 | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Gannett |
| Publisher | vacant |
| Editor | Jennifer Boice (final print-edition editor) |
| Founded | 1870 |
| Ceased publication | May 16, 2009 (print) January 31, 2014 (online) |
| Headquarters | 4850 South Park Avenue Tucson, Arizona 85714 United States |
| Circulation | 17,000 (May 2009)[1] |
| ISSN | 0888-5478 |
| Website | tucsoncitizen |
TheTucson Citizen was a daily newspaper inTucson, Arizona. It was founded byRichard C. McCormick with John Wasson as publisher and editor on October 15, 1870, as theArizona Citizen.
When it ceased printing on May 16, 2009, the daily circulation was approximately 17,000, down from a high of 60,000 in the 1960s.[1] TheCitizen published as Tucson's afternoon paper, six days per week (except Sunday, when only theArizona Daily Star (Tucson's morning paper during the week) was published as part of the two papers'joint operating agreement).
TheTucson Citizen was the oldest continuously published newspaper inArizona at the time it ceased publication.[1]
Founder Richard C. McCormick had originally been the owner of theArizonan. However, when the editor of theArizonan refused to support McCormick's re-election as congressional delegate for the territory of Arizona, McCormick took the press and started theArizona Citizen with Wasson.[2] During the mid-1880s, the newspaper was known as theTucson Weekly Citizen. Allan Brown Jaynes was owner, manager and editor of theTucson Citizen between 1901 and 1920. He was very involved in the statehood of Arizona and is in the Arizona Newspaper Hall of Fame.William A. Small, his wife, and William H. Johnson invested in the newspaper in the late 1930s after the death of ownerFrank Harris Hitchcock.[3] Johnson sold his share to Small in 1964, and Small turned control over to his son,William A. Small Jr. in 1966 when he retired.
In 1976, theCitizen was sold toGannett Company, Inc.[1]
Editor and Publisher Michael Chihak retired from theCitizen and Gannett on July 3, 2008. Senior Editor Jennifer Boice and Editorial Editor Mark Kimble co-filled the position in the interim, until the end of publication.In January 2009, theGannett Company, owner of the paper since the mid-1970s, announced it would close theCitizen by March 21 if a buyer were not found,[4] though on March 17, 2009, Gannett announced the paper would remain open past that closing date because it was in negotiations with two potential buyers.[1] However, those negotiations did not bear fruit, and on May 15, 2009, Gannett announced that the final print edition would appear the following day, and that theCitizen would thereafter be an Internet publication.[5] The last print edition was delivered on May 16, 2009.[6]
Gannett's attempted sale and closure of theCitizen was the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and court action by Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.[citation needed]
The successor site, TucsonCitizen.com, edited by the paper's former assistant city editor, Mark B. Evans, described itself as "a compendium of blogs . . . written by Tucsonans for Tucsonans. The bloggers and citizen journalists here provide news, information, opinion, commentary and perspective on the issues, interests and events that affect daily life in the Old Pueblo." It was a division of Gannett Company, Inc., and a partner of Tucson Newspapers.[7] The site closed on January 31, 2014.[8]
Several formerCitizen staffers foundedTucsonSentinel.com, a nonprofit online news site, after the newspaper was closed.[9]
