The Richmond News Leader
Encyclopedia
The Richmond News Leader was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Richmond, Virginia
from 1888 to 1992. During much of its run, it was the largest newspaper source in Richmond, competing with the morning Richmond Times-Dispatch
. By the late 1960s
, afternoon papers had been steadily losing their audiences to television
, and The News Leader was no exception. Its circulation at one time exceeded 200,000, but at the time of its closing, it had fallen below 80,000. Notable alumni of the newspaper included historian and biographer Douglas Southall Freeman, future television journalist Roger Mudd
, conservative commentator James Kilpatrick, and editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly
. During its run, it garnered a reputation as being one of the most politically conservative newspapers in the United States
.
, where it was founded as The Leader by J. F. Bradley and Ben P. Owen, Jr. in 1888. It was purchased in 1896 by Richmond newspaper publisher Joseph Bryan, who re-launched the paper on November 30 as The Evening Leader. On January 26, 1903, The Evening Leader merged with The Richmond News, which Harvey L. Wilson had founded in 1899 and John L. Williams had bought in 1900, to form The Richmond News Leader, owned by Williams. On the same day, Bryan's The Times and Williams' The Richmond Dispatch merged to become the Richmond Times-Dispatch
, owned by Bryan. Bryan died in 1908, shortly after buying the News Leader from Williams, and left both papers to his son John Stewart Bryan. Both newspapers, the two primary sources of news in Richmond and the main competitors of each other, were owned and published by John Stewart Bryan until 1914, when he sold the Times-Dispatch to three families, including that of Norfolk newspaperman Samuel L. Slover, publisher of The Virginian-Pilot
and the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch. In 1940, Bryan repurchased the Times-Dispatch, forming the corporation Richmond Newspapers Inc., which became a subsidiary of the newly formed Media General in 1969. John Stewart Bryan died in 1944, leaving Richmond Newspapers Inc. to his son, David Tennant Bryan.
Tennant Bryan was publisher of both papers until 1978, when his son John Stewart Bryan III took over. Tennant remained as chairman, president and CEO of Media General until his son succeeded him in 1990. Tennant died in 1998.
in the United States, when African American
s sought to overturn laws enforcing racial segregation
, the editorial page of the News Leader -- like that of the Times-Dispatch -- maintained a strong segregationist
stance.
Years after his tenure at the newspaper, Kilpatrick wrote that he was an "ardent segregationist" and reflected his views in his News Leader editorials, though he had since renounced segregation. Mudd, in writing in his memoir
s, The Place to Be, recalled that at the News Leader, reporters were often told to identify local white ministers with the formal prefix
"The Reverend", while local black ministers were simply called "Reverend."
Even after African-Americans were given equal rights, Dr. Maurice Duke, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University
, claimed that the News Leader remained "pro-Confederacy
" into the 1970s
. Raymond H. Boone, the publisher of a black-oriented newspaper called the Richmond Free Press
, faulted the News Leader for dividing the city along racial lines.
, the News Leader began experiencing a steady decline in circulation
. In 1991, Media General announced that it would merge the News Leader and the Times-Dispatch into a single morning newspaper under the Times-Dispatch banner, effective June 1, 1992. News Leader publisher J. Stewart Bryan III, in referencing the company's dual-ownership of both newspapers, said, "[The News Leader is] a grand old name, but we could no longer afford the luxury of competing with ourselves."
The final edition of The Richmond News Leader was printed on May 30, with the single headline, "Nevermore." On the same day, the News Leader also printed a special commemorative magazine showing past front pages from the News Leader reporting on historic events from the 1890s
to the 1990s
, including the Hindenburg disaster
, the attack on Pearl Harbor
, the John F. Kennedy assassination
, the Challenger disaster
, and the First Persian Gulf War
. The magazine also featured letters to the editor
by local readers, many of whom had read the News Leader for decades, who wrote about numerous personal experiences tied with the paper. The newspaper's staff was transferred to the new Times-Dispatch after the merger took place.
The end of the News Leader attracted national attention. Stories about the newspaper and its history appeared in The Washington Post
and The New York Times
. National Review
, a conservative periodical, hailed the conservative News Leader as "one of nation's great newspapers" and added, "[T]his distinctive journalistic voice will be missed. Its disappearance represents yet another advance of homogenization and yet another erosion of the sense of place in American journalism. Ave atque vale."
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
from 1888 to 1992. During much of its run, it was the largest newspaper source in Richmond, competing with the morning Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond the capital of Virginia, United States, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state...
. By the late 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
, afternoon papers had been steadily losing their audiences to television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, and The News Leader was no exception. Its circulation at one time exceeded 200,000, but at the time of its closing, it had fallen below 80,000. Notable alumni of the newspaper included historian and biographer Douglas Southall Freeman, future television journalist Roger Mudd
Roger Mudd
Roger Mudd is a U.S. television journalist and broadcaster, most recently as the primary anchor for The History Channel. Previously, Mudd was weekend and weekday substitute anchor of CBS Evening News, co-anchor of the weekday NBC Nightly News, and hosted NBC's Meet the Press, and NBC's American...
