 | |
 Front page of July 1, 2017 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | The McClatchy Company |
| Editor | Stephanie Pedersen |
| Founded | 1883 |
| Headquarters | 1950 South State Street Tacoma,Washington 98405 United States |
| Circulation | 30,945 Daily 37,255 Sunday (as of 2020)[1] |
| ISSN | 1073-5860 |
| Website | thenewstribune |
The News Tribune is an American dailynewspaper based inTacoma, Washington. It is the second-largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington with a weekday circulation of 30,945 in 2020.[1] With origins dating back to 1883, the newspaper was established under its current form in 1918. Locally owned for 73 years by the Baker family, the newspaper was purchased byMcClatchy in 1986.
The newspaper can trace its origins back to the founding of the weeklyTacoma Ledger by R.F. Radebaugh in 1880 and H.C. Patrick, under the firm name Radebaugh & Company. Radebaugh had served on the reportorial staff of the San Francisco Chronicle. He first visited Tacoma in June 1879. Radebaugh grew to know Patrick, who owned and operated a weekly newspaper in Santa Cruz. Radebaugh and Patrick agreed to move the business to Tacoma. In Tacoma Radebaugh was the paper's editor and Patrick served as the business manager. The paper became a success and Radebaugh bought out Patrick's share. The Ledger served as a morning paper until 1937 and its name remained on the nameplate of The News Tribune and Sunday Ledger until 1979.[2]
In 1882, H.C. Patrick leftThe Ledger and subsequently boughtThe Pierce County News, another weekly owned by George Mattice which was first published on August 10, 1881; he renamed the latter toThe Weekly Tacoma News and doubled its size.[3] Both papers became dailies in 1883;The Ledger started daily publication on April 7, with theNews following on September 25.[4][5] In 1898, Radebaugh and Patrick sold their papers toSam A. Perkins. Radebaugh re-entered the market in 1908 with the debut ofThe Tacoma Daily Tribune, which began publication on June 12, but he underestimated the capital needed to run the newspaper successfully and sold it in 1910; by early 1912, itsinsolvency had reached $250,000, withJohn S. Baker as a principal creditor. Coincidentally, a group including Elbert H. Baker, a cousin of John, and his son Frank S. Baker had just sold theBoston Traveler to theBoston Herald; John traveled to his birthplace ofCleveland and convinced Elbert and Frank to explore a purchase ofThe Tribune, with Frank supporting the idea when he conducted an investigation in Tacoma. The Bakers purchased the paper and its debts, with Frank first appearing as its publisher on October 26.[6]
The Tribune became successful at the expense ofThe News and theTacoma Ledger, with Perkins facing about $400,000 in debt by early 1918; Perkins consulted his creditor, who stated that Tacoma's newspaper market was too saturated and suggested a merger withThe Tribune, which Perkins discussed with Frank S. Baker when they coincidentally found each other on a train to Cleveland. Subsequent negotiations resulted in Baker acquiring the two papers from Perkins, with Baker mergingThe News andThe Tribune together to formThe Tacoma News Tribune, its first issue appearing on June 17, 1918;The Ledger remained a separate morning and Sunday paper.[7][8]
In 1948, the paper began operating theradio stationsKTNT-AM andKTNT-FM, and began operating atelevision station with the same call letters in 1953. In 1972, KTNT-FM's call letters were changed toKNBQ, which becameKBSG in 1988, andKIRO-FM in 2008. Two years later, the television station was sold and its call letters changed toKSTW, which is now an independent station formerly affiliated withThe CW.
In 1979, the newspaper adopted the nameTacoma News Tribune. Its parent bought thePierce County Herald in Puyallup in 1983. In October 1985,Sacramento-basedMcClatchy Newspapers reached an agreement with the Baker family to purchase the Tribune Publishing Company's newspaper assets from them for an estimated $112 million, with the transaction completed on August 1, 1986;Viacom purchased the remaining assets, including KNBQ, at the same time.[9]
The News Tribune was published asThe Morning News Tribune from April 6, 1987, to October 4, 1993, when "Morning" was dropped from its name.[citation needed] In 1995, McClatchy bought thePeninsula Gateway in Gig Harbor. As of 2001, theNews Tribune was the third largest newspaper in Washington, with a daily circulation of 130,000.[10]
The newspaper, alongside sister publicationThe Olympian, was printed at a plant in Tacoma until February 3, 2019.[11] Since that time, the newspapers have been printed at the facilities ofThe Columbian inVancouver, Washington.[11] In March 2024, the newspaper announced it will decrease the number of print editions to three a week.[12]
Harriet Hall criticized theNews Tribune inSkeptical Inquirer in 2019 for its acceptance of advertisements for health-related products that imitated the presentation of real articles with only a small disclaimer.[13]
