Wisconsin State Journal
Encyclopedia
The Wisconsin State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin
by Lee Enterprises
. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin
, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of March 2006, the Wisconsin State Journal had an average weekday circulation of 89,932 and an average Sunday circulation of 148,489.
on December 2, 1839. The paper began as an afternoon weekly, but during legislative sessions would publish every other day. As a strong supporter of the Whig Party
, the paper endorsed William Henry Harrison for president in 1840.
arrived in Madison on Oct. 15, 1847, and soon began working as a compositor and assistant editor at the Madison Express for $6 a week and board. He purchased the paper with partner Royal Buck in 1848, changing its name to the Wisconsin Express to expand its outlook. He also established the paper editorially as an outspoken opponent of slavery. In 1852 the weekly paper merged with Wyman's Wisconsin Statesman to become the Wisconsin Daily Palladium for three months. On Sept. 30, 1852 it changed its name again to the Wisconsin Daily Journal and to its current name in 1860. To bring in more revenue Atwood followed his brother's example in the east and began a lucrative sideline business of printing law books.
Following a convention of anti-slavery citizens held in the state capitol in 1854, the paper began trumpeting the views of the new Republican Party
, created three months earlier in Ripon
, Wisconsin. In 1858, Atwood was commissioned a major general in the Wisconsin Militia by Governor Alexander W. Randall, but still retained ownership of the newspaper. On July 10, 1861, the State Journal became the first newspaper to produce and sell ready-printed "patent insides," pages with Civil War
news on one side but blank on the other, where the Baraboo Republic then printed its local news and advertising. Fostered by business manager John S. Hawks, this invention helped make many rural papers possible. After the Civil War the State Journal became a "mouthpiece" for local postmaster and Republican patronage boss Elisha W. Keyes
.
During Atwood's 41-year tenure as publisher, he was a state assemblyman (1861), an internal revenue assessor (1862–1866), a Madison mayor (1868–1869) and a U.S. representative to Congress (1870), all the while publishing the Wisconsin State Journal until his death in 1889. As mayor, Atwood sought to develop manufacturing in Madison, a position he could then applaud in his own paper.
Horace Rublee was the paper’s associate editor in 1853 and the next year became Atwood’s partner. He later became chairman of the Republican state committee, and editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel. Atwood's other partners included George Gary (1855–1856) and Harrison Reed (1859–1861), who later became the sixth governor of Florida. J.O. Culver purchased Rublee’s interest in the paper in 1868 on the latter’s appointment by President Ulysses S. Grant
as minister to Switzerland
. Culver retired in December 1876.
During the 1870s business manager Hawks expanded the State Journal's printing of law books, picking up the contracts of a Chicago firm after it suffered a fire, and making the paper for a time the largest publisher of law books in the country. The paper's presses were also used for much of the state government's printing.
After Atwood's passing, the State Journal Printing Co. was formed as a stock company, with Horace A. “Hod” Taylor taking over the paper. He had managed newspapers in La Crosse
and Hudson
, Wisconsin and Stillwater
, Minnesota. Although he was not a journalist, he did have strong poticial ambitions. Taylor ran for governor as a stalwart Republican in 1888, losing the nomination to William D. Hoard
. He ran for governor again in 1894, but lost the nomination to William H. Upham
. He later held a consularship in Marseilles, France, as well as an appointment as U.S. Railroad Commissioner.
-educated Amos P. Wilder (father of playwright Thornton Wilder
). Earning $30 a week as editor-in-chief, he later purchased a major interest in the paper. Wilder began to transform the State Journal into a more civic-minded newspaper, focusing on local problems but never initiating reforms. Originally a supporter of Governor Robert M. La Follette Sr. in 1900 and 1902, Wilder converted the paper's editorials to an anti-La Follette position for the price of $1,800, paid by a committee of seven Republican stalwarts fighting against La Follette's re-election in 1904 (He won). In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt
appointed Wilder U.S. consul to Hong Kong
.
