The Oklahoman
Encyclopedia
The Oklahoman is the largest daily newspaper
in Oklahoma
and is the only daily newspaper that covers the entire Oklahoma City
area.
and taken over in 1903 by Edward K. Gaylord
. Gaylord would run the paper for 71 years. Upon his death, the paper was turned over to his son and later to his granddaughter. It was announced on September 15, 2011 that all OPUBCO assets would be sold to Denver based businessman Philip Anschutz
and his Anschutz Corporation. Upon closing in October 2011, OPUBCO is expected to remain independent in operation from the other Anschutz Corporation assets.
by Sam Small
, The Daily Oklahoman was taken over in 1903 by The Oklahoma Publishing Company (OPUBCO), controlled by Edward K. Gaylord
, also known as E.K. Gaylord. E.K. Gaylord died at the age of 101, having controlled the newspaper for the previous 71 years. Management of the newspaper passed to his son, Edward L. Gaylord, who managed the newspaper from 1974 to 2003. Christy Gaylord Everest
, daughter of Edward L. Gaylord and granddaughter of E.K. Gaylord, is the company's current chairwoman and CEO. Gaylord Everest is assisted by her sister Louise Gaylord Bennett. A 1998 American Journalism Review
survey acknowledged The Oklahomans positive contributions as a corporate citizen of Oklahoma, but characterized the paper as suffering from understaffing, uninspired content, and political bias. In 1999, the Columbia Journalism Review
published an article calling The Oklahoman the "Worst Newspaper in America"; the CJR cited the paper's conformance to the right-wing political views of the Gaylord family, alleged racist hiring practices, and high costs of ads. Syndicated columnist Joseph Farah countered in 1999 by calling Columbia Journalism Review "easily the worst journalism review in America" and terming the article as "pure propaganda" and an attack on a conservative newspaper. In 2005, Sherrie Gossett wrote in "Accuracy in Media" how Laura Vanderkam, in an article for D.C. Examiner, took CJR "to task over their hypocrisy." Gossett wrote Vanderkam, a contributing editor to Reader's Digest, pointed out that CJR "labeled" the newspaper "partly because the paper had no liberal columnists. Yet Vanderkam's search through the past few years' CJRs yielded no discernibly conservative writers in its pages, either." In more recent years OPUBCO Communications Group has won a number of awards for innovations, newspaper redesign, First Amendment coverage, sports coverage, and breaking news and indepth multimedia projects.
In 1928, E. K. Gaylord bought Oklahoma's first radio station, WKY. More than 20 years later, he signed on Oklahoma's first television station, WKY-TV (now KFOR-TV
). The two stations would be the anchors of a broadcasting empire that, at its height, included six television stations and five radio stations. Nearly all of the Gaylord broadcasting interests would be sold off by 1996, though The Oklahoman held onto WKY radio until 2002.
Until Feb. 29, 1984, OPUBCO published an afternoon daily newspaper, the Oklahoma City Times. It was folded into the Daily Oklahoman beginning with the March 1, 1984, issue. The Oklahoman was formerly available for delivery statewide, but in November 2008 it announced that it was reducing its circulation area to cover approximately two-thirds of the state (Oklahoma City and points west), and that it would no longer be available for delivery in Tulsa, Oklahoma's second-largest city. The change reduced the paper's circulation by about 7,000 homes. In January 2009, The Oklahoman and the Tulsa World
announced a content-sharing agreement in which each paper would carry some content created by the other; the papers also said they would "focus on reducing some areas of duplication, such as sending reporters from both The Oklahoman and the World to cover routine news events." In 2010 The Oklahoman introduced the first iPad app for a newspaper/multimedia company of its size in the United States.
In 1939, Charles George Werner, a rookie political cartoonist at the newspaper, won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial art
. The winning cartoon, Nomination for 1938, depicted the Nobel Peace Prize
resting on a grave marked Grave of Czecho-Slovakia
, 1919-1938. Published on October 6, 1938, the cartoon bit at the recently concluded Munich Agreement
, which transferred the Sudetenland
(a strategically important part of Czechoslovakia) to Nazi Germany
. Another notable cartoonist for the paper was Jim Lange
, who worked for the paper for 58 years and produced over 19,000 cartoons.
