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37-398: The News and its sister newspapers printed their final edition on February 26, 2023, after almost 135 years of publication. Their digital operation, AL.com, survives. The Birmingham News was launched on March 14, 1888, by Rufus N. Rhodes as The Evening News , a four-page paper with two reporters and $ 800 of operating capital. At the time, the city of Birmingham was only 17 years old, but

74-448: A booming city, but also a rise in literacy rates and a middle class that was growing with increasing numbers of blue-collar jobs with increasing development of resources such as coal and cotton. At its peak, The Birmingham News reached more than 215,000 readers a week. On May 24, 2012, Advance Publications announced that its three Alabama newspapers would do away with print editions on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The move

111-588: A brown leather briefcase and kept key figures in his head, even as his acquisitions grew into an empire of 20 newspapers, as well as numerous magazines, radio stations and television stations. He never had what could be called a formal headquarters; for many years, Advance Publications' corporate address was the same as that of the Staten Island Advance. He was married to arts patron and philanthropist Mitzi Epstein (April 30, 1902 – June 29, 1989), who grew up in an upper middle class, Jewish family on

148-562: A circulation of 17,000 in 1909. Staunchly progressive in its political stance, the News supported a straight-ticket Democrat platform in election seasons and championed progressive causes such as prohibition . The News led the drumbeat for the "Greater Birmingham" movement to annex suburban communities. The successful campaign caused the population of the City of Birmingham to grow from 40,000 in 1900 to 138,685 in 1910, at which time Birmingham

185-442: A falling out over a proposed public works project. Rhodes supported construction of a viaduct across "Railroad Reservation" dividing north and south Birmingham. The Herald ' s publisher opposed the project. The dispute ended with Rhodes leaving to launch the News with the slogan "Great is Birmingham and The News is its Prophet!" The "News Bridge" (21st Street Viaduct) was dedicated on July 4, 1891, which Rhodes' paper hailed as

222-400: A few blocks away, with the 2006 building on the market. In 2015, Infinity Property & Casualty Corp. purchased the old News building for $ 20 million. The Birmingham News in 1888 cost on average $ 5 a year and 25 cents for three months, compared to 2013, when it costs $ 35 for thirteen weeks. Between 1888 and 1895 it jumped from just 18,000 subscribers to 40,000. This leap was due to not only

259-510: A majority interest, due to an unpaid legal bill), allowing Newhouse to keep half of the profits if successful. Newhouse quickly determined that the paper was not earning enough fees from advertisements, and personally solicited new advertisers while also assisting them in planning the timing of store sales. The paper returned to profitability, and he received a 20 percent ownership interest as payment (after continued success, his share increased to 50 percent). Later, he decided to attend law school in

296-605: A rampant campaign of fining and towing motorists to corruptly keep the proceeds on fabricated charges. The team included a father-son duo in the two Archibalds. Kyle Whitmire won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for a series called "State of Denial" on the legacy of the Confederacy in Alabama, and how it harmed and stunted the state. Rufus N. Rhodes Rufus Napoleon Rhodes (June 5, 1856– January 12, 1910)

333-672: A series about AIDS in Africa. In 2006 the News editorial staff were finalists for another Pulitzer for Editorial Writing for a series of editorials reversing the paper's longstanding support of the death penalty. That same year the paper won two Awards of Excellence from the Society for News Design for the paper's overall graphic layout. In 2007, reporter Brett Blackledge won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for his series of articles exposing corruption in Alabama's two-year college system. In 2018, columnist John Archibald won

370-603: A six-week bookkeeping course at the Gaffrey School in Manhattan which enabled him to secure a job as an office boy working for Hyman Lazarus, a lawyer, police court judge, and politician in Bayonne. At age sixteen, he was promoted to office manager of Lazarus' law firm. Noting Newhouse's work ethic and enthusiasm, Lazarus had Newhouse manage the money-losing Bayonne Times (a local newspaper in which Lazarus had acquired

407-535: Is dramatically bisected by a glass atrium. The 1917 building was demolished in 2008 in order to make room for a surface parking lot serving employees of the paper. The lot is between the new office building and the facility that houses The Birmingham News presses. On January 22, 2013, Alabama Media Group announced it was selling the building, saying the high-tech, modern and open facility was not conducive to its digital-first, print-last operations. In 2009, Advance Publications' three Alabama newspapers were organized into

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444-473: Is featured in a documentary called Born Rich about the experience of growing up as the heir to one of the world's greatest fortunes. Newhouse died in 1979, aged 84, in New York City of a stroke. Upon his death, he passed his voting common stock in the principal family company, Advance Publications , in trust to his six grandchildren and made his two sons the sole trustees. One of the vessels of

