County, with heavy penetration into neighboringSan Bernardino County. The geographic circulation area of the newspaper spans from the border ofOrange County to the west, east to theCoachella Valley, north to theSan Bernardino Mountains, and south to theSan Diego County line.The Press-Enterprise is a member of theSouthern California News Group.[6]
TheRiverside Press was first published on June 29, 1878, by James H. Roe, a druggist and teacher.[7] The weekly paper began with 500 subscribers.[8] In 1880, Roe sold the newspaper for $1,300 to Luther M. Holt,[9] who renamed it to theRiverside Press and Horticulturist. He expanded it into a tri-weekly in 1885,[10] and a year later began issuing the paper daily.[11]
Holt sold thePress in 1888 to J.W. Tibbot for $20,000,[12] who soon resold it later that year to Roe, Reverdy J. Pierson and E.W. Holmes.[13] Roe retired a year later.[14] Pierson died in May 1894.[15] A year later his estate sold his half-interest to the Clarke Bros., former owners of theOntario Record. Holmes also sold out at that time. E.P. Clarke became editor-in-chief and A.F. Clarke became city editor.[16]
The paper was operated by the Press Publishing Company.[16] Around 1930, the Sun Publishing Company, publisher of theSan Bernardino Sun purchased a half-interest in the business.[17]
The Riverside Daily Enterprise was first published in December 1885 by David F. Sarber.[18][11] Sarber retired in August 1886 and was succeeded by J.A. Studabecker.[19] In April 1890, George A. Faylor relocated thePaso Pobles Moon to Riverside and bought and absorbed theEnterprise.[20][21] TheRiverside Moon ceased after a few weeks.[22][23]
In June 1890, Mark R. Plaisted revived theEnterprise.[24] It became a county paper in 1896 when it absorbed thePerris Valley Record and theMoreno Valley Indicator.[11] Plaisted sold the paper in April 1899 to H.H. Monroe and Clarence W. Barton.[25][26] At some point Monroe left and the paper was renamed to theMission.[27]
In March 1910, Barton sold theRiverside Morning Mission to the Milnes Brothers.[27] A month later Edgar Johnson, publisher of theOrange County Tribune, bought the paper and renamed it back to theRiverside Enterprise.[28][29] He sold the paper in October 1911 to Monroe.[30][31] Around January 1912, theEnterprise came under the ownership of Frederick O'Brien.[32] In October, O'Brien sold theEnterprise to John Raymond "Ray" Gabbert and purchased his ownership stake in theOxnard Courier.[33][34] Gabbert sold a half-interest in the paper to Will H. Marsh in January 1927.[35]
In 1931, Ray Gabbert sold his half-interest in theRiverside Enterprise to the Sun Publishing Company, which co-owned theRiversidePress and publishedSan Bernardino Sun. Howard H. Hays bought in as a stockholder and was named president of theEnterprise.[36][37] The newly combined company issuedThe Enterprise in the morning, andThe Press in the evenings. In 1954, theRiverside Press changed its company name to the Press-Enterprise Company, and in 1955 the two papers began printing a joint Sunday edition called theSunday Press-Enterprise. Due to market conditions, the two papers were combined into one morning paper,The Press-Enterprise, in 1983.[11]
In 1981, the Culver family sold their minority stake inThe Press-Enterprise to theDow Jones & Company. At that time the paper had a circulation of 170,000.[38]A.H. Belo Corporation, owner of theDallas Morning News, purchased that 21.% interest in 1996,[39] and then bought out the Hays family a year later, resulting in A.H. Belo Co. acquiring 98% control of the Press-Enterprise Co.[40][41]
In 2013,The Press-Enterprise was sold toFreedom Communications, owner of theOrange County Register, for $27 million.[42][43] Heavy layoffs were announced a few months later.[44] On November 1, 2015, Freedom Communications filed forChapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.[45] On March 21, 2016, thePress-Enterprise andO.C. Register were sold at auction toDigital First Media.[46]
In 2025,University of California, Riverside acquired access to the paper's entire archive which was digitized byNewsBank and made it available to the public.[47]
The Press-Enterprise won the1968 Pulitzer Prize for meritorious public service for its exposé of corruption in the courts in connection with the handling of the property and estates of theAgua Caliente Indian tribe ofPalm Springs, California. The series was written by George Ringwald.[48]
The Press-Enterprise Company won two separateUnited States Supreme Court cases that established the public's right to witness specific aspects of criminal court proceedings.
The first case, won in 1984, wasPress-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of California, Riverside County. In a case involving the rape and murder of a teenage girl, thePress-Enterprise requested that thevoir dire, the process of questioning the jury, be open to the public and press. The request was denied, as well as the request for the subsequent transcripts, and upheld by theCalifornia Court of Appeal. TheCalifornia Supreme Court denied thePress-Enterprise's request for a hearing. The United States Supreme Court decided in favor of thePress-Enterprise, establishing that the public has the right to attend jury selection during criminal trials.[49]
The second case, won in 1986, was also calledPress-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of California. The case involved Robert Diaz who was accused of 12 patient murders while acting as a nurse at the Community Hospital of the Valleys inPerris, California. The defendant requested that the public be excluded from the proceedings. The Magistrate granted the unopposed request because of the national attention the case had garnered. At the end of the hearing thePress-Enterprise requested that the transcripts be released, but the request was denied and the records were sealed. The United States Supreme Court decided that the public has the right to attend pretrial hearings in criminal cases, including preliminary hearings.[50]
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