 The July 27, 2005 front page of TheOakland Tribune | |
| Type | Weeklynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Digital First Media |
| Founder(s) | George Staniford and Benet A. Dewes |
| Publisher | Sharon Ryan |
| Editor | Bert Robinson |
| Founded | February 21, 1874; 151 years ago (1874-02-21) |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | 2016 |
| Headquarters | San Jose,California,U.S. |
| Sister newspapers | The Mercury News, East Bay Times |
| ISSN | 1068-5936 |
| OCLC number | 760300116 |
| Website | eastbaytimes.com/oakland |
| Free online archives | California Digital Newspaper Collection |
TheOakland Tribune was a dailynewspaper published inOakland, California, and a predecessor of theEast Bay Times. It was published by theBay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary ofMediaNews Group.[1][2][3] Founded in 1874, theTribune rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the decline of print media, in 2016, the paper announced that theTribune, along with its owner's other newspapers in theEast Bay, would be folded into a new newspaper titled theEast Bay Times starting April 5, 2016.[2] The formernameplates of the consolidated newspapers will continue to be published every Friday as weekly community supplements.
Oakland Voices is also a successor of theTribune, developing out of a collaboration with theMaynard Institute for Journalism Education
TheTribune was founded February 21, 1874, by George Staniford and Benet A. Dewes. TheOakland Daily Tribune was first printed at 468 Ninth St. as a 4-page, 3-column newspaper, 6 by 10 inches. Staniford and Dewes gave out copies free of charge. The paper had news stories and 43 advertisements.
Staniford, the editor and Dewes, the printer, were credited with producing a paper with fine typographical look and editorial nature. The competition was theOakland News andOakland Transcript. The first editorial stated, "There seems to be an open field for a journal like theTribune in Oakland, and we accordingly proceed to occupy it, presenting theTribune, which is intended to be a permanent daily paper, deriving its support solely from advertising patronage."
Later that year, Staniford sold his half interest to Dewes; then, Dewes sold a half interest to A.B. Gibson. TheTribune moved, January 30, 1875, to 911 Broadway and Gibson sold his half interest to the paper to A. E. Nightingill. In 1876, Dewes and Nightingill, found a buyer for theTribune.
TheTribune became a major paper underWilliam E. Dargie (1854–1911), who acquired the paper July 24, 1876.The Tribune Publishing Company, was created with William Edward Dargie as Manager and (Albion Keith Paris) A. K. P. Harmon, Jr., Secretary.
TheTribune was a solid Republican newspaper under Dargie and (later) the Knowlands. Dargie was a news innovator in several ways: 1876, wire service dispatches; 1877, a book and job department added; 1878, when the Bell Telephone System arrived in Oakland, one of the first telephones was installed at theTribune- Number 46; 1883, a Saturday edition was introduced; 1887, special editions; 1888, an extra for the presidential election.
On August 28, 1891, the nameOakland Tribune was officially adopted. Prior names includeOakland Daily Tribune, theOakland Evening Tribune and theOakland Daily Evening Tribune. Dargie had news offices in New York and Chicago. Dargie also acquired a patent approved R. Hoe & Co. double cylinder press.
TheTribune was a charter member of theAssociated Press upon its founding in 1900.
Among Dargie's hires, at the turn of the century, was Jack Gunin, a one-eyed lensman, the first full-timephotojournalist in theWestern United States.
In 1906, theTribune added a Sunday edition.
The newspapers of San Francisco were destroyed in theearthquake and fire of April 18, 1906. TheTribune printed many "extras." Dargie lent theTribune's presses for a joint edition of theSan Francisco Call-Chronicle-Examiner. In the aftermath of the conflagration, San Francisco MayorEugene E. Schmitz, declared theOakland Tribune the official San Francisco newspaper.
The circulation grew as displaced San Franciscans moved to Oakland andAlameda County. TheTribune's editorial direction was then under Managing Editor John Conners. After 35 years as publisher, William E. Dargie died on February 10, 1911. Former Oakland Mayor Melvin C. Chapman served as acting president of the Tribune Publishing Company.Bruno Albert Forsterer (1869–1957), was publisher and general manager. He was executor of Dargie's estate. Bruno and his son, Harold B. Forsterer, also served the Knowlands and theTribune.
