 Front page ofThe Sacramento Bee, April 29, 2024 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | The McClatchy Company |
| Editor | Chris Fusco[1] |
| Founded | 1857 (asThe Daily Bee)[2] |
| Headquarters | 1601 Alhambra Boulevard, Suite 100 Sacramento, California 95816 USA |
| Circulation | 90,244 Daily 142,589 Sunday (as of 2020)[3] |
| ISSN | 0890-5738 |
| OCLC number | 37706143 |
| Website | sacbee.com |
The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published inSacramento, California, in the United States. The paper was founded in 1857, and by 2007The Bee had become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 27th largest paper in the U.S.[4] It is distributed in the upperSacramento Valley, with a total circulation area that spans about 12,000 square miles (31,000 km2): south toStockton, California, north to theOregon border, east toReno, Nevada, and west to theSan Francisco Bay Area.[5][6]
The Bee is the flagship of the nationwideMcClatchy Company.[5] Its "Scoopy Bee" mascot,[7][8][9] created byWalt Disney in 1943, has been used by all threeBee newspapers (in Sacramento,[10]Modesto, andFresno).[5]
Under the nameThe Daily Bee, the first issue of the newspaper was published on February 3, 1857, proudly boasting that "the object of this newspaper is not only independence, but permanence".[5] At this time,The Bee was in competition with theSacramento Union, a newspaper founded in 1851.[2] AlthoughThe Bee soon surpassed theUnion in popularity, theUnion survived until its closure in 1994, leavingThe Sacramento Bee to be the longest-running newspaper in the city's history.
The first editor ofThe Sacramento Bee wasJohn Rollin Ridge,[11] butJames McClatchy took over the position by the end of the first week.
Also within a week of its creation,The Bee uncovered a state scandal which led to the impeachment ofKnow-NothingCalifornia State TreasurerHenry Bates.[12]
In 1925, it absorbed theSacramento Star, which was founded in 1904.[13]
On March 13, 2006, TheMcClatchy Company announced its agreement to purchaseKnight Ridder, the United States' second-largest chain of daily newspapers. The purchase price of $4.5 billion in cash and stock gave McClatchy 32 daily newspapers in 29 markets, with a total circulation of 3.3 million.[14][15]
On February 3, 2007, the paper celebrated its 150th anniversary, and a copy of the original issue was included in every newspaper. On February 4, 2007, a 120-page section was included detailing the paper's history. In 2008,The Sacramento Bee redesigned its layout.[5][16]
In the fall of 2020,The Bee announced[17] it would be vacating its longtime headquarters and printing plant inMidtown Sacramento at 21st and Q Streets (which it occupied since 1952), citing the need to cut costs and streamline in the wake of declining ad revenues, the rise of online journalism, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which most journalists and employees worked from home. The paper moved production to theSan Francisco Chronicle printing plant in the Bay Area suburb ofFremont. The following spring,The Bee announced[18] its editorial offices were relocating about a mile east to the Cannery, a business park occupying the redeveloped formerLibby, McNeill and Libby Cannery, which operated from 1912 to 1982.
The Sacramento Bee has won sixPulitzer Prizes in its history.[19] It has won numerous other awards, including many for its progressive public service campaigns promoting free speech (theBee often criticized government policy, and uncovered many scandals hurting Californians), anti-racism (The Bee supported theUnion during theAmerican Civil War and publicly denounced theKu Klux Klan), worker's rights (The Bee has a strong history of supportingunionization), andenvironmental protection (leading numerous tree-planting campaigns and fighting against environmental destruction in theSierra Nevada).[20]
