Delaware News-Journal
Encyclopedia
The News Journal is a newspaper in unincorporated
New Castle County, Delaware
, near New Castle, owned by Gannett.
owned two Delaware newspapers, The Morning News and The Evening Journal. Ownership of both papers was consolidated in 1919 when feuding factions of the family reconciled, forming the News Journal Company.
DuPont decided to sell The News Journal Company in 1978. Gannett won the bidding war, beating the Hearst Corporation
and The Washington Post Company. Gannett paid $60 million for the two Delaware papers and merged them in 1989 to form one paper, The News Journal.
In 2010, The News Journal Company became The News Journal Media Group in an effort to collectively identify their extensive product portfolio of print, digital, video and new media.
and the Delaware beaches. The paper also offers limited coverage of northeast Maryland
and southeast Pennsylvania
, mostly by means of short news briefs. The paper publishes national and international articles from wire service
s.
The News Journal also maintains a Washington, D.C.
bureau, mainly for covering Delaware's congressional delegation.
Special sections
The paper began offering an online news update weekdays at 4:30 pm. The once-daily update has evolved into as-it-happens online news coverage that often results in a couple dozen news updates per day.
DelawareOnline.Com was the first newspaper in the country to offer a morning and afternoon online newscast with anchor Patty Petite. The daily newscasts have been replaced with more of a breaking news feel instead of fixed broadcast times.
In the summer of 2007, The News Journal Media Group charged three summer interns with the task of finding a way to further increase youth readership. The result was Unami, media-rich website with short articles, some of which are original reports for Unami, and others which are condensed versions of articles that appeared in the News Journal. Unami, which gets its name from a Lenape (Delaware) Indian language
, is described as "a user-friendly format, catering to the ‘skimmers’ as well as those who Google search every new concept they come across".
In 2006, The News Journal provided Glasgow High School
with a $10,000 grant to assist the school's newspaper, The Dragon Fire. The News Journal also sent editors to Glasgow to assist the Dragon Fire with page layout and web design.
The News Journal Company also runs the Needy Family Fund, which partners with local charities to assist family in need of food and clothing. Each Christmas season, The News Journal asks readers to donate to the fund, and publishes a list of those who do.
To date, The News Journal Media Group has partnered with nearly half of the registered not-for-profit companies (registered 501 ( c ) 3 in New Castle County. A customized link - offering all types of correspondence from not-for-profits, church leaders and community affairs personnel is available at the bottom of DelawareOnline.com. In addition, The News Journal publishes a dedicated not-for-profit customized publication, GET INVOLVED - which is distributed in-paper on a bi-monthly basis.
Norman Lockman - Lockman served as managing editor of The News Journal from 1984 to 1991. After that, he became a member of the editorial board and wrote a regular column in the paper. Before joining The News Journal, Lockman won a Pulitzer Prize
for a series of articles on race relations he co-wrote for The Boston Globe
. Suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, Lockman wrote his final column in late 2004. He died the following April.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
New Castle County, Delaware
New Castle County, Delaware
New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware. As of 2010 its population was 538,479, an increase of 7.6% over the previous decade. The county seat is Wilmington. The center of population of Delaware is located in New Castle County, in the town of...
, near New Castle, owned by Gannett.
History
For most of the 20th century, the Du Pont familyDu Pont family
The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...
owned two Delaware newspapers, The Morning News and The Evening Journal. Ownership of both papers was consolidated in 1919 when feuding factions of the family reconciled, forming the News Journal Company.
DuPont decided to sell The News Journal Company in 1978. Gannett won the bidding war, beating the Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
and The Washington Post Company. Gannett paid $60 million for the two Delaware papers and merged them in 1989 to form one paper, The News Journal.
In 2010, The News Journal Company became The News Journal Media Group in an effort to collectively identify their extensive product portfolio of print, digital, video and new media.
Coverage area
The News Journal covers New Castle County most in-depth, but also offers considerable coverage of the Delaware General AssemblyDelaware General Assembly
The Delaware General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Delaware Senate with 21 Senators and the Delaware House of Representatives with 41 Representatives...
and the Delaware beaches. The paper also offers limited coverage of northeast Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and southeast Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, mostly by means of short news briefs. The paper publishes national and international articles from wire service
Wire Service
Wire Service is an American drama series that aired on ABC as part of its 1956-57 season lineup.-Synopsis:Wire Service focuses on three reporters for the fictional Trans-Globe wire service, which was similar to real-life news wire services such as the Associated Press and United Press International...
s.
The News Journal also maintains a Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
bureau, mainly for covering Delaware's congressional delegation.