After five terms in theUnited States House of Representatives,Joseph R. Knowland (1873–1966) purchased theOakland Tribune from Dargie's widow, Hermina Peralta Dargie. In his first edition as publisher of the Oakland Tribune, November 14, 1915, he wrote, "It is perfectly understood that what theTribune does, rather than what it promises, will determine the true measure of its worth; and with that understanding, theTribune, under its new control, girds to its work."
Knowland moved theTribune to a new location at 13th and Franklin Streets on March 25, 1918. Under Knowland, theTribune became one-third of a triumvirate of California Republican newspapers with conservative viewpoints, along with theLos Angeles Times andSan Francisco Chronicle. TheTribune endorsed Republican candidates and "J.R." (as Knowland was widely known) often picked and controlled Republican elected officials. The Tribune would make many political careers, the most noted being Knowland's own sonWilliam F. Knowland andEarl Warren.
In 1921, Knowland started radio stationKLX and his newspaper library. The 305 feet tall[4]Tribune Tower, an Oakland landmark, was completed in 1923. The Tribune moved its business into the tower in 1924.[5]The Tribune Publishing Corporation, was founded by Knowland on January 4, 1928. The publishing corporation held interests inKLX, part owner of a paper mill in Tacoma, Washington and subsidiary businesses, U-Bild, Tower Graphics and Tribune Features, Inc.
In the mid-1930s, J.R. tied in with the Associated Press Wirephoto Service. He had a direct wire link for international news from London, England. The mast head logo, which became an icon of the paper, showed Oakland, a port to the world and nation. The logo changed with the times: the Tower, transport ship and steam locomotive; in later years, the Tower, theBay Bridge, larger transport ship, diesel engine, the china clipper and later, a jet airplane.
On September 1, 1950, theTribune became the sole Oakland daily newspaper, with the demise of its competitor,William Randolph Hearst'sOakland Post Enquirer.[6]
In 1960, Joseph R. Knowland's son, formerU.S. SenatorWilliam F. Knowland (1908–1974), was named editor; he had shared being assistant publisher with his brother, Joseph Russell "Russ" Knowland, Jr. (1901–1961), since 1933. Russ Knowland's 1961 death made his brother Bill sole successor to their father.
On February 1, 1966, Joseph R. Knowland died at the age of 92. William F. Knowland was appointed president and publisher. His son, Joseph William Knowland became vice-president and general manager. Bill Knowland added to the logo,A Responsible Metropolitan Newspaper. The Senator had assumed duties as theTribune's publisher and editor. He became the president ofThe Tribune Publishing Corporation.
Under Bill Knowland's ownership, theTribune had aconservative editorial position and a reputation for being strongly pro-business. As the city of Oakland became more ethnically and politically diverse in the 1960s and 1970s, the Tribune was unable to respond quickly enough to the demographic changes (and the political and social unrest exemplified, among other factors, by theUniversity of California, Berkeley,student uprisings and theBlack Panther movement).
TheTribune's readership declined after the early 1960s as a large portion of the paper's traditional subscription base relocated to the newly developing suburbs south and east of Oakland. In southernAlameda County, the readership went to Floyd Sparks'sThe (Hayward) Daily Review and inContra Costa County toDean Lesher'sContra Costa Times.
In 1973, Bill Knowland wrote inFortune magazine, "Any city needs a means of communication between the diverse members of its community. Communication is essential."
Bill Knowland's personal life would soon affect theOakland Tribune. Two days after theTribune celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 21, 1974, William F. Knowland committed suicide. On the death of their father, Joseph William Knowland (1930-2019), became theTribune's editor and publisher; Emelyn K. Jewett (1929–1988) became president ofThe Tribune Publishing Corporation.
The California Press Association honored Joseph W. Knowland, as the winner of the 1975,Publisher of the Year award. This honor was bestowed on Joe Knowland for his progressive innovations in the operations and makeup of the newspaper.[7]
In 1977, the Knowland Family sold theOakland Tribune to Combined Communications Corporation, owned by Arizona-based outdoor sign mogulKarl Eller.The Tribune Publishing Corporation, was dissolved by the Knowland Family. Eller had recently acquiredThe Cincinnati Enquirer. In 1979, CCC merged with the East Coast-based media conglomerateGannett Company, and theTribune was thus acquired by Gannett Company. That year,Allen H. Neuharth, Gannett CEO, used theTribune as a pilot project with a new morning paper calledEast Bay Today, which served as an early prototype of Gannett's later national paperUSA Today. In 1979, Gannett namedRobert C. Maynard (1937–1993) editor, becoming the first African-American editor in the paper's history. In 1983, Maynard—who by this time had become publisher and with Gannett's blessing—consolidated theTribune andEast Bay Today into a single morning newspaper under theTribune name.