In Wilder's absence he put his business manager August Roden in charge, a typesetter who had come up through the ranks as reporter and later associate editor. Roden adopted the crusading brand of muckraking journalism common to periodicals at the start of the 20th century. His greatest triumph began in 1907 with his crusade against the high rates and poor quality of Madison Gas & Electric
's service. Following an almost daily barage of damaging stories about the private utility, the State Journal hired an attorney to lodge a formal complaint with the state commission in charge of regulating gas and electric companies. In 1910 the paper succeeded in getting the state to force a reduction in MG&E's rates by nearly ten percent, setting a precedent that led to other rate roll-backs. Roden also oversaw the move of the State Journal in 1909 from a three-story limestone building at 119 East Washington Ave. to a new fireproof brick building located on South Carroll St., directly across the street from the paper's hated rival, the Madison Democrat.
In 1911 Richard Lloyd Jones, an associate editor at the muckraking magazine Collier's, became interested in buying the paper from Wilder. U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr.
encouraged this purchase to such a degree that he arranged for wealthy supporters of the Progressive
cause to lend Jones $85,000 of the $100,000 necessary to make the deal. Jones hired former State Journal reporter William T. Evjue as his managing editor. Jones ramped up the paper's already liberal views with hard-hitting, provocative editorials that attacked big business and brooked no compromise. Soon the State Journal was the leading progressive daily in Wisconsin. The paper made its first two endorsements of a Democrat for U.S. president (Woodrow Wilson
, in 1912 and 1916), endorsing only two other Democrats for that office in its history. Under Jones the State Journal also became a steady advocate for Prohibition
.
By 1913 the paper's circulation had increased but the paper was on the verge of bankruptcy. Jones called back Evjue from his honeymoon to take on the job of business manager. Within ten days he'd reduced a payroll of $2,200 a week to $1,300 by cutting staff. The paper also sought loans from wealthy progressives. New readers and advertisers were added with the help of a beefed up Sunday edition that included color comics, a pink sports section and a magazine supplement. Eventually circulation doubled.
, Jones changed the paper's stance from one of pacifism to "preparedness." Jones quickly soured on Sen. La Follette's stand against the war. He used the paper to viciously attack his former friend and hero in scathing editorials that accused him of being disloyal and a pro-German agent. La Follette responded by suing Jones and the State Journal for libel. Jones was later forced to recant these accusations during the subsequent trial in 1919. Editor Evjue could no longer tolerate the personal attacks on the senator's character, and in September 1917 he resigned. Three months later he founded the Capital Times
, which became the State Journals main competition for the next nine decades. As World War I raged on, Jones continued his virulent attacks on La Follette and anyone who supported him while heartily endorsing the formation of Loyalty Leagues. When La Follette criticized war profiteering
by armaments manufacturers, Jones responded with charges of price-gouging by small local merchants. In 1918 Jones' expanded his vitriol to a La Follette-backed candidate for U.S. Senate, urging readers to "DECIDE STATE'S LOYALTY TODAY" in a blaring primary-day headline. On July, 19, 1919, Jones sold the State Journal to the Lee Newspaper Syndicate (now Lee Enterprises
) of Davenport, IA, with A. M. Brayton becoming publisher and editor. In February 1921 the State Journal purchased its long-declining competitor, the Madison Democrat, ceasing its publication.
By 1947, Lee Enterprises and Evjue's The Capital Times Company, owner of The Capital Times, shared a need for new presses and larger facilities, along with concerns about rising production and labor costs. They discussed a new partnership that would allow them to share a printing plant, fix prices and combine profits. With both papers always published in the afternoon, one paper would have to move to morning distribution in order for them to share the same press. Since afternoons were then deemed a more profitable time to hit the streets and doorsteps, they agreed that whichever paper moved to mornings would become the sole publisher of a Sunday edition to make up for the predicted loss in circulation. The new partnership began on November 15, 1948 as Madison Newspapers, Inc. On February 1, 1949, the Wisconsin State Journal moved from afternoons to mornings and was awarded the Sunday spot.
. When McCarthy's reputation began to fall apart, the paper would neither condemn nor defend him, choosing to let the senator collapse of his own accord. McCarthy later wrote Matson "I have been both surprised and disturbed by your sudden and apparent all-out opposition to me. I cannot understand this."
, which survived for a year and a half as a general-interest daily before folding in January 1980.
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
by Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 54 daily newspapers in 23 states, and more than 300 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by A.W. Lee and is based in Davenport, Iowa....
. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of March 2006, the Wisconsin State Journal had an average weekday circulation of 89,932 and an average Sunday circulation of 148,489.
