Detroit Mirror
Encyclopedia
The Detroit Mirror was a daily morning tabloid newspaper published in Detroit, Michigan
. It
ceased publication in August 1932 without warning, only giving a week of severance pay to its shocked employees.
At that time it had a circulation of 170,000. But it had lost 2 million dollars in sixteen months despite having
made huge gains in both circulation and advertising revenue during the spring of 1932.
It was owned by publishers Robert R. McCormick
and Joseph Medill Patterson
, also owners of The Chicago Tribune
and New York Daily News
. They had taken it over in 1931 from Bernarr MacFadden
as a partial payment for
Liberty magazine that was taken over by MacFadden.
Max Annenberg was the Detroit Mirror's local publisher and his son Ivan was circulation manager.
Some other notable employees were Bert Whitman, a cartoonist from 1929 to 1932 and Zeke Zekley
who
began working as an editorial and comic cartoonist there at age 18.
On Sunday October 4, 1931, the new Dick Tracy
comic strip made its first ever appearance in the Detroit Mirror.
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. It
ceased publication in August 1932 without warning, only giving a week of severance pay to its shocked employees.
At that time it had a circulation of 170,000. But it had lost 2 million dollars in sixteen months despite having
made huge gains in both circulation and advertising revenue during the spring of 1932.
It was owned by publishers Robert R. McCormick
Robert R. McCormick
Robert Rutherford "Colonel" McCormick was a member of the McCormick family of Chicago who became owner and publisher of the Chicago Tribune newspaper...
and Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson was an American journalist and publisher, grandson of publisher Joseph Medill, founder of the Chicago Tribune and a mayor of Chicago, Illinois.-Family:...
, also owners of The Chicago Tribune
and New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
. They had taken it over in 1931 from Bernarr MacFadden
Bernarr Macfadden
Bernarr Macfadden was an influential American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories...
as a partial payment for
Liberty magazine that was taken over by MacFadden.
Max Annenberg was the Detroit Mirror's local publisher and his son Ivan was circulation manager.
Some other notable employees were Bert Whitman, a cartoonist from 1929 to 1932 and Zeke Zekley
Zeke Zekley
Emil Samuel Zekley , better known as Zeke Zekley, was an American cartoonist who worked on several comic strips, notably George McManus' Bringing Up Father....
who
began working as an editorial and comic cartoonist there at age 18.
On Sunday October 4, 1931, the new Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...
comic strip made its first ever appearance in the Detroit Mirror.