St. Paul Pioneer Press
Encyclopedia
The St. Paul Pioneer Press is a newspaper
based in St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the eastern metro region, including Ramsey
, Dakota
, and Washington
counties, along with western Wisconsin
, eastern Minnesota and Anoka County, Minnesota
. The paper primarily competes with the Star Tribune
, based in neighboring Minneapolis
. It has been owned by MediaNews Group
since April 2006.
's first daily newspaper (which was founded in 1849 by James M. Goodhue), and the Saint Paul Dispatch
(which was launched in 1868). Ridder Publications acquired the Minnesota Pioneer and the Dispatch in 1927. Ridder merged with Knight Publications to form Knight Ridder
in 1974. The two papers were operated for many years as separate morning and evening papers, but were merged into an all-day publication in 1985 as the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch and made the transition to morning-only newspaper in 1990, when they dropped the word "Dispatch". It is sometimes referred to as the "Pi Press", by reference to the nickname of "Strib" used for the Star Tribune.
From 1947 to 1949, the newspaper printed the comic strip Li'l Folks
, by St. Paul native Charles M. Schulz
. This comic introduced a number of characters who would later return in 1950 in the syndicated comic strip Peanuts
, including Charlie Brown
and a dog strongly resembling Snoopy
.
In 1952, the Dispatch began sponsoring a treasure hunt
as part of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival
. Clues to finding a medallion are printed in the paper, and the first person to find it wins a sum of money. The prize started off at $1,000, but has risen to $10,000 as of 2004.
The paper has won three Pulitzer Prize
s in 1986
, 1988
, and 2000
.
The McClatchy Company
acquired the paper in June 2006 when it bought Knight Ridder
. As owner of the Star Tribune, McClatchy had to sell the Pioneer Press because of antitrust
concerns. The Pioneer Press was subsequently sold by McClatchy to MediaNews Group
later in the year.
Newspaper
A 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 St. Paul, Minnesota, primarily serving the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Circulation is heaviest in the eastern metro region, including Ramsey
Ramsey County, Minnesota
Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849. As of 2010, the population was 508,640. Its county seat is St. Paul, which is also Minnesota's state capital. The county is named for Alexander Ramsey , the first governor of the Minnesota Territory...
, Dakota
Dakota County, Minnesota
Dakota County is the third most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county is bordered by the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers on the north, and the state of Wisconsin on the east. Dakota County comprises the southeast portion of seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul, the thirteenth...
, and Washington
Washington County, Minnesota
Washington County is a county established in 1849 in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 238,136. Its county seat is Stillwater.-History:...
counties, along with western 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...
, eastern Minnesota and Anoka County, Minnesota
Anoka County, Minnesota
Anoka County is the fourth-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county is bordered by the counties of Isanti on the north, Chisago and Washington on the east, Hennepin and Ramsey on the south, Sherburne on the west, and the Mississippi River on the southwest.As of 2010, Anoka...
. The paper primarily competes with the Star Tribune
Star Tribune
The Star Tribune is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is published seven days each week in an edition for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. A statewide version is also available across Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The...
, based in neighboring Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
. It has been owned by MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group, based in Denver, Colorado, is one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States. It is privately owned and operates 56 daily newspapers in 12 states, with combined daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.4 million and 2.7 million, respectively...
since April 2006.
History
The Pioneer Press traces its history back to both the Minnesota Pioneer, MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
's first daily newspaper (which was founded in 1849 by James M. Goodhue), and the Saint Paul Dispatch
Saint Paul Dispatch
The Saint Paul Dispatch was a daily newspaper in Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1868 until 1985. In 1885, The Dispatch Printing Company was formed when George Thompson purchased the Dispatch newspaper. The DPC then bought the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1909 and ran the two newspapers. It was acquired...
(which was launched in 1868). Ridder Publications acquired the Minnesota Pioneer and the Dispatch in 1927. Ridder merged with Knight Publications to form Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
in 1974. The two papers were operated for many years as separate morning and evening papers, but were merged into an all-day publication in 1985 as the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch and made the transition to morning-only newspaper in 1990, when they dropped the word "Dispatch". It is sometimes referred to as the "Pi Press", by reference to the nickname of "Strib" used for the Star Tribune.