481-953: The Birmingham News , on March 14, 1888 . He also served as a director of the Associated Press . Rhodes was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1892 and 1904, and served as a brigadier general in the Alabama National Guard in 1898. He was the first editor to endorse Grover Cleveland as president. He died in Birmingham, Alabama , and is buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery . Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr. Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. (born Solomon Isadore Neuhaus ; May 24, 1895 – August 29, 1979)

518-557: The New York Yankees . He typically acquired a city's oldest newspaper and then purchased the city's second newspaper, thereby allowing him to set advertising rates. Although he generally promised to keep both papers in business and in competition, he typically merged the two, generally closing the afternoon paper and keeping the morning, effectively establishing a monopoly , then used the profits to purchase additional newspapers. Newhouse largely ran his various interests out of

555-616: The News acquired Birmingham magazine from the Birmingham Business Alliance. The Birmingham News maintained bureaus in Montgomery and Washington, D.C. The Washington bureau was closed in September 2012. The Birmingham News moved out of its 2006 building in 2014, after its owners cut back publication and could no longer afford to occupy the large building. The News moved into a renovated old warehouse

592-484: The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his columns about former governor Robert J. Bentley , former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and corruption in state politics. In 2023, the newspaper won two Pulitzer Prizes. John Archibald, Ashley Remkus, Ramsey Archibald, and Challen Stephens won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for a series on a scandal in Brookside, Alabama where police officers had engaged on

629-512: The Staten Island Advance for $ 98,000 and soon returned the paper to profitability. In 1924, Lazarus died and Newhouse purchased Lazarus's share from his widow as well as the 49 percent that he and the judge did not own. Newhouse began to expand his empire, purchasing, merging, and returning to profitability numerous papers. Newhouse focused on purchasing bargain-priced papers in growing communities. He had no interest in starting new papers or in unrelated ventures, even declining an offer to purchase

666-650: The Upper West Side , the daughter of a silk tie importer. They had two sons, Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr. , known as Si Newhouse, chairman of Advance , and Donald Newhouse , president of Advance. Samuel Newhouse resided in Manhattan for much of his life. In 1942, he bought Greenlands, a working farm of 143 acres in Harbourton, Mercer County, New Jersey . In his privately published memoir, A Memo to my Children , he documented his often strained relationship with his two sons. His great-grandson, S.I. Newhouse IV,

703-467: The "grandest of all municipal achievements of great and glorious Birmingham." The News circulation grew from 628 in 1888 to more than 7,000 in 1891, when it became the largest daily in Alabama and won the contract to publish the General Laws of Alabama. The name changed first to The Evening News , then The Daily News , and, in 1895, The Birmingham News . The newspaper continued to grow, reaching

740-583: The Advance Alabama Group, headed by Ricky Mathews, publisher of the Mobile newspaper. Although Advance had owned the News since 1956, the Hanson family continued to run the business until December 1, 2009, when Victor H. Hanson III (1956–), retired at the age of 52. Hanson was replaced by Pam Siddall, previously the publisher of The Wichita Eagle and The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer . In 2011,

777-414: The evening paper. This move reinforced the News's preeminent role as morning papers were the norm. On August 10, 2006, the News cut the ribbon on their new headquarters building across 4th Avenue from their 1917 plant. The $ 25 million, 4-story, 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m) brick and limestone building, designed by Williams-Blackstock Architects, borrows several details from the older building and

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814-599: The evenings; in 1916, he graduated from the New Jersey Law School (now Rutgers School of Law–Newark ). His career in the practice of law was short-lived: he was so humiliated after losing the one case he took to trial that he paid his client the full amount of the damages he had requested. Nevertheless, thanks to his support, Rutgers School of Law-Newark is presently housed in the S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice. In 1922, taking all his personal savings and partnering with Lazarus, he bought 51 percent of

851-523: The largest sum that had been paid at the time for a daily newspaper. The privately held Advance continues to own the News as well as The Huntsville Times and Mobile's Press-Register , the three largest newspapers in Alabama, as well as their shared website, al.com. In 1997, the News Company switched the morning and evening publications, making the News the morning paper and the Post-Herald

888-541: The new Birmingham Post-Herald into the Birmingham News building. The News press printed both papers and handled advertising and subscriptions sales while the editorial and reporting staffs remained independent. The agreement lasted until the Post-Herald ceased publication in September 2005, leaving the News as Birmingham's only daily newspaper. In 1956, the Hanson family sold the News to S. I. Newhouse Sr. 's Advance Publications in New York for $ 18 million,

925-532: The paper in 2017, when offering a political endorsement, it generally skews toward the Republican Party with a few exceptions. The paper endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election , and on November 18, 2017, it endorsed Democrat Doug Jones in the 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama . Former Birmingham News reporter Victor Gold was in 1964 an aide to U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater and subsequently

