 The January 1, 2012, front page of the first edition of theTampa Bay Times. | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Times Publishing Company |
| Founded | 1884; 141 years ago (1884) |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 490 First Avenue South St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 United States |
| Circulation | 102,266 Average print circulation[1] |
| ISSN | 2327-9052 (print) 2641-4643 (web) |
| OCLC number | 5920090 |
| Website | tampabay |
TheTampa Bay Times, called theSt. Petersburg Times until 2011, is an Americannewspaper published inSt. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by theTimes Publishing Company, which is owned byThe Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a nonprofitjournalism school directly adjacent to theUniversity of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.
It has won fourteenPulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single year for the first time in its history, one of which was for itsPolitiFact project.
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The newspaper traces its origin to theWest Hillsborough Times, a weekly newspaper established inDunedin, Florida, on thePinellas Peninsula in 1884. At the time, neither St. Petersburg norPinellas County existed; the peninsula was part ofHillsborough County. The paper was published weekly in the back of a pharmacy and had a circulation of 480. It subsequently changed ownership six times in seventeen years.[2] In December 1884, it was bought by A. C. Turner,[3] who moved it toClear Water Harbor (modernClearwater, Florida).[2] In 1892, it moved to St. Petersburg,[2] and by 1898 it was officially renamed theSt. Petersburg Times.[4]
TheTimes becamebi-weekly in 1907, and began publication six days a week in 1912. Paul Poynter, a publisher originally from Indiana, bought the paper in September 1912 and converted to a seven-day paper, though it was rarely financially stable. Paul's son,Nelson Poynter, became editor in 1939 and took majority control of the paper in 1947, and set about improving the paper's finances and prestige. Nelson Poynter controlled the paper until his death in 1978, when he willed the majority of the stock to the non-profitPoynter Institute.[2] In November 1986, theEvening Independent was merged into theTimes.[citation needed] Poynter was succeeded as editor byEugene Patterson (1978–1988),[2] Andrew Barnes (1988–2004),[2]Paul Tash (2004–2010; chair of the Times Publishing Company since 2004 and the Poynter Institute since 2007)[5][2] Neil Brown (2010–2017),[6] and Mark Katches (2018–present).[7]
On January 1, 2012, theSt. Petersburg Times was renamed theTampa Bay Times; this stemmed from a 2006 decision of a lawsuit withMedia General, at the time the publishers of theTimes' competing newspaper,The Tampa Tribune, which allowed that paper to keep its exclusive right to use the name of its defunct sister paper,The Tampa Times, for five years after the decision.[4]
As the newly rechristenedTampa Bay Times, the paper's weekday tabloidtbt*, a free daily publication and which used "(* Tampa Bay Times)" as its subtitle, became justtbt when the name change took place.[4] TheSt. Pete Times name lives on as the name for theTimes' neighborhood news sections in southernPinellas County (formerlyNeighborhood Times), serving communities fromLargo southward.
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TheTimes has also done significant investigative reporting on theChurch of Scientology, since the church's acquisition of theFort Harrison Hotel in 1975 and other holdings inClearwater. TheTimes has published special reports and series critical of the church and its current leader,David Miscavige.[8]
In 2010, theTimes published an investigative report questioning the validity of theUnited States Navy Veterans Association, leading to significant reaction and official investigations into the group nationwide.[9]
On May 3, 2016, theTimes acquired its longtime competitorThe Tampa Tribune, with the latter publication immediately ceasing publishing[10] andTribune features and some writers expected to be merged into theTimes.[11] As reported by other local media outlets in the Tampa Bay area at the time of this acquisition, for many years theTampa Tribune was considered to be the moreconservative newspaper in the region, while theTampa Bay Times was thought of as moreliberal.[10]
TheTimes' purchase ofThe Tribune also allowed its circulation area to be expanded intoPolk County, placing it in competition with other newspapers such asThe Lakeland Ledger andThe Polk County Democrat, as well as into the south central region of the state known as theFlorida Heartland. In the case of the latter, theTimes publishedHighlands Today, which was a daily news supplement ofThe Tribune for readers inHighlands County.[12] TheTimes sold the paper in 2016 to Sun Coast Media Group.[13]
In October 2019, the paper laid off seven newsroom employees.[14]
TheTimes received $8.5 million in federal loans from thePaycheck Protection Program by July 2020 during theCOVID-19 pandemic. By this point, they had reduced delivery to two days per week. They had also cut 11 journalists' jobs through layoffs expected before the pandemic.[15]
In August 2024, the paper announced it will eliminate 60 jobs, amounting to 20% of total staff.[16]
On October 9-10, 2024, the Tampa Bay Times building was severely damaged duringHurricane Milton by a nearby construction crane that collapsed onto the building.[17]
The newspaper createdPolitiFact.com, a project in which its reporters and editors "fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups…"[18] They publish original statements and their evaluations on the PolitiFact.com website and assign each a "Truth-O-Meter" rating, with ratings ranging from "True" for completely true statements to "Pants on Fire" (from the taunt "Liar, liar, pants on fire") for false and ridiculous statements. The site also includes an "Obameter",[19] trackingU.S. PresidentBarack Obama's performance with regard to his campaign promises. PolitiFact.com was awarded thePulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2009 for "itsfact-checking initiative during the 2008 presidential campaign that used probing reporters and the power of the World Wide Web to examine more than 750 political claims, separating rhetoric from truth to enlighten voters."[20] TheTimes sold PolitiFact.com to its parent company, the Poynter Institute, in 2018.
