Founded in 1847 it is safe to say the Chicago Tribune has stood the test of time. Transformed by the arrival of editor and co-owner Joseph Medill in 1855, who turned the paper into one of the leading voices of the new republican party. Daily circulation grew from about 1,400 copies in 1855 to as high as 40,000 during the civil war, when the paper was a strong supporter of President Lincoln and emancipation.
As popularity for liberal maverick Horace White's paper grew and reigned for about eight years, Medill overthrew White with competitive business practices. He introduced more illustrations, reduced its price from a whopping five cents to a measly penny a day (isn't inflation wonderful, 5 cents in 1874 is the same as $1.02 today) and finally ,two years after his death, by acquiring their first color printer in 1901.
In the following decade, the Tribune was led by Medill's son-in-law Robert Patterson and editor James Keeley. Presenting itself as a champion of reform, the paper set its sights on political corruption. They were even successful in forcing William Lorimer out of congress.
Soon the business was passed farther down the family line and as the Chicago encyclopedia describes it "Between the 1910s and the 1950s, the Tribune prospered under the leadership of Medill's grandson Robert R. McCormick. Calling his operation the “World's Greatest Newspaper,” McCormick succeeded in raising daily circulation from 230,000 in 1912 to 650,000 by 1925, when the Tribune stood as the city's most widely read paper"(Wilson 33-37)
That brings us to the modern day Chicago Tribune, still the leading newspaper of Chicago in both sales and views and still nationally influential due to its variety of reporting. Like any major newspaper the Chicago Tribune has an intended audience. In the beginning, the tribune was the product of many individual opinions writing from various perspectives but they have shifted to the personality of one brain, a large business corporation.
As popularity for liberal maverick Horace White's paper grew and reigned for about eight years, Medill overthrew White with competitive business practices. He introduced more illustrations, reduced its price from a whopping five cents to a measly penny a day (isn't inflation wonderful, 5 cents in 1874 is the same as $1.02 today) and finally ,two years after his death, by acquiring their first color printer in 1901.
In the following decade, the Tribune was led by Medill's son-in-law Robert Patterson and editor James Keeley. Presenting itself as a champion of reform, the paper set its sights on political corruption. They were even successful in forcing William Lorimer out of congress.
Soon the business was passed farther down the family line and as the Chicago encyclopedia describes it "Between the 1910s and the 1950s, the Tribune prospered under the leadership of Medill's grandson Robert R. McCormick. Calling his operation the “World's Greatest Newspaper,” McCormick succeeded in raising daily circulation from 230,000 in 1912 to 650,000 by 1925, when the Tribune stood as the city's most widely read paper"(Wilson 33-37)
That brings us to the modern day Chicago Tribune, still the leading newspaper of Chicago in both sales and views and still nationally influential due to its variety of reporting. Like any major newspaper the Chicago Tribune has an intended audience. In the beginning, the tribune was the product of many individual opinions writing from various perspectives but they have shifted to the personality of one brain, a large business corporation.