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...
in Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and is the only daily newspaper that covers the entire Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
area.
Ownership
The newspaper was founded in 1889 by Sam SmallSamuel W. Small
Samuel White Small was a journalist, Methodist evangelist, and prohibitionist.-Youth:Sam Small was born on a plantation near Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Alexander B. Small, a newspaper editor and president of an express company...
and taken over in 1903 by Edward K. Gaylord
Edward K. Gaylord
Edward King Gaylord , often referred to as E.K. Gaylord, was the owner and publisher of the Daily Oklahoman newspaper , as well as a radio and television entrepreneur. Born in Kansas and educated in Colorado, he worked on several publications before moving to Oklahoma and buying an interest in the...
. Gaylord would run the paper for 71 years. Upon his death, the paper was turned over to his son and later to his granddaughter. It was announced on September 15, 2011 that all OPUBCO assets would be sold to Denver based businessman Philip Anschutz
Philip Anschutz
Philip Frederick Anschutz is an American entrepreneur. Anschutz bought out his father's drilling company in 1961 and earned large returns in Wyoming. He has invested in stocks, real estate and railroads...
and his Anschutz Corporation. Upon closing in October 2011, OPUBCO is expected to remain independent in operation from the other Anschutz Corporation assets.
History
Founded in 1889 in Oklahoma CityOklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
by Sam Small
Samuel W. Small
Samuel White Small was a journalist, Methodist evangelist, and prohibitionist.-Youth:Sam Small was born on a plantation near Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Alexander B. Small, a newspaper editor and president of an express company...
, The Daily Oklahoman was taken over in 1903 by The Oklahoma Publishing Company (OPUBCO), controlled by Edward K. Gaylord
Edward K. Gaylord
Edward King Gaylord , often referred to as E.K. Gaylord, was the owner and publisher of the Daily Oklahoman newspaper , as well as a radio and television entrepreneur. Born in Kansas and educated in Colorado, he worked on several publications before moving to Oklahoma and buying an interest in the...
, also known as E.K. Gaylord. E.K. Gaylord died at the age of 101, having controlled the newspaper for the previous 71 years. Management of the newspaper passed to his son, Edward L. Gaylord, who managed the newspaper from 1974 to 2003. Christy Gaylord Everest
Christy Gaylord Everest
Christy Gaylord Everest is the chair and chief executive officer of Oklahoma Publishing Company, which publishes The Oklahoman, a major metro newspaper that has been owned by her family since before Oklahoma statehood in 1907. She is the daughter of Edward L. Gaylord and the grand-daughter of...
, daughter of Edward L. Gaylord and granddaughter of E.K. Gaylord, is the company's current chairwoman and CEO. Gaylord Everest is assisted by her sister Louise Gaylord Bennett. A 1998 American Journalism Review
American Journalism Review
The American Journalism Review is a U.S. magazine covering topics in journalism. It is published six times a year by the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, College Park. The AJR has been owned since the late 1980s by a foundation of the university...
survey acknowledged The Oklahomans positive contributions as a corporate citizen of Oklahoma, but characterized the paper as suffering from understaffing, uninspired content, and political bias. In 1999, the Columbia Journalism Review
Columbia Journalism Review
The Columbia Journalism Review is an American magazine for professional journalists published bimonthly by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961....
published an article calling The Oklahoman the "Worst Newspaper in America"; the CJR cited the paper's conformance to the right-wing political views of the Gaylord family, alleged racist hiring practices, and high costs of ads. Syndicated columnist Joseph Farah countered in 1999 by calling Columbia Journalism Review "easily the worst journalism review in America" and terming the article as "pure propaganda" and an attack on a conservative newspaper. In 2005, Sherrie Gossett wrote in "Accuracy in Media" how Laura Vanderkam, in an article for D.C. Examiner, took CJR "to task over their hypocrisy." Gossett wrote Vanderkam, a contributing editor to Reader's Digest, pointed out that CJR "labeled" the newspaper "partly because the paper had no liberal columnists. Yet Vanderkam's search through the past few years' CJRs yielded no discernibly conservative writers in its pages, either." In more recent years OPUBCO Communications Group has won a number of awards for innovations, newspaper redesign, First Amendment coverage, sports coverage, and breaking news and indepth multimedia projects.