In 1983, Maynard and his wife,Nancy Hicks Maynard, purchased theTribune from Gannett for $17 million (financed by a loan from Gannett) in the first management-ledleveraged buyout in U.S. newspaper history. It was also historic for theTribune becoming the first major metropolitan daily newspaper owned by anAfrican-American. This was seen as especially notable as Oakland was developing a relatively large African-American community which, by the 1980s, was becoming increasingly influential in local business and politics. Maynard helped restore the paper's reputation, earning a Pulitzer Prize in 1990.[8]
But for all of its editorial kudos under Maynard, theTribune still was plagued by financial difficulties beyond Maynard's control. Facing a debt of $31.5 million and on the brink of folding in August 1991, theTribune was saved by the Freedom Forum, Allen H. Neuharth's media foundation. The Freedom Forum paidGannett $2.5 million, retired theTribune's debt and gaveMaynard $5 million in operating funds. But the rescue proved to be short-lived, and the continuing financial pressures—combined with the disclosure in July 1992 that Robert Maynard had been diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer—forced the Maynards to put theTribune up for sale.
TheTribune Tower was severely damaged in theLoma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989, yet the paper continued to publish there until ANG moved it to a building located at Oakland's Jack London Square at the edge of San Francisco Bay. The Tower sat empty until 1995, when John Protopappas purchased it for $300,000. His company, Madison Park Financial Corporation, renovated the Tower in the late 1990s. TheTribune returned to the Tower after it reopened in 1999.
On October 15, 1992, theAlameda Newspaper Group (Now theBay Area News Group), a division ofMediaNews Group that published several competing suburban community newspapers, agreed to buy theTribune for $10 million from the Maynards. The final issue of theTribune under the Maynards rolled off the Tribune Tower's presses on November 30, 1992; and the first issue under ANG's ownership was printed at the company's Hayward plant the following day. As a result, theTribune was no longer considered the dominantEast Bay newspaper.
The group's entry into the computer age was first discussed at the 1983International Typographical Union convention; newspaper internet websites came of age in the mid- and late-1990s. TheANG official website wasInsideBayArea.com for the onlineOakland Tribune; the website was shared with other ANG/MediaNews newspapers.
On May 20, 2007, theTribune moved permanently from the Tribune Tower to new offices on Oakport Street, acrossInterstate 880 from theOakland Coliseum. The Tribune Tower, a local and national landmark, remains, now housing several businesses and a ground-floor cafe.[9]
On August 2, 2007,Oakland Post editor and former (1993–2005) Tribune journalistChauncey Bailey was murdered in a targeted hit on his way to work.[10] This led theTribune to start "The Chauncey Bailey Project", a series of articles focusing on the causes and aftermaths of the murder.
In 2011, BANG announced a plan to merge theTribune with other sister East Bay newspapers, but on October 27, 2011, BANG announced that it would retainThe Oakland Tribune masthead.[11]
On August 30, 2012, theTribune moved its offices to 1970 Broadway in Oakland's Uptown district.[12]
The last daily edition of theTribune was published on April 4, 2016, as it was combined with other BANG-owned East Bay papers theContra Costa Times,Hayward Daily Review andFremont Argus, The Alameda Journal under the newEast Bay Times nameplate.[2][3]
Oakland Voices emerged from a partnership between theOakland Tribune and The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education that began in 2010. It is a six-month hyper-local program led by the Maynard Institute that trains Oakland residents to tell the stories of their neighborhoods.Oakland Voices and its correspondents have been recognized by theSociety of Professional Journalists and other news organizations.[13][14]
TheOakland Tribune won thePulitzer Prize for a photograph of a small private plane narrowly missing aB-29 Superfortress in 1950, and again for photographs of the aftermath of the October 17, 1989,Loma Prieta earthquake.[15]
The majority of this article is from the History of the Oakland Tribune.
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