New York Herald Tribune
Encyclopedia
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune
acquired the New York Herald
.
Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly (unrelated to today's magazine), and the Whig Party
's Log Cabin.
The paper was home to such writers as Dorothy Thompson
, Red Smith
, Richard Watts, Jr.
and Walter Kerr
and begat the International Herald Tribune
and New York
magazine.
The "New York Herald Tribune" ceased publication in August 1966.
newspaper whose editor, James Gordon Bennett
was a firm Democrat
and a pioneer in reporting crime. The Tribune, founded by Horace Greeley
, was a Whig
(and later Republican) newspaper sold as a sober alternative to some of the excesses of the penny press.
The Herald was the largest circulation
newspaper in New York City
until the 1880s (when Joseph Pulitzer
's World
overtook it), while the Tribunes weekly publication was circulated throughout the United States.
The Tribune went into decline in the 1870s, after Greeley died. The paper was taken over by Whitelaw Reid
, who used it to further his ambitions in the Republican Party; circulation gradually declined under his leadership. The Herald, taken over by James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
in 1867, continued to perform well through the century. Bennett had a strong commitment to international news, and financed Henry Stanley
's expedition to find David Livingstone
. He later founded the Paris Herald
as an English-language
paper for Europe
.
Bennett moved permanently to Paris
in 1877 following a scandal in New York: the publisher, arriving drunk at a party in the mansion of his fiancee's parents, reportedly urinated in the fireplace or the piano (the exact location differed in witnesses' memories). The engagement was broken off, and Bennett remained a bachelor into his 70s. Despite the move, Bennett continued to direct New York operations, usually by telegram, and his distance hurt the overall quality of the paper.
, an inveterate collector of publications, who developed a reputation for selling or merging newspapers to the animus of the newspapermen around the country.
Neither the Herald nor the Tribune was doing well in the 1920s, but the Herald, with its larger circulation, was in better shape than the Tribune. A merger was expected, with the widespread belief that the larger paper would absorb the smaller one. It came as a surprise, then, when Reid purchased the Herald from Munsey in 1924: at the Herald, a sign was hung up that said "Jonah just swallowed the whale."
New York Herald Tribune The newly merged paper was not profitable, and the Reid family had to subsidize the paper in its first few years of existence. But the Herald Tribune quickly began establishing a reputation as a "newspaperman's newspaper", with literary writing encouraged by city editor Stanley Walker
. After losing $650,000 in 1932, the Herald Tribune turned a marginal profit the following year, and would remain relatively healthy for the next two decades.
After the death of publisher Ogden Mills Reid in 1947, the Herald Tribune, despite some star writers and columnists, went into a decline under his widow, Helen Rogers Reid, and sons, Whitelaw Reid II
and Ogden R. Reid
(later a congressman
). Many of the staff felt there was too much focus on circulation at the expense of the paper's editorial standards, for example the new push for puzzle contest
s such as Tangle Town, which was given credit for a rise in weekday circulation of 60,000 to bring the total to over 400,000.
In 1958, the Reids sold control to John Hay Whitney
. Under Whitney, the paper regained some of its lustre, deciding that since it could not compete with The New York Times
in sheer volume of news, it would be faster, feistier and funnier. In this period, the Herald Tribune was radically re-designed under editor-in-chief John Denson and executive editor Freeman Fulbright, and new writers like Tom Wolfe
were encouraged to contribute. But the key to success was still advertising dollars, and on that count The Times was the leader. A series of strikes throughout the 1960s did not help the paper's balance sheet.
In 1966, Whitney attempted to organize what would have been New York's first joint operating agreement (JOA) with the Hearst
-owned New York Journal American
and the Scripps-owned New York World-Telegram and Sun; under the proposed agreement, the Herald Tribune would have continued publication as the morning partner, and a merged Journal-American and World-Telegram would have been the afternoon paper. The JOA was to take effect on May 1, 1966], but the unions
immediately threw up a strike, and as the months dragged on, a compromise three-way merger was arrived at on August 15.
