Republican-American

Infobox Newspaper
name = Republican-American


caption = The December 22, 2006 front page of the
"Republican-American"
type = Daily newspaper
format = Broadsheet
foundation =
ceased publication =
price =
owners = American-Republican Inc.
publisher = William J. Pape II
editor = Jonathan Kellogg
language =
circulation =
headquarters = 389 Meadow Street, Waterbury, Connecticut 06722-2090 USA
ISSN =
website = [http://www.rep-am.com/ www.rep-am.com] The "Republican-American", headquartered in Waterbury, Connecticut is the United States' 193rd-largest newspaper (as of September 2005) with an average Sunday circulation of 61,100. [http://www.accessabc.com/reader/top150.htm] It was distinguished in 1940 with a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service "for its campaign exposing municipal graft" which is on public display. The name resulted from the merger of two newspapers in the early 1990s — the "American" and the "Republican" — by their owner, William J. Pape. The newspaper was founded and is still controlled by the Pape family through a holding company, American-Republican Inc., with William J. Pape II serving as current publisher. The executive editor is Jonathan F. Kellogg.

The newspaper is made up of more than 40 reporters covering Greater Waterbury, the Naugatuck Valley, and Litchfield County areas. Municipalities in the newspaper's coverage area include Waterbury, Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Canaan, Cheshire, Colebrook, Cornwall, Derby, Goshen, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Middlebury, Morris, Naugatuck, New Hartford, New Milford, North Canaan, Oxford, Plymouth, Prospect, Roxbury, Seymour, Sharon, Southbury, Thomaston, Torrington, Warren, Washington, Winchester, Watertown, Woodbury, and Wolcott; [Mike Puffer, [http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2008/07/10/news/352985.txt "State's population growth continues to slow"] , "Republican-American", July 10, 2008.] smaller non-incorporated areas include Bantam, Gaylordsville, Oakville, Terryville, Union City, Waterville, and Winsted.

The paper is located at 389 Meadow Street in Waterbury.

Editorial stance

The "Republican-American" has a right wing editorial stance. It has accused Senator Chris Dodd of being "chief apologist for the communist tyrants," [http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=10926] , Senate candidate Ned Lamont of being a Stalinist, [http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=11082] and claimed "Marxists-Socialists" control the Democratic Party. [Editorial, "Republican-American" (Waterbury, Conn.) - April 19, 2006 ] It frequently editorializes against gays and lesbians, liberals, environmentalists, teachers, unions, Democrats and perceived Communists (c.f. [http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=7224] Failed verification|date=February 2007).

The newspaper trade publication "Editor & Publisher" criticized the "Republican-American"'s editorial page for its "McCarthyism" and "red-baiting", and for an August 2005 editorial, "Is New Orleans Worth Reclaiming?" which called for the abandonment of New Orleans post-Katrina.Greg Mitchell, [http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002986825 "A Connecticut Yankee in Joe Stalin's Court: Painting Ned Lamont 'Red'"] , "Editor & Publisher", August 15, 2006.]

The "New Orleans Times-Picayune" criticized the "Republican-American" in an editorial titled "Yes, We're Worth It", labeling the Waterbury paper "heartless" and asking "How dare they?"

In response to 33 anti-gay editorials and opinion pieces published by the "Republican-American" between 2004 and 2006,Fact|date=February 2007 residents of Washington, Connecticut, asked the local board of selectmen [http://washingtonct.org/min-bos.html#September%207,%202006] Failed verification|date=February 2007 to stop publishing legal notices [http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17186607&BRD=1380&PAG=461&dept_id=157533&rfi=6] in the paper.

The "Republican-American" has also been critical of investment in mass transportation [http://www.trainweb.org/ct/waterbury.pdf] . Its headquarters are located alongside the city's Metro-North Railroad station, and actually in the beautiful Mead, McKim, and White-designed building that formerly served as the city's railroad station.

Fiscal conservative groups such as the Club for Growth have, on the other hand, supported much of the paper's editorial agenda. [http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2006/02/free_market_editorial_pages_th.php]

Some of the paper's main competitors include the "Connecticut Post", the "Danbury News-Times", the "Meriden Record-Journal", the "New Haven Register", and the Torrington "Register Citizen".

Diversity

According to a 2005 study that was funded --- but not conducted -- by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 97.2% of the "Republican-American"'s newsroom staff in 2005 were white. The foundation awarded the paper a 16 on its Diversity Index, which ranks newspapers by the diversity of their newsroom staff in comparison to the diversity of the communities which they serve. The study found that the "Republican-American" ranked 84th out of a total of 90 peer newspapers on its diversity index. [http://www.powerreporting.com/knight/ct_waterbury_republican-american.html]

References

External links

* http://www.rep-am.com/