The Arizona Republic

Infobox_Newspaper
name =


caption = The January 27, 2008 front page of
"The Arizona Republic"
type = Daily newspaper
format = Broadsheet
foundation = 1890 (as "The Arizona Republican")
owners = Gannett Company
headquarters = 200 East Van Buren Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
USA
publisher = John Zidich
editor = Randy Lovely
circulation = 433,731 Daily
541,757 Sundaycite web | title=2008 Top 100 Daily Newspapers in the U.S. by Circulation |publisher=Burrelles"Luce" |url=http://www.burrellesluce.com/top100/2008_Top_100List.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-07-17 |date=2008-03-31]
website = [http://www.azcentral.com azcentral.com]

"The Arizona Republic" is a daily newspaper published in Phoenix, Arizona. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. It was ranked tenth in US daily newspapers by circulation in 2007.

History

Early years

The newspaper was founded May 19, 1890, under the name "The Arizona Republican".cite web|url=http://www.gannett.com/about/map/ataglance/phoenixnews.htm|title=About Gannett: The Arizona Republic|publisher=Gannett Co., Inc.|accessdate=2006-11-24] Back then, it was known for its rather racist points of view, particularly against Native Americans, blacks and Mexicans. Over the years, the newspaper changed its name and its views on race.

Dwight B. Heard, a Phoenix land and cattle baron, ran the newspaper from 1912 until his death in 1929. The paper was then run by two of its top executives, Charles Stauffer and W. Wesley Knorpp, until it was bought by midwestern newspaper magnate Eugene C. Pulliam in 1946. Stauffer and Knorpp had changed the newspaper's name to "The Arizona Republic" in 1930, and also had bought the rival "Phoenix Evening Gazette" and "Phoenix Weekly Gazette", later known, respectively, as "The Phoenix Gazette" and the "Arizona Business Gazette".

Pulliam era

Pulliam, who bought the two "Gazettes" as well as the "Republic", ran all three newspapers until his death in 1975 at the age of 86. A strong period of growth came under Pulliam, who imprinted the newspaper with his conservative brand of politics and his drive for civic leadership. Pulliam was considered one of the influential business leaders who created the modern Phoenix area as it is known today.

Pulliam's holding company, Central Newspapers, Inc., as led by Pulliam's widow and son, assumed operation of the Republic/Gazette family of papers upon the elder Pulliam's death. The Phoenix Gazette was closed in 1997 and its staff merged with that of the Republic. The Arizona Business Gazette is still published to this day.

In 1998, a weekly section geared towards college students, "The Rep", went into circulation. Specialized content is also available in the local sections produced for many of the different cities and suburbs that make up the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Gannett purchase

Central Newspapers was purchased by Gannett in 2000, bringing it into common ownership with "USA Today", the "Tucson Citizen" (the afternoon newspaper in Tucson which Gannett purchased in 1977) and the local Phoenix NBC television affiliate, KPNX. The "Republic" often supplements its coverage of Southern Arizona with stories from the Citizen. The "Republic" and KPNX combine their forces to produce their common local news website, [http://www.azcentral.com www.azcentral.com] . It is the most-visited site in the state of Arizona and is among the most-trafficked newspaper websites in the U.S.

taff

One of Arizona's best-known sports writers, Norm Frauenheim, works for this publication. Other notable figures include Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist Steve Benson and columnist E.J. Montini.

Don Bolles murder

An investigative reporter for the newspaper, Don Bolles, was the victim of a car bombing on June 2, 1976, dying eleven days afterward. He had been lured to a meeting in Phoenix in the course of work on a story and the bomb detonated as he started his car to leave. Retaliation against his pursuit of organized crime in Arizona is thought to be a motive in the murder. The case has not been solved.

Editorial positions

"The Arizona Republic" editorial board endorsed President George W. Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. In local elections, it has recently endorsed Democratic candidates such as current Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and current Arizona Congressman Harry Mitchell.

Sections

* Valley and State
* Classifieds
* News (first section)
* Sports
* Arizona Living (Mondays through Thursdays)
* Explore Arizona (Fridays only)
* Calendar (formerly The Rep) (Thursdays only)
* Travel (Sundays only)
* Arts & Entertainment (Sundays only)
* Food + Drink (Wednesdays only)
* Home (Saturdays only)
* Business
* Local (localized compact newspapers referred to as "Community papers/editions" Wednesday-Saturday only)

References

External links

* [http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Official web site]
* [http://www.ananews.com/History/Newspapers/AzRepublic.htm History of the Republic from Arizona Newspapers Association website]