The Topeka Capital-Journal
Encyclopedia
The Topeka Capital-Journal is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas
owned by Morris Communications
. It has won one Pulitzer Prize
.
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
owned by Morris Communications
Morris Communications
Morris Communications of Augusta, Georgia is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include newspaper and magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications and online services. Newspapers are the foundation...
. It has won one 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...
.
History
The paper was formed following a series of mergers including the eventual merger of the Topeka Daily Capital and Topeka State Journal and numerous name changes:- 1858: Kansas State Record starts publishing
- 1873: Topeka Blade founded by J. Clarke Swayze
- 1879: George W. Reed buys the Blade and changes it name to Kansas State Journal.
- 1879: Topeka Daily Capital founded by Major J.K. Hudson as an evening paper but changes to morning in 1881. Its press is claimed to be the first electric motor press in the United States
- 1885: Frank P. MacLennan buys Journal and renames it Topeka State Journal
- 1888: Capital absorbs the Commonwealth which had earlier bought the Kansas State Record
- 1899: Frederick Oliver Popenoe buys a 51 percent controlling interest in the Capital.
- 1900: Charles M. Sheldon, saying that "newspapers should be operated as Christ would operate themWhat would Jesus do?The phrase "What would Jesus do?" became popular in the United States in the 1990s and as a personal motto for adherents of Evangelical Christianity who used the phrase as a reminder of their belief in a moral imperative to act in a manner that would demonstrate the love of Jesus through the...
," sends the Capital circulation skyrocketing from 12,000 to 387,000 forcing it to print papers in New York and Chicago - 1901: Arthur CapperArthur CapperArthur Capper was an American politician from Kansas. He was the 20th Governor of Kansas from 1915 to 1919 and a United States Senator from 1919 to 1949....
buys Capital and become sole owner in 1904 - 1940: Oscar S. StaufferOscar S. StaufferOscar Stanley Stauffer was founder of the media company Stauffer Communications and is often credited with starting the bandwagon for Kansas Governor Alf Landon getting the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 1936.At the time of his death, Stauffer owned 20 newspapers, two...
buys the Journal - 1951: Capper dies and the Capital become employee owned
- 1956: Stauffer Publications buys Capper Publications including the Capital
- 1962: Former MacLennan home Cedar Crest becomes the Kansas Governor's Mansion
- 1973: Brian LankerBrian LankerBrian Lanker was an American photographer. He won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for a black-and-white photo essay on childbirth for The Topeka Capital-Journal, including the photograph "Moment of Life". Lanker died at his home in Eugene, Oregon on March 13, 2011 after a brief...
wins 1973 Pulitzer Prize1973 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism awards:*Public Service:** The Washington Post, for its investigation of the Watergate case.*Local General or Spot News Reporting:** The Chicago Tribune, for uncovering flagrant violations of voting procedures in the primary election of March 21, 1972.*Local Investigative Specialized...
for Feature PhotographyPulitzer Prize for Feature PhotographyThe Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography has been awarded since 1968 for a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album.... - 1975: Susan FordSusan FordSusan Elizabeth Ford Bales is an American author, photojournalist, and former chairman of the board of the Betty Ford Center for alcohol and drug abuse.-Youth:...
, daughter of Gerald FordGerald FordGerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, and Chris JohnsChris Johns (photographer)Chris Johns is a prize-winning photographer who spent many years in Africa for National Geographic Magazine and is the first photographer ever to be named Editor-in-Chief of the publication, the position he has held since 2005. Under Johns' leadership, National Geographic received the General...
(future photo editor of National Geographic magazine) intern at paper during the summer - 1981: Stauffer merges the papers into The Capital-Journal distributed in the morning
- 1982: Oscar S. Stauffer dies at 95
- 1994: Stauffer Communications sells the paper along with 19 other daily newspapers, eight weeklies, seven television stations and four radio stations to Morris CommunicationsMorris CommunicationsMorris Communications of Augusta, Georgia is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include newspaper and magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications and online services. Newspapers are the foundation...