, conservative commentator James Kilpatrick, and editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly
Jeff MacNelly
Jeffrey Kenneth MacNelly was a three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and the creator of the popular comic strip Shoe.-Early life:...
. During its run, it garnered a reputation as being one of the most politically conservative newspapers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
History
The News Leader began in nearby Manchester, VirginiaManchester, Virginia
Manchester, Virginia is a former independent city in Virginia in the United States. Prior to receiving independent status, it served as the county seat of Chesterfield County, between 1870 and 1876...
, where it was founded as The Leader by J. F. Bradley and Ben P. Owen, Jr. in 1888. It was purchased in 1896 by Richmond newspaper publisher Joseph Bryan, who re-launched the paper on November 30 as The Evening Leader. On January 26, 1903, The Evening Leader merged with The Richmond News, which Harvey L. Wilson had founded in 1899 and John L. Williams had bought in 1900, to form The Richmond News Leader, owned by Williams. On the same day, Bryan's The Times and Williams' The Richmond Dispatch merged to become the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond the capital of Virginia, United States, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state...
, owned by Bryan. Bryan died in 1908, shortly after buying the News Leader from Williams, and left both papers to his son John Stewart Bryan. Both newspapers, the two primary sources of news in Richmond and the main competitors of each other, were owned and published by John Stewart Bryan until 1914, when he sold the Times-Dispatch to three families, including that of Norfolk newspaperman Samuel L. Slover, publisher of The Virginian-Pilot
The Virginian-Pilot
The Virginian-Pilot is a daily newspaper based in Norfolk, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, southeastern Virginia, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The flagship property of Landmark Media Enterprises, The Pilot is Virginia's largest daily...
and the Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch. In 1940, Bryan repurchased the Times-Dispatch, forming the corporation Richmond Newspapers Inc., which became a subsidiary of the newly formed Media General in 1969. John Stewart Bryan died in 1944, leaving Richmond Newspapers Inc. to his son, David Tennant Bryan.
Tennant Bryan was publisher of both papers until 1978, when his son John Stewart Bryan III took over. Tennant remained as chairman, president and CEO of Media General until his son succeeded him in 1990. Tennant died in 1998.
Civil Rights Era
During the period of time marked by the Civil Rights MovementCivil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
in the United States, when African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s sought to overturn laws enforcing racial segregation
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
, the editorial page of the News Leader -- like that of the Times-Dispatch -- maintained a strong segregationist
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
stance.
Years after his tenure at the newspaper, Kilpatrick wrote that he was an "ardent segregationist" and reflected his views in his News Leader editorials, though he had since renounced segregation. Mudd, in writing in his memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s, The Place to Be, recalled that at the News Leader, reporters were often told to identify local white ministers with the formal prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
"The Reverend", while local black ministers were simply called "Reverend."
Even after African-Americans were given equal rights, Dr. Maurice Duke, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
, claimed that the News Leader remained "pro-Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
" into the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
. Raymond H. Boone, the publisher of a black-oriented newspaper called the Richmond Free Press
Richmond Free Press
The Richmond Free Press is an independent newspaper in Richmond, Virginia. Published on a weekly basis, it is mainly targeted at the city's African-American community. Its main competitor is the Richmond Times-Dispatch owned by Media General. Raymond H. Boone is the paper's founder, editor and...
, faulted the News Leader for dividing the city along racial lines.
Closure
Beginning in the 1980s1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, the News Leader began experiencing a steady decline in circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
. In 1991, Media General announced that it would merge the News Leader and the Times-Dispatch into a single morning newspaper under the Times-Dispatch banner, effective June 1, 1992. News Leader publisher J. Stewart Bryan III, in referencing the company's dual-ownership of both newspapers, said, "[The News Leader is] a grand old name, but we could no longer afford the luxury of competing with ourselves."
The final edition of The Richmond News Leader was printed on May 30, with the single headline, "Nevermore." On the same day, the News Leader also printed a special commemorative magazine showing past front pages from the News Leader reporting on historic events from the 1890s
1890s
The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...
to the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
, including the Hindenburg disaster
Hindenburg disaster
The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, which is located adjacent to the borough of Lakehurst, New Jersey...
, the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, the John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
, the Challenger disaster
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 am EST...
, and the First Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. The magazine also featured letters to the editor
Letter to the editor
A letter to the editor is a letter sent to a publication about issues of concern from its readers. Usually, letters are intended for publication...
by local readers, many of whom had read the News Leader for decades, who wrote about numerous personal experiences tied with the paper. The newspaper's staff was transferred to the new Times-Dispatch after the merger took place.
The end of the News Leader attracted national attention. Stories about the newspaper and its history appeared in The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, a conservative periodical, hailed the conservative News Leader as "one of nation's great newspapers" and added, "[T]his distinctive journalistic voice will be missed. Its disappearance represents yet another advance of homogenization and yet another erosion of the sense of place in American journalism. Ave atque vale."