Founding
Founded by Madison Hotel proprietor William W. Wyman, the Madison Express was first published in MadisonMadison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
on December 2, 1839. The paper began as an afternoon weekly, but during legislative sessions would publish every other day. As a strong supporter of the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
, the paper endorsed William Henry Harrison for president in 1840.
The Atwood Years
Apprenticed as a printer with his brother's newspaper in Hamilton, NY, David AtwoodDavid Atwood
David Atwood was a nineteenth century politician, publisher, editor and printer from Wisconsin.Born in Bedford, New Hampshire, Atwood attended the public schools as a child. He moved Hamilton, New York in 1832 where he was apprenticed as a printer and later became publisher of the Hamilton Palladium...
arrived in Madison on Oct. 15, 1847, and soon began working as a compositor and assistant editor at the Madison Express for $6 a week and board. He purchased the paper with partner Royal Buck in 1848, changing its name to the Wisconsin Express to expand its outlook. He also established the paper editorially as an outspoken opponent of slavery. In 1852 the weekly paper merged with Wyman's Wisconsin Statesman to become the Wisconsin Daily Palladium for three months. On Sept. 30, 1852 it changed its name again to the Wisconsin Daily Journal and to its current name in 1860. To bring in more revenue Atwood followed his brother's example in the east and began a lucrative sideline business of printing law books.
Following a convention of anti-slavery citizens held in the state capitol in 1854, the paper began trumpeting the views of the new Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, created three months earlier in Ripon
Ripon, Wisconsin
Ripon is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,828. The City of Ripon's official website claims the city's current population to be 7,701. The city is surrounded by the Town of Ripon....
, Wisconsin. In 1858, Atwood was commissioned a major general in the Wisconsin Militia by Governor Alexander W. Randall, but still retained ownership of the newspaper. On July 10, 1861, the State Journal became the first newspaper to produce and sell ready-printed "patent insides," pages with Civil War
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
news on one side but blank on the other, where the Baraboo Republic then printed its local news and advertising. Fostered by business manager John S. Hawks, this invention helped make many rural papers possible. After the Civil War the State Journal became a "mouthpiece" for local postmaster and Republican patronage boss Elisha W. Keyes
Elisha W. Keyes
Elisha Williams Keyes was an American politician.Born in Westfield, Vermont, he moved with his family to Jefferson County, Wisconsin and then to Madison, Wisconsin. He sold insurance and studied law. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar. Keyes was involved with the Whig Party and then the...
.
During Atwood's 41-year tenure as publisher, he was a state assemblyman (1861), an internal revenue assessor (1862–1866), a Madison mayor (1868–1869) and a U.S. representative to Congress (1870), all the while publishing the Wisconsin State Journal until his death in 1889. As mayor, Atwood sought to develop manufacturing in Madison, a position he could then applaud in his own paper.
Horace Rublee was the paper’s associate editor in 1853 and the next year became Atwood’s partner. He later became chairman of the Republican state committee, and editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel. Atwood's other partners included George Gary (1855–1856) and Harrison Reed (1859–1861), who later became the sixth governor of Florida. J.O. Culver purchased Rublee’s interest in the paper in 1868 on the latter’s appointment by President Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
as minister to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Culver retired in December 1876.
During the 1870s business manager Hawks expanded the State Journal's printing of law books, picking up the contracts of a Chicago firm after it suffered a fire, and making the paper for a time the largest publisher of law books in the country. The paper's presses were also used for much of the state government's printing.
After Atwood's passing, the State Journal Printing Co. was formed as a stock company, with Horace A. “Hod” Taylor taking over the paper. He had managed newspapers in La Crosse
La Crosse, Wisconsin
La Crosse is a city in and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The city lies alongside the Mississippi River.The 2011 Census Bureau estimates the city had a population of 52,485...
and Hudson
Hudson, Wisconsin
Hudson is a city in St. Croix County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 18,937, making it the principal and largest city of the Minneapolis - St. Paul metropolitan area . The Hudson area however had a population of 39,713...
, Wisconsin and Stillwater
Stillwater, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,143 people, 5,797 households, and 4,115 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,340.0 people per square mile . There were 5,926 housing units at an average density of 915.7 per square mile...
, Minnesota. Although he was not a journalist, he did have strong poticial ambitions. Taylor ran for governor as a stalwart Republican in 1888, losing the nomination to William D. Hoard
William D. Hoard
William Dempster Hoard was the 16th Governor of the U.S. state of Wisconsin from 1889 to 1891.-Early life:...