From 1947 to 1949, the newspaper printed the comic strip Li'l Folks
Li'l Folks
Li'l Folks, the first comic strip by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz, was a weekly panel that appeared mainly in Schulz's hometown paper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, from June 22, 1947 to January 22, 1950...
, by St. Paul native Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
. This comic introduced a number of characters who would later return in 1950 in the syndicated comic strip Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
, including Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie...
and a dog strongly resembling Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
.
In 1952, the Dispatch began sponsoring a treasure hunt
Treasure hunt
A treasure hunt is one of many different types of games which can have one or more players who try to find hidden articles, locations or places by using a series of clues. This is a fictional activity; treasure hunting can also be a real life activity. Treasure hunt games may be an indoor or...
as part of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival
Saint Paul Winter Carnival
In 1885, a New York reporter wrote that Saint Paul was "another Siberia, unfit for human habitation" in winter. Offended by this attack on their Capital City, the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce decided to not only prove that Saint Paul was habitable but that its citizens were very much alive during...
. Clues to finding a medallion are printed in the paper, and the first person to find it wins a sum of money. The prize started off at $1,000, but has risen to $10,000 as of 2004.
The paper has won three Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The 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...
s in 1986
1986 Pulitzer Prize
-Journalism:*Public service: The Denver Post**"For its in-depth study of "missing children", which revealed that most are involved in custody disputes or are runaways and which helped mitigate national fears stirred by exaggerated statistics."...
, 1988
1988 Pulitzer Prize
-Journalism:-Letters and Drama:...
, and 2000
2000 Pulitzer Prize
-Journalism awards:*Public Service:**The Washington Post, notably for the work of Katherine Boo that disclosed wretched neglect and abuse in the city’s group homes for the mentally retarded, which forced officials to acknowledge the conditions and begin reforms....
.
The McClatchy Company
The McClatchy Company
The McClatchy Company is a publicly traded American publishing company based in Sacramento, California. It operates 30 daily newspapers in 15 states and has an average weekday circulation of 2.2 million and Sunday circulation of 2.8 million...
acquired the paper in June 2006 when it bought Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
. As owner of the Star Tribune, McClatchy had to sell the Pioneer Press because of antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
concerns. The Pioneer Press was subsequently sold by McClatchy to MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group
MediaNews Group, based in Denver, Colorado, is one of the largest newspaper companies in the United States. It is privately owned and operates 56 daily newspapers in 12 states, with combined daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 2.4 million and 2.7 million, respectively...
later in the year.
Notable reporters
- Mark KelloggMark Kellogg (reporter)Mark Kellogg was a newspaper reporter killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Kellogg rode with George Armstrong Custer during the battle and was evidently one of the first men killed by the Sioux and Cheyenne. His dispatches were the only press coverage of Custer and his men in the days...
, the first Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
correspondent to die in the line of duty when he was killed at the Battle of the Little BighornBattle of the Little BighornThe Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
. - John Sandford/John CampJohn Sandford (novelist)John Sandford is the pseudonym of the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling novelist John Roswell Camp. Camp was born on February 23, 1944, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He received a Bachelor's in American History and a Master's in Journalism from the University of Iowa.From 1971 to 1978,...
, author of the "Prey" series of crime novels. - Bob Sansevere, sports columnist and member of the KQRS-FM morning show with Tom BarnardTom BarnardThomas 'Tom' Barnard is an American talk radio host and former voice-over talent. He is currently the host of The KQ92 Morning Show broadcast in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.-Personal:...
. - Joe SoucherayJoe SoucherayJoe Soucheray is a radio talk-show host syndicated throughout the American Midwest on the Hubbard Radio Network. He broadcasts his show Garage Logic from KSTP 1500 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It currently airs from 4 p.m to 6 p.m. CST Monday through Friday. His other show, Sports Talk , airs from...
, general columnist and host of the KSTP afternoon program, Garage LogicGarage LogicGarage Logic, commonly referred to as simply GL, is the name of a fictional city. It is the creation of Saint Paul Pioneer Press columnist, novelist, and radio talk show host Joe Soucheray, and is the basis for his syndicated broadcast of the same name...
.