The Clarion-Ledger is the daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second oldest company in the state of Mississippi and is one of only a few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating division of Gannett River States Publishing Corporation, which is owned by Gannett Company.

History

The paper traces its roots to The Eastern Clarion, founded in Jasper County, Mississippi in 1837. Later that year, it was sold and moved to Meridian, Mississippi^[1].

After the American Civil War, it was moved to Jackson and merged with The Standard. It soon became known as The Clarion.

Four employees who were displaced by the merger founded their own newspaper, The Jackson Evening Post, in 1882.

In 1888, The Clarion merged with the State Ledger and became known as the Daily Clarion-Ledger.

In 1907, Fred Sullens purchased an interest in the competing The Jackson Evening Post, and shortly after changed the name to the Jackson Daily News. It still remained an evening newspaper.

Thomas and Robert Hederman bought the Daily Clarion-Ledger in 1920 and renamed it The Clarion-Ledger.

On August 24, 1937, The Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News incorporated under a charter issued to Mississippi Publishers Corporation for the purpose of selling joint advertising.

On August 7, 1954, the Jackson Daily News sold out to its rival, The Clarion-Ledger, for $2,250,000 despite a then recent court ruling that blocked The Clarion-Ledger owners from controlling both papers. The Hederman family now owned both papers and consolidated the two newspaper plants^[2].

In 1982, Gannett Company purchased the two daily newspapers. Gannett consolidated them into one newspaper by combining the best features of both into The Clarion-Ledger in 1989, bringing the Jackson Daily News to an end. The purchase of both papers by Gannett essentially created a daily newspaper monopoly in Central Mississippi (Gannett also owns the the Hattiesburg American in Hattiesburg, Mississippi), which still exists today. The Clarion-Ledger's closest competition, the Jackson Free Press publishes once a week.

Civil rights

Historically, both newspapers - The Clarion-Ledger and the Jackson Daily News - had a terrible civil-rights record, although third-generation family member Rae Hederman made a sincere effort to change that. As an example, when 200,000 people marched on Washington in 1963 to urge "jobs and freedom" for blacks and Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his infamous "I Have A Dream" speech, The Clarion-Ledger made short note of the rally but reported the litter-clearance effort the next day under the headline, Washington is Clean Again with Negro Trash Removed^[3].

The paper campaigned to preserve segregation and referred to civil rights activists as "communists" and "chimpanzees," prompting some in the African-American community to call the publication, "The Klan-Ledger."^[4]

When violence, aided by such rabble rousing, took place in Mississippi, the paper sought to put the blame somewhere else. When Byron De La Beckwith was arrested for killing NAACP leader Medgar Evers, the headline read, "Californian Arrested in Evers Murder," overlooking the fact that Beckwith had lived in Mississippi almost his whole life^[5].

The paper's rehabilitation regarding civil rights began in the mid-1970s under Rea Hederman. Hederman expanded the staff and news budget. Editors began to pursue promising young reporters, even from other states. To help gain credibility among blacks, who are 79% of Jackson's population, the paper increased coverage of blacks and increased its black staff.

Ronnie Agnew became the Managing Editor in February 2001. In October 2002, he became the paper's first African American Executive Editor.

Major awards

In 1983, The Clarion-Ledger won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for a package of stories on Mississippi's education system^[6].

References

1. ↑ The Clarion-Ledger: History of The Clarion-Ledger
2. ↑ The New York Times: JACKSON NEWS IS SOLD; Passes to Clarion-Ledger After Long Control Battle
3. ↑ Time Magazine: New South at the Clarion-Ledger
4. ↑ From The Clarion-Ledger reporter Jerry Mitchell's Zenger Award Acceptance Speech
5. ↑ From The Clarion-Ledger reporter Jerry Mitchell's Zenger Award Acceptance Speech
6. ↑ Time Magazine: New South at the Clarion-Ledger

External links

• The Clarion-Ledger