The result was the short-lived afternoon New York World Journal Tribune
. The first weeks' editions were dominated by the input of the Hearst and Scripps papers, but after a time, the "Widget" (as the merged publication was nicknamed) took on the appearance and style of the late-era Herald Tribune. However, the paper was not a success and folded for good on May 5, 1967.
Following the collapse of the World Journal Tribune, The New York Times and the Washington Post became joint owners with Whitney of the Herald Tribune's European edition, the International Herald Tribune
, which is still published under full ownership by the Times, which bought out the Post holdings in 2003. New York
magazine is also a descendant of the Herald Tribune, having originally been the Herald Tribunes Sunday magazine, a livelier version of The New York Times Magazine
. Following the death of the World Journal Tribune, New York
editor Clay Felker
organized a group of investors who bought the name and rights, and successfully revived the weekly in 1968.
In the 1960 Jean-Luc Godard French film 'À bout de souffle (Breathless),' Jean Seberg's character sells the New York Herald Tribune along the Champs-Élysées
. It is also the major focus of the 1952 thriller Assignment Paris, with Dana Andrews as an aggressive New York reporter sent to the Paris newsroom and then Budapest.
, and vied with the Newbery for most prestigious for many years.
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
acquired the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
.
Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly (unrelated to today's magazine), and 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...
's Log Cabin.
The paper was home to such writers as Dorothy Thompson
Dorothy Thompson
Dorothy Thompson was an American journalist and radio broadcaster, who in 1939 was recognized by Time magazine as the second most influential women in America next to Eleanor Roosevelt...
, Red Smith
Red Smith (sportswriter)
For other uses, see: Red Smith Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith was an American sportswriter who rose to become one of America's most widely read sports columnists.-Career:After graduating from Green Bay East High School, site of Packers home games until 1957, Smith moved on to...
, Richard Watts, Jr.
Richard Watts, Jr.
Richard Watts, Jr. was an American theatre critic.Born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, Watts was educated at Columbia University. He began his writing career as the film critic for the New York Herald Tribune before assuming the post of the newspaper's drama critic in 1936.After spending World War...
and Walter Kerr
Walter Kerr
For the RN admiral see Lord Walter KerrWalter Francis Kerr was an American writer and Broadway theater critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals.-Biography:...
and begat the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
and New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine.
The "New York Herald Tribune" ceased publication in August 1966.
Origins
The New York Herald and the New York Tribune were established in 1835 and 1841, respectively. The papers were very different: the Herald was a penny pressPenny press
Penny press newspapers were cheap, tabloid-style papers produced in the middle of the 19th century.- History :As the East Coast's middle and working classes grew, so did the new public’s desire for news. Penny papers emerged as a cheap source with coverage of crime, tragedy, adventure, and gossip...
newspaper whose editor, James Gordon Bennett
James Gordon Bennett, Sr.
James Gordon Bennett, Sr. was the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald and a major figure in the history of American newspapers.-Biography:...
was a firm Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
and a pioneer in reporting crime. The Tribune, founded by Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley
Horace Greeley was an American newspaper editor, a founder of the Liberal Republican Party, a reformer, a politician, and an outspoken opponent of slavery...
, was a Whig
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...
(and later Republican) newspaper sold as a sober alternative to some of the excesses of the penny press.
The Herald was the largest 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...
newspaper in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
until the 1880s (when Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
's World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
overtook it), while the Tribunes weekly publication was circulated throughout the United States.
The Tribune went into decline in the 1870s, after Greeley died. The paper was taken over by Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...
, who used it to further his ambitions in the Republican Party; circulation gradually declined under his leadership. The Herald, taken over by James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr., who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father....
in 1867, continued to perform well through the century. Bennett had a strong commitment to international news, and financed Henry Stanley
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr...
's expedition to find David Livingstone
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
. He later founded the Paris Herald
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
as an English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
paper for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Bennett moved permanently to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1877 following a scandal in New York: the publisher, arriving drunk at a party in the mansion of his fiancee's parents, reportedly urinated in the fireplace or the piano (the exact location differed in witnesses' memories). The engagement was broken off, and Bennett remained a bachelor into his 70s. Despite the move, Bennett continued to direct New York operations, usually by telegram, and his distance hurt the overall quality of the paper.