962-595: The paper made good use of its new space by purchasing the rival Birmingham Ledger , increasing the size of its staff to 748 and its circulation to 60,000. In 1927 the Birmingham Age-Herald was sold to Hanson, who continued publishing both papers. In 1950 Scripps-Howard , which already owned the Birmingham Post , bought the Age-Herald but entered into a joint-operating agreement that moved

999-524: The press secretary to Vice President Spiro T. Agnew . He was also affiliated with President George H. W. Bush . In 1991, Ron Casey, Harold Jackson and Joey Kennedy received a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for their editorial campaign analyzing inequities in Alabama's tax system and proposing needed reforms. In 2006, staff photographer Bernard Troncale took top honors at the Society of Professional Journalists' Green Eyeshade Awards for his work on

1036-639: The second-largest city in the United States to not be served by a daily newspaper; New Orleans became the largest that same day. New Orleans lost that dubious distinction when Baton Rouge's daily newspaper, The Advocate , began publication of a daily edition in New Orleans; further, on June 24, 2013, The Times-Picayune resumed daily publication with a tabloid edition called "TP Street" sold only through newsstands and retailers. The owners of The Advocate bought The Times-Picayune in 2019 and merged

1073-403: The time of the move, the News published this opinion: "The News is proud of its new home and believes it to be the handsomest and best equipped in the entire South. Publishers from other cities have been kind enough to say that nowhere in the land was there a more adequate, convenient and efficient newspaper plant. Many thousands of dollars have been expended with that end in view." A year later

1110-426: The title of "The South's Greatest Newspaper". In 1912, the evening paper launched a Sunday edition in direct competition with the morning Age-Herald . By 1920, the News dominated the lucrative Sunday market. Its edition had a circulation of 48,055, compared to 29,795 for the Age-Herald . In 1917 the News moved to a new six-story Jacobean-style office building on the corner of 4th Avenue North and 22nd Street. At

1147-724: The two into one daily newspaper. With the changes in New Orleans, Birmingham became the largest city in the country without its own daily newspaper and remained so until the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reduced publication from daily to five editions per week in 2018, then to twice a week in 2021. On November 3, 2022, Advance management announced that the News, as well as its sister newspapers in Huntsville and Mobile, would discontinue its print edition on February 26, 2023, and convert to an all-digital operation. According to

The Birmingham News - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-457: Was a result of the continuing decline in advertising revenue and circulation for its traditional print products. The move places increased emphasis on their website, al.com, and reorganizes the Alabama properties into two companies: Alabama Media Group, the editorial and advertising side; and Advance Central Services Alabama, which handles production, distribution and back-office services. The changes took effect on October 1, 2012, making Birmingham

1221-501: Was an American broadcasting businessman, as well as a magazine and newspaper publisher . He was the founder of Advance Publications . Newhouse was born Solomon Isadore Neuhaus in a tenement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan , the eldest of eight children born to Jewish immigrants. His father, Meier Neuhaus, was an immigrant from Vitebsk , then Russian Empire (now Belarus ); and his mother, Rose (née Arenfeldt),

1258-468: Was an already booming industrial city and a beacon of the " New South " still recovering from the aftermath of the American Civil War and Reconstruction . Newspapers joined with industrial tycoons, academics and real-estate speculators in relentless boosterism of the new city. Prior to starting the paper, Rhodes worked as editor of the city's Daily Herald. However, he and the publisher had

1295-506: Was from Austria-Hungary . Meier Neuhaus later adapted his name to Meyer Newhouse. Although his father had studied to become a rabbi, he was unskilled and only worked occasionally due to poor health. The family moved to Bayonne, New Jersey where his mother supported the family by peddling linens and in 1908, his father abandoned the family for health reasons to live with his sister in Connecticut. Newhouse quit school and enrolled in

1332-873: Was the founder, publisher, and managing editor of the Birmingham News in Alabama from 1888 until his death. Rhodes was born in Mississippi . He was a lawyer by profession. Rhodes practiced law in Clarksville, Tennessee , for four years. For a time, he was a private secretary to United States Senator James E. Bailey of Tennessee , and served for one term in the Tennessee House of Representatives . He later practiced law for four years in Chicago, Illinois . He then moved to Birmingham, Alabama . Rhodes launched The Evening News , later renamed

1369-666: Was the third largest city in the South . That same year, Rhodes died and was succeeded by his vice-president and general manager, Victor H. Hanson (1876–1945). Hanson, only 33 years old, was already an accomplished newspaperman, having at age 11 founded the City Item in Macon, Georgia , which he sold four years later for $ 2,500. Hanson helped modernize the newspaper's format, tone and operations and oversaw an increase in subscriptions from 18,000 in 1910 to 40,000 in 1914, when he boldly claimed

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