Sections
Regular sections- News
- Local & Business
- Sports
- Life
- Classifieds
Special sections
- Business Monday
- Health (Tuesdays)
- Home and Garden (Thursdays) - replaces the Life section and includes comics and Dear AbbyDear AbbyDear Abby is the name of the advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name Abigail Van Buren and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name....
in addition to features on gardening and home design - Crossroads (Thursdays) - contains news about schools and other local, human-interest features. High schools in Delaware each have pick a student to write a short report about the happenings at their school for Crossroads. In April 2007, The News Journal began reprinting articles from local high school newspapers in the Crossroads section.
- 55 Hours (Fridays) - movie reviews, food reviews, and info about events occurring in the 55 hours of the weekend (and beyond)
- Auto (Saturdays)
- Sunday Life
- Celebrations (first Sunday of each month) - weddings, engagement announcements, anniversaries, and birthdays
Embrace of Technology
The News Journal Media Group entered the Internet age in the late 1990s with the launch of Delaware Online. The website features an online edition of all local content in the paper, as well as job listings and classified ads. DelawareOnline.com was cited in a 2008 Wilkerson and Associates study as the site Delawarean's visit first for news and entertainment. More than one million unique visitors are recorded each month.The paper began offering an online news update weekdays at 4:30 pm. The once-daily update has evolved into as-it-happens online news coverage that often results in a couple dozen news updates per day.
DelawareOnline.Com was the first newspaper in the country to offer a morning and afternoon online newscast with anchor Patty Petite. The daily newscasts have been replaced with more of a breaking news feel instead of fixed broadcast times.
Increasing Younger Readership
In order to increase its younger readership, The News Journal Media Group began publishing Spark, a weekly entertainment publication geared toward young adults. Spark, which focuses on concerts, movies, dining, night life, and other entertainment, is distributed free at nearly 1000 area businesses. The publication enjoys readership nearly three times it's distribution quantities from pass along readership.In the summer of 2007, The News Journal Media Group charged three summer interns with the task of finding a way to further increase youth readership. The result was Unami, media-rich website with short articles, some of which are original reports for Unami, and others which are condensed versions of articles that appeared in the News Journal. Unami, which gets its name from a Lenape (Delaware) Indian language
Lenape language
The Delaware languages, also known as the Lenape languages, are Munsee and Unami, two closely related languages of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family...
, is described as "a user-friendly format, catering to the ‘skimmers’ as well as those who Google search every new concept they come across".
Other publications
Besides Spark, The News Journal Media Group is responsible for several other publications:- Delaware Pets — Published monthly and distributed free at pet stores and veterinarian offices.
- MomsLikeMe.Com Magazine — Published monthly and distributed by mail to subscribers for free.
- Delaware Woman — Published bi-monthly and distributed by mail to subscribers for free.
Community involvement
The News Journal continues to participate in the acclaimed Newspapers for Education program, which provides free newspapers for area schools. On Fridays during the school year, the paper publishes an informational feature for school children, in the form of colorful, pull-out, double truck page in the Life section.In 2006, The News Journal provided Glasgow High School
Glasgow High School (Delaware)
Glasgow High School is one of the three public high schools belonging to Christiana School District, and is located in Newark, Delaware...
with a $10,000 grant to assist the school's newspaper, The Dragon Fire. The News Journal also sent editors to Glasgow to assist the Dragon Fire with page layout and web design.
The News Journal Company also runs the Needy Family Fund, which partners with local charities to assist family in need of food and clothing. Each Christmas season, The News Journal asks readers to donate to the fund, and publishes a list of those who do.
To date, The News Journal Media Group has partnered with nearly half of the registered not-for-profit companies (registered 501 ( c ) 3 in New Castle County. A customized link - offering all types of correspondence from not-for-profits, church leaders and community affairs personnel is available at the bottom of DelawareOnline.com. In addition, The News Journal publishes a dedicated not-for-profit customized publication, GET INVOLVED - which is distributed in-paper on a bi-monthly basis.
Notable Reporters
Cris Barrish - His byline calls him a "Senior Reporter". Often assigned to The News Journal's biggest stories, Barrish is best known for his coverage of the murder of Anne Marie Fahey and the ensuing murder trial of Thomas Capano. Barrish later co-authored the book Fatal Embrace about the case. Cris won the 2011 Al Nakkula Award for police reporting.Norman Lockman - Lockman served as managing editor of The News Journal from 1984 to 1991. After that, he became a member of the editorial board and wrote a regular column in the paper. Before joining The News Journal, Lockman won a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for a series of articles on race relations he co-wrote for The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
. Suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, Lockman wrote his final column in late 2004. He died the following April.