The Virginian-Pilot is a daily
newspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
based in
NorfolkNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
,
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and serving the
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the NorfolkâVirginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
metropolitan area, southeastern Virginia, the
Eastern Shore of VirginiaThe Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...
, and northeastern
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. The flagship property of Landmark Media Enterprises,
The Pilot is Virginia's largest daily metro paper. It is sometimes erroneously called The VIRGINIA Pilot.
History
The Virginian-Pilot and its sister afternoon edition, the
Ledger-Star (which ceased publication in 1995) were created by Samuel L. Slover as the result of several mergers of papers dating back to 1868. Slover's nephew
Frank Batten Sr.Frank Batten was the founder of the first nationwide, 24-hour cable weather channel, The Weather Channel...
became publisher at age 27 in 1954. He expanded the
Virginian-Pilots parent company, which soon evolved into Landmark Communications and later Landmark Media Enterprises, by acquiring other newspapers and radio stations and by creating The Weather Channel, now owned by NBC UniversalNBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
.
In the 1920s, editor Louis Jaffe received the Virginian-Pilots first
Pulitzer PrizeThe 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...
. Jaffe mentored the paper's next editor, Lenoir Chambers, who in 1960 received the paper's second
PulitzerThe 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 his editorials on
desegregationDesegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
.
Frank Batten Jr. became publisher in 1991 and began digitalizing the paper. In 1993
The Virginian-Pilot was one of the first newspapers in the country to launch a sister website, Pilotonline.com. Batten Jr. stepped down as the paper's publisher, becoming Landmark Communications' Chairman and CEO. "Dee" Carpenter became publisher in 1995, followed by Bruce Bradley in 2005, and Maurice Jones in 2008.
For a long time, The Virginian-Pilot's motto was "True to the Democratic Party in victory or defeat".
Offices and corporate
The paper's offices remains in their original downtown
NorfolkNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
headquarters on Brambleton Avenue, where it has been based since the 1940s. The paper operates satellite offices in Virginia Beach,
SuffolkSuffolk is the largest city by area in Virginia, United States, and is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 84,585. Its median household income was $57,546.-History:...
,
PortsmouthPortsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
, and Chesapeake, and on the
Outer BanksThe Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
of North Carolina in
Nags HeadNags Head is a town in Dare County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,700 at the 2000 census.-History:Early maps of the area show Nags Head as a promontory of land characterized by high sand dunes visible from miles at sea...
. The paper's printing facility, once located also in the downtown Norfolk headquarters, is in Virginia Beach.
The Virginian-Pilot is a division of Pilot Media Companies, which includes Pilotonline.com/Hamptonroads.com, Pilot Direct printing,
LNC (Local News on Cable)Local News on Cable, or LNC5, was a joint venture between WVEC-TV , Cox Communications Hampton Roads, and The Virginian-Pilot. LNC5 was owned by the Belo Corporation. Launched on February 24, 1997 as LNC4 on Cox Cable channel 4. It later moved to channel 5 after the launch of independent station...
/Pilot13 News, Hamptonroads.tv, Inside Business, Link, The Flagship, Military Newspapers of Virginia, and other supplemental print and web businesses.
A January 3, 2008, report suggests a possible sale of The Virginian-Pilot's parent company, Landmark Communications. After much debate, The Virginian-Pilot was taken off of the selling block. The company will not go back on sale for another few years.
External links