In 1928, E. K. Gaylord bought Oklahoma's first radio station, WKY. More than 20 years later, he signed on Oklahoma's first television station, WKY-TV (now KFOR-TV
KFOR-TV
KFOR-TV, virtual channel 4 , is the NBC-affiliated television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. KFOR-TV is owned by Local TV, a subsidiary of the private equity group Oak Hill Capital Partners, in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate KAUT-TV ; its studios are located at 444 East Britton Road in...
). The two stations would be the anchors of a broadcasting empire that, at its height, included six television stations and five radio stations. Nearly all of the Gaylord broadcasting interests would be sold off by 1996, though The Oklahoman held onto WKY radio until 2002.
Until Feb. 29, 1984, OPUBCO published an afternoon daily newspaper, the Oklahoma City Times. It was folded into the Daily Oklahoman beginning with the March 1, 1984, issue. The Oklahoman was formerly available for delivery statewide, but in November 2008 it announced that it was reducing its circulation area to cover approximately two-thirds of the state (Oklahoma City and points west), and that it would no longer be available for delivery in Tulsa, Oklahoma's second-largest city. The change reduced the paper's circulation by about 7,000 homes. In January 2009, The Oklahoman and the Tulsa World
Tulsa World
Tulsa World is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma, and is the second-most widely circulated newspaper in the state, after The Oklahoman. It was founded in 1905 and remains an independent newspaper,...
announced a content-sharing agreement in which each paper would carry some content created by the other; the papers also said they would "focus on reducing some areas of duplication, such as sending reporters from both The Oklahoman and the World to cover routine news events." In 2010 The Oklahoman introduced the first iPad app for a newspaper/multimedia company of its size in the United States.
In 1939, Charles George Werner, a rookie political cartoonist at the newspaper, won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial art
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning
The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning has been awarded since 1922 for a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing, and pictorial effect...
. The winning cartoon, Nomination for 1938, depicted the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
resting on a grave marked Grave of Czecho-Slovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, 1919-1938. Published on October 6, 1938, the cartoon bit at the recently concluded Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
, which transferred the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
(a strategically important part of Czechoslovakia) to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Another notable cartoonist for the paper was Jim Lange
Jim Lange (cartoonist)
James Jacob Lange was an American cartoonist who worked for The Oklahoman for 58 years and produced over 19,000 cartoons....
, who worked for the paper for 58 years and produced over 19,000 cartoons.
Recent Awards
- 2010 Society of News Design Award of Excellence: Redesigns/Overall Newspapers.
- 2010 National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence New Media-Sports: Winner, Minister of Millwood.
- 2010, 2009 and 2007: Online News Association, Finalist, Breaking News and General Excellence .
- 2010 Southern Newspaper Publishers Association: Best Website and six other awards in video, multimedia projects, local reporting and photography.
- 2009 Innovator of the Year: Associated Press Managing Editors (APME News/Winter 2009)
- 2009 Webby Award Official Honoree (Top 12 newspaper websites in world), International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.
- 2009 Public Service in Online Journalism, Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Awards.
- 2009 First Amendment Award, Society of Professional Journalists.
- 2002-2009 Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 or Top 20 in daily, Sunday and special sections and columns, features, breaking news and projects.
News and Information Center Staff
- Kelly Dyer-Fry, Editor
- Kelly Dyer-Fry, Vice President of News & Information
- Mike Shannon, Managing Editor (News)
- Alan Herzberger, Managing Editor (Digital)
- Joe Hight, Director of Information & Development
- Robby Trammell, News Director
- Doug Hoke, Director of Photography
- Yvette Walker, Director of Custom Publishing, Presentation
- Dave Morris, Director of Video
- Todd Pendleton, Art Director
- Clytie Bunyan, Business Editor
- Rick Green, Local Editor
- Mark Hutchison, Watchdog/Investigative Editor
- Kimberly Burk, Breaking News Editor
- J.E. McReynolds, Chief Editorial Writer
- Matt Price, Features Editor
- Amy Raymond, Senior News Editor
- Linda Lynn, News Research Editor
- Mike Sherman, Sports Editor
- Don Gammill, Communities Editor