20th century and merger
Whitelaw Reid died in 1912 and was succeeded as publisher by his son, Ogden Mills Reid. The younger Reid devoted more time and resources to his newspaper and gradually started increasing circulation. Bennett died in 1918, and his paper was sold to Frank MunseyFrank Munsey
Frank Andrew Munsey was an American newspaper and magazine publisher and author. He was born in Mercer, Maine but spent most of his life in New York City...
, an inveterate collector of publications, who developed a reputation for selling or merging newspapers to the animus of the newspapermen around the country.
Neither the Herald nor the Tribune was doing well in the 1920s, but the Herald, with its larger circulation, was in better shape than the Tribune. A merger was expected, with the widespread belief that the larger paper would absorb the smaller one. It came as a surprise, then, when Reid purchased the Herald from Munsey in 1924: at the Herald, a sign was hung up that said "Jonah just swallowed the whale."
New York Herald Tribune The newly merged paper was not profitable, and the Reid family had to subsidize the paper in its first few years of existence. But the Herald Tribune quickly began establishing a reputation as a "newspaperman's newspaper", with literary writing encouraged by city editor Stanley Walker
Stanley Walker
Stanley George Walker was an English cricketer. who played first class cricket for Derbyshire during the 1932 season.Walker was born in Pinxton, Derbyshire, and attended Pinxton School....
. After losing $650,000 in 1932, the Herald Tribune turned a marginal profit the following year, and would remain relatively healthy for the next two decades.
After the death of publisher Ogden Mills Reid in 1947, the Herald Tribune, despite some star writers and columnists, went into a decline under his widow, Helen Rogers Reid, and sons, Whitelaw Reid II
Whitelaw Reid (journalist)
Whitelaw Reid was an American journalist who later served as editor, president and chairman of the family-owned New York Herald Tribune...
and Ogden R. Reid
Ogden R. Reid
Ogden Rogers Reid is a former United States Representative from New York.Reid was born in New York, New York and he graduated from Deerfield Academy and Yale University. He was widely known by his nickname, "Brownie." His family owned the New York Herald Tribune and, before that the New York...
(later a congressman
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
). Many of the staff felt there was too much focus on circulation at the expense of the paper's editorial standards, for example the new push for puzzle contest
Puzzle contest
Puzzle contests are popular competitions in which the objective is to solve a puzzle within a given time limit, and to obtain the best possible score among all players.-History:One of the earliest puzzle contests was held about 1910...
s such as Tangle Town, which was given credit for a rise in weekday circulation of 60,000 to bring the total to over 400,000.
In 1958, the Reids sold control to John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney , colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and a member of the Whitney family.-Family:...
. Under Whitney, the paper regained some of its lustre, deciding that since it could not compete with 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...
in sheer volume of news, it would be faster, feistier and funnier. In this period, the Herald Tribune was radically re-designed under editor-in-chief John Denson and executive editor Freeman Fulbright, and new writers like Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
were encouraged to contribute. But the key to success was still advertising dollars, and on that count The Times was the leader. A series of strikes throughout the 1960s did not help the paper's balance sheet.
In 1966, Whitney attempted to organize what would have been New York's first joint operating agreement (JOA) with the Hearst
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
-owned New York Journal American
New York Journal American
The New York Journal American was a newspaper published from 1937 to 1966. The Journal American was the product of a merger between two New York newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst: The New York American , a morning paper, and the New York Evening Journal, an afternoon paper...
and the Scripps-owned New York World-Telegram and Sun; under the proposed agreement, the Herald Tribune would have continued publication as the morning partner, and a merged Journal-American and World-Telegram would have been the afternoon paper. The JOA was to take effect on May 1, 1966], but the unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
immediately threw up a strike, and as the months dragged on, a compromise three-way merger was arrived at on August 15.
The result was the short-lived afternoon New York World Journal Tribune
New York World Journal Tribune
The New York World Journal Tribune, also known as the World-Journal-Tribune, was a newspaper published in New York City from September 1966 until May 1967...
. The first weeks' editions were dominated by the input of the Hearst and Scripps papers, but after a time, the "Widget" (as the merged publication was nicknamed) took on the appearance and style of the late-era Herald Tribune. However, the paper was not a success and folded for good on May 5, 1967.