| Year | Award | Work | Recipients | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Pulitzer Prize | For a compelling exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to adequately protect workers and nearby residents. | Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray | Investigative Reporting | Won[21] |
| 2021 | Pulitzer Prize | For resourceful, creative reporting that exposed how a powerful and politically connected sheriff built a secretive intelligence operation that harassed residents and used grades and child welfare records to profile schoolchildren. | Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi | Local Reporting | Won[22] |
| 2019 | Pulitzer Prize | For impactful reporting, based on sophisticated data analysis, that revealed an alarming rate of patient fatalities following Johns Hopkins' takeover of a pediatric heart treatment facility. | Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi | Investigative Reporting | Finalist[23] |
| 2016 | Pulitzer Prize | "For exposing a local school board's culpability in turning some county schools into failure factories, with tragic consequences for the community. (Moved by the Board from the Public Service category, where it was also entered.)" | Michael LaForgia,Cara Fitzpatrick and Lisa Gartner | Local Reporting | Won[24] |
| "For a stellar example of collaborative reporting by two news organizations that revealed escalating violence and neglect in Florida mental hospitals and laid the blame at the door of state officials." | Leonora LaPeter Anton andAnthony Cormier of the Tampa Bay Times and Michael Braga of theSarasota Herald-Tribune | Investigative Reporting | Won[25] | ||
| 2014 | Pulitzer Prize | "For relentlessly investigating the squalid conditions that marked housing for Hillsborough County's substantial homeless population, leading to swift reforms." | Will Hobson and Michael LaForgia | Local Reporting | Won[26] |
| 2013 | Pulitzer Prize | "For helping reverse the decision to end fluoridation of water in Pinellas County." | Tim Nickens and Daniel Ruth | Editorial Writing | Won[27] |
| 2012 | Pulitzer Prize | Tim Nickens, Joni James, John Hill andRobyn Blumner | Editorial Writing | Finalist[28] | |
| 2010 | National Headliner Awards | "Inside Scientology" | Thomas C. Tobin and Joe Childs | Investigative reporting | Finalist[29] |
| Florida Society of News Editors | Gold Medal for Public Service | Won[30][31] | |||
| Pulitzer Prize | "For Their Own Good" | Ben Montgomery, Waveney Ann Moore, and photographer Edmund D. Fountain | Local Reporting | Finalist[32] | |
| 2009 | Pulitzer Prize | PolitiFact.com | Times staff, represented by Bill Adair, Washington bureau chief | National Reporting | Won[33][34] |
| Public Service | Finalist[20] | ||||
| "The Girl in the Window" | Lane DeGregory | Feature Writing | Won[33][35] | ||
| "Winter's Tale" | John Barry | Feature Writing | Finalist[20] | ||
| 2007 | Scripps Howard Foundation | Human Interest Writing | Lane DeGregory | Ernie Pyle Award | Won[36] |
| "A Republican vs. Republican Cellular Division" | Wes Allison | Raymond Clapper Award | Won[36] | ||
| Pulitzer Prize | "In His Own Defense" | Christopher Goffard | Feature Writing | Finalist[37] | |
| 2003 | Scripps Howard Foundation | Human Interest Writing | Kelley Benham | Ernie Pyle Award | Won[38] |
| 2002 | Scripps Howard Foundation | "The Poison in Your Back Yard" | Julie Hauserman | Edward J. Meeman Award | Won[39] |
| 2000 | Pulitzer Prize | "Una Vida Mejor" | Anne Hull | Feature Writing | Finalist[40] |
| National Reporting | Finalist[40] | ||||
| 1999 | Sigma Delta Chi | "Deadly Rampage" | Times staff | Excellence in deadline reporting | Won[41] |
| Investigative report ofU.S. Rep.Corrine Brown | Bill Adair and David Dahl | Washington correspondence | Won[41][3] | ||
| 1998 | Pulitzer Prize | "Angels & Demons" | Thomas French | Feature Writing | Won[33][42] |
| Investigative report of TheRev.Henry Lyons | Times staff | Investigative Reporting | Finalist[43] | ||
| The "Tobacco" series | David Barstow | Explanatory Reporting | Finalist[43] | ||
| 1997 | Pulitzer Prize | Coverage of the1996 St. Petersburg riot | Times staff | Spot News Reporting | Finalist[44] |
| 1995 | Pulitzer Prize | "Final Indignities" | Jeffrey Good | Editorial Writing | Won[33][45] |
| "A Secret Life" | Anne Hull | Feature Writing | Finalist[46] | ||
| 1992 | Pulitzer Prize | "Life From Death" | Sheryl James | Feature Writing | Finalist[47] |
| 1991 | Pulitzer Prize | "A Gift Abandoned" | Sheryl James | Feature Writing | Won[33][48] |
| 1985 | Pulitzer Prize | Corruption inPasco County Sheriff's Office | Lucy Morgan and Jack Reed | Investigative Reporting | Won[33][49] |
| 1982 | Pulitzer Prize | Coverage of drug smuggling inDixie County, Florida | Lucy Morgan | Local General or Spot News Reporting | Finalist[50] |
| 1980 | Pulitzer Prize | Investigation ofChurch of Scientology operations inFlorida | Bette Swenson Orsini and Charles Stafford | National Reporting | Won[33][51][52] |
| Times staff | Public Service | Finalist[53] | |||
| 1969 | Penney-Missouri Award | Women's section | Marjorie Paxson | General Excellence | Won[54] |
| 1964 | Pulitzer Prize | Investigation ofFlorida Turnpike Authority | Martin Waldron and Times staff[55] | Meritorious Public Service | Won[33][56] |
Inside Scientology – The St. Petersburg Times reporting on the Church of Scientology is in the finest traditions of American journalism. The reporting by Joseph Childs and Thomas Tobin stands out for the ways in which it held accountable the powerful.
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (1951–1975) | ||
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