. He ran for governor again in 1894, but lost the nomination to William H. Upham
William H. Upham
William Henry Upham was a soldier, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th Governor of Wisconsin.-Biography:Upham was born in Westminster, Massachusetts and moved to Racine, Wisconsin, in 1853...
. He later held a consularship in Marseilles, France, as well as an appointment as U.S. Railroad Commissioner.
The Progressive Era
During the 1890s the paper's circulation began to catch up to its main rival, the Madison Democrat, due largely to the 1894 arrival of YaleYALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
-educated Amos P. Wilder (father of playwright Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
). Earning $30 a week as editor-in-chief, he later purchased a major interest in the paper. Wilder began to transform the State Journal into a more civic-minded newspaper, focusing on local problems but never initiating reforms. Originally a supporter of Governor Robert M. La Follette Sr. in 1900 and 1902, Wilder converted the paper's editorials to an anti-La Follette position for the price of $1,800, paid by a committee of seven Republican stalwarts fighting against La Follette's re-election in 1904 (He won). In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
appointed Wilder U.S. consul to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
In Wilder's absence he put his business manager August Roden in charge, a typesetter who had come up through the ranks as reporter and later associate editor. Roden adopted the crusading brand of muckraking journalism common to periodicals at the start of the 20th century. His greatest triumph began in 1907 with his crusade against the high rates and poor quality of Madison Gas & Electric
Madison Gas and Electric
Madison Gas and Electric Company is the primary subsidiary of MGE Energy, Inc. . As a regulated utility, it primarily serves the Madison, Wisconsin, metro area with electricity, gas and green energy options.-Electricity:...
's service. Following an almost daily barage of damaging stories about the private utility, the State Journal hired an attorney to lodge a formal complaint with the state commission in charge of regulating gas and electric companies. In 1910 the paper succeeded in getting the state to force a reduction in MG&E's rates by nearly ten percent, setting a precedent that led to other rate roll-backs. Roden also oversaw the move of the State Journal in 1909 from a three-story limestone building at 119 East Washington Ave. to a new fireproof brick building located on South Carroll St., directly across the street from the paper's hated rival, the Madison Democrat.
In 1911 Richard Lloyd Jones, an associate editor at the muckraking magazine Collier's, became interested in buying the paper from Wilder. U.S. Senator Robert M. La Follette Sr.
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette, Sr. , was an American Republican politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the Governor of Wisconsin, and was also a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin...
encouraged this purchase to such a degree that he arranged for wealthy supporters of the Progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
cause to lend Jones $85,000 of the $100,000 necessary to make the deal. Jones hired former State Journal reporter William T. Evjue as his managing editor. Jones ramped up the paper's already liberal views with hard-hitting, provocative editorials that attacked big business and brooked no compromise. Soon the State Journal was the leading progressive daily in Wisconsin. The paper made its first two endorsements of a Democrat for U.S. president (Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, in 1912 and 1916), endorsing only two other Democrats for that office in its history. Under Jones the State Journal also became a steady advocate for Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
.
By 1913 the paper's circulation had increased but the paper was on the verge of bankruptcy. Jones called back Evjue from his honeymoon to take on the job of business manager. Within ten days he'd reduced a payroll of $2,200 a week to $1,300 by cutting staff. The paper also sought loans from wealthy progressives. New readers and advertisers were added with the help of a beefed up Sunday edition that included color comics, a pink sports section and a magazine supplement. Eventually circulation doubled.
World War I
As Congress debated entering World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Jones changed the paper's stance from one of pacifism to "preparedness." Jones quickly soured on Sen. La Follette's stand against the war. He used the paper to viciously attack his former friend and hero in scathing editorials that accused him of being disloyal and a pro-German agent. La Follette responded by suing Jones and the State Journal for libel. Jones was later forced to recant these accusations during the subsequent trial in 1919. Editor Evjue could no longer tolerate the personal attacks on the senator's character, and in September 1917 he resigned. Three months later he founded the Capital Times
Capital Times
The Capital Times is a newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by The Capital Times Company. The newspaper is primarily distributed in a 19-county region in south-central Wisconsin. The Capital Times formerly published paper editions Mondays through Saturdays, with a weekday circulation of...