Following the collapse of the World Journal Tribune, The New York Times and the Washington Post became joint owners with Whitney of the Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, which is still published under full ownership by the Times, which bought out the Post holdings in 2003. New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine is also a descendant of the Herald Tribune, having originally been the Herald Tribunes Sunday magazine, a livelier version of The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
. Following the death of the World Journal Tribune, New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
editor Clay Felker
Clay Felker
Clay Schuette Felker was an American magazine editor and journalist who founded New York Magazine in 1968. He was known for bringing large numbers of journalists into the profession...
organized a group of investors who bought the name and rights, and successfully revived the weekly in 1968.
In the 1960 Jean-Luc Godard French film 'À bout de souffle (Breathless),' Jean Seberg's character sells the New York Herald Tribune along the Champs-Élysées
Champs-Élysées
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées is a prestigious avenue in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is one of the most famous streets and one of the most expensive strip of real estate in the world. The name is...
. It is also the major focus of the 1952 thriller Assignment Paris, with Dana Andrews as an aggressive New York reporter sent to the Paris newsroom and then Budapest.
New York Herald Tribune Syndicate comic strips
Harry Staton became the editor and manager of the Syndicate in 1920, with Buell Weare stepping in as the Syndicate business manager in 1946..- Bodyguard by Lawrence Lariar and John Spranger
- Coogy by Irving Spector
- Jeanie by Selma DiamondSelma DiamondSelma Diamond was a Canadian-born American comic actress and radio and television writer, and is known for her high-range, raspy voice and her portrayal of Selma Hacker on the first two seasons of the NBC television comedy series Night Court.-Life and career:Diamond was born in Montreal, Quebec,...
and Gill FoxGill FoxGilbert Theodore "Gill" Fox was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editor, and animator.-Biography:... - PennyPenny (comic strip)Penny was a comic strip about a teenage girl by Harry Haenigsen which maintained its popularity for almost three decades. It was distributed by the New York Herald Tribune Syndicate from 1943 to 1970....
by Harry Haenigsen - Peter Rabbit by Harrison CadyHarrison CadyWalter Harrison Cady was an American illustrator best known for his Peter Rabbit comic strip which he wrote and drew for 28 years....
and Vincent Fago - Poor Arnold's AlmanacPoor Arnold's AlmanacPoor Arnold's Alamanac was a newspaper comic strip by Arnold Roth. Each installment covered a single subject, with Roth devising gags on such topics as baseball, dogs, commuting, elephants, ice cream, smoking and the telephone....
by Arnold RothArnold RothArnold Roth is an American freelance cartoonist and illustrator for advertisements, album covers, books, magazines and newspapers.Novelist John Updike wrote, "All cartoonists are geniuses, but Arnold Roth is especially so."... - The Saint by Leslie CharterisLeslie CharterisLeslie Charteris , born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."-Early life:Charteris was born to a Chinese father...
and Mike Roy - Silver Linings by Harvey KurtzmanHarvey KurtzmanHarvey Kurtzman was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic books and magazines. Kurtzman often signed his name H. Kurtz, followed by a stick figure Harvey Kurtzman (October 3, 1924, Brooklyn, New York – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and the editor of several comic...
- The Timid Soul by H. T. Webster
Awards
In the 1920s, the New York Herald Tribune established one of the first book review sections that reviewed children's books, and in 1937, the newspaper established the Children's Spring Book Festival Award for the best children's book of the previous year, awarded for three target ages groups: 4–8, 8–12, and 12–16. This was the second nation-wide children's book award, after the Newbery MedalNewbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
, and vied with the Newbery for most prestigious for many years.
Further reading
- Kahn, Roger. Into My Own: The Remarkable People and Events that Shaped a Life. New York: St. Martin's, 2006. ISBN 0312338139.
- Kluger, RichardRichard KlugerRichard Kluger worked as a journalist before becoming an accomplished Pulitzer Prize-winning author and book publisher.-Journalism:...
, with the assistance of Kluger, Phyllis. The Paper: the Life and Death of the New York Herald Tribune. New York: Knopf, 1986. ISBN 0394508777.