, which became the State Journals main competition for the next nine decades. As World War I raged on, Jones continued his virulent attacks on La Follette and anyone who supported him while heartily endorsing the formation of Loyalty Leagues. When La Follette criticized war profiteering
War profiteering
A war profiteer is any person or organization that profits from warfare or by selling weapons and other goods to parties at war. The term has strong negative connotations. General profiteering may also occur in peace time.-International arms dealers:...
by armaments manufacturers, Jones responded with charges of price-gouging by small local merchants. In 1918 Jones' expanded his vitriol to a La Follette-backed candidate for U.S. Senate, urging readers to "DECIDE STATE'S LOYALTY TODAY" in a blaring primary-day headline. On July, 19, 1919, Jones sold the State Journal to the Lee Newspaper Syndicate (now Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 54 daily newspapers in 23 states, and more than 300 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by A.W. Lee and is based in Davenport, Iowa....
) of Davenport, IA, with A. M. Brayton becoming publisher and editor. In February 1921 the State Journal purchased its long-declining competitor, the Madison Democrat, ceasing its publication.
The formation of Madison Newspapers, Inc.
In June 1934 the State Journal and the Capital Times began to work in tandem by offering reduced advertising rates to those who ran ads in both papers. The deal required the formation of two new corporations: the Wisconsin State Journal Co. and the Captal Times Co., both operating under the name Madison Newspapers. State Journal associate editor (and later publisher) Don Anderson regarded the agreement as "a shotgun wedding, conceived through the realization of both parties that we were broke." The deal did away with many competitive practices, which put the company in danger of violating state and federal anti-trust laws. The Department of Justice investigated the arrangement in 1944, but passed on making charges.By 1947, Lee Enterprises and Evjue's The Capital Times Company, owner of The Capital Times, shared a need for new presses and larger facilities, along with concerns about rising production and labor costs. They discussed a new partnership that would allow them to share a printing plant, fix prices and combine profits. With both papers always published in the afternoon, one paper would have to move to morning distribution in order for them to share the same press. Since afternoons were then deemed a more profitable time to hit the streets and doorsteps, they agreed that whichever paper moved to mornings would become the sole publisher of a Sunday edition to make up for the predicted loss in circulation. The new partnership began on November 15, 1948 as Madison Newspapers, Inc. On February 1, 1949, the Wisconsin State Journal moved from afternoons to mornings and was awarded the Sunday spot.
Views on Senator Joe McCarthy
During the 1950s under editor Roy L. Matson, the State Journal initially took a skeptical view of accusations made by Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy of communist infiltration of the U.S. State Department. However, as the controversy grew, the paper ran editorials strongly supporting his crusade, often printed next to opinions written by syndicated anti-communist Westbrook PeglerWestbrook Pegler
Francis James Westbrook Pegler was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler criticized every president from Herbert Hoover to FDR to Harry Truman to John F. Kennedy...
. When McCarthy's reputation began to fall apart, the paper would neither condemn nor defend him, choosing to let the senator collapse of his own accord. McCarthy later wrote Matson "I have been both surprised and disturbed by your sudden and apparent all-out opposition to me. I cannot understand this."
The MNI strike
Like many newspaper companies during the 1970s, Madison Newspapers, Inc. sought to upgrade its technology from hot type to computerized typesetting. Without negotiating with the unions, MNI managers ordered the new equipment, forcing seventeen printers to give up their jobs and cutting the wages of the remaining printers by one third. In October 1977 the five local unions at the MNI plant went on strike, resulting in a years-long bitter battle that the unions ultimately lost. Striking employees had founded the Madison Press ConnectionMadison Press Connection
Madison Press Connection was a newspaper formed in Madison, Wisconsin in October 1977 by striking union employees from the two dominant daily newspapers, the Wisconsin State Journal and The Capital Times. The Press Connection began as a weekly but became a daily early in 1978 in an effort to...
, which survived for a year and a half as a general-interest daily before folding in January 1980.
Columnists
- Andy Baggot (sports)
- Scott Milfred (opinion)
- Tom OatesTom OatesTom Oates is an American sportswriter, employed as a columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal, in Madison, Wisconsin, and as a contributor to the newspaper's BadgerBeat weblog, which focuses on the athletic programs of the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
(sports) - Doug Moe (news and features)