Editing Hartford Courant (section)

==Origins and leading figures==
[[Image:PostcardHartfordCourant1898to1901.jpg|thumb|left|Courant building on State Street (about 1900)]]

According to the Library of Congress' database of U.S. newspapers, the origins of the ''Hartford Courant'' intertwines with the publication of the weekly ''Connecticut Courant''.<ref>See ''[https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84023856/ Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries]''.</ref> Founded by Thomas Green, the ''Connecticut Courant'' was first published on October 29, 1764.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://connecticuthistory.org/the-oldest-continuously-published-newspaper-today-in-history/ |title=The Oldest Continuously Published Newspaper – Today in History |website=ConnecticutHistory.org |access-date=2014-01-15}}. See also {{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-6212003.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610235722/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-6212003.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 10, 2014 |title=Spiked: how chain management corrupted America's oldest newspaper |periodical=[[The Nation]] |first=Bruce |last=Shapiro |author-link=Bruce Shapiro |date=December 19, 1987 |access-date=January 15, 2014}}. Moreover, {{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8193695.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610234217/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8193695.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 10, 2014 |title=First Colonial Newspaper Now on Exhibit in Boston |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |publisher=Affiliated Publications |first=Gloria |last=Negri |date=September 26, 1990 |access-date=January 15, 2014}}</ref> In the years following 1774, the title of the paper would be changed to ''The Connecticut Courant and Hartford Weekly Intelligencer'', later simplified to ''The Connecticut Courant, and the Weekly Intelligencer'' (1778 to 1791), then reverted to the original form ''The Connecticut Courant'' from 1791 to 1914, when the publication ceased.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82016133/. | title=The Connecticut Courant (Hartford, Conn.) 1778-1778 | website=[[Library of Congress]] }}</ref>

In 1837, John L. Boswell, who had become the printer proprietor of ''The Connecticut Courant'' the previous year (until 1849), also started the publication of ''The Daily Courant''.<ref>See the online [https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82006814/ Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries] of Library of the Congress. See also "[https://www.courant.com/2014/10/18/chapter-three-a-nation-torn-apart/ Chapter Three: A Nation Torn Apart]", ''Hartford Courant'', October 18, 2014.</ref> In 1840, the title would be changed to ''The Hartford Daily Courant'', to finally become ''The Hartford Courant'' in 1887. Based on the notion that the daily publication was an offshoot of the weekly ''Connecticut Courant'', the newspaper board adopted in 2018 the motto "Older than the nation" as its slogan.<ref>{{cite web |title=THC History |url=http://www.courant.com/about/thc-history,0,4107859.html |website=courant.com}}{{Dead link|date=June 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=no}}</ref>

[[File:Picture of John L. Boswell.jpg|thumb|Picture of John L. Boswell (? - July 30, 1854), founder of the newspaper, originally called ''The Daily Courant'']]

Other newspapers claim to be the oldest in the country. ''[[The New Hampshire Gazette]]'', which started publication in 1756, trademarked the slogan of oldest paper in the nation after being revived as a small biweekly paper in 1989. Prior to 1989, the paper had all but disappeared into other publications for most of the 20th century, which makes the slogan doubtful. The ''[[New York Post]]'' also claims to be the oldest continuously published daily newspaper. However, even though the ''Post'' started daily publishing 35 years before ''The Connecticut Courant'' did, the ''Courant'' existed as a weekly paper for nearly 40 years before the ''New York Post'' was founded, making the ''Courant'' older. Also ''[[The Providence Journal]]'' claims to be the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the United States: the ''Journal'' began daily publishing 28 years after the ''New York Post'', but some critics point at strikes at the ''Post'' in 1958 and 1978 as breaks in its continuity. Regardless, ''The Connecticut Courant'' existed as a weekly paper for nearly 70 years before ''The Providence Journal'' was founded.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870976,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414213550/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,870976,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 14, 2008 |title=Newspapers: Who's the Oldest What? |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |publisher=[[Time Inc.]] |date=May 1, 1964 |access-date=January 15, 2014|format=subscription required}}</ref>

In 1867, [[Joseph Roswell Hawley]], a leading [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] politician and former [[governor of Connecticut]], bought the newspaper, which he combined with the ''Press.'' Under his editorship, the ''Courant'' became the most influential newspaper in Connecticut and one of the leading Republican papers in the country.

An eminent figure of the ''Courant'' is [[Emile Gauvreau]], who became a reporter in 1916, and the managing editor in 1919. His energetic and often sensationalistic news style upset [[Charles Hopkins Clark|Charles Clark]], the owner and editor. Clark fired Gauvreau when the journalist refused to stop a series of stories about false [[Medical degree|medical diplomas]]. Gauvreau would become later on a major figure in the [[New York City]] [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|tabloid]] wars of the [[Roaring Twenties]] as the first [[managing editor]] of the [[New York Evening Graphic]] and later managing editor of the [[New York Mirror]].<ref>Emile Gauvreau, ''My Last Million Readers'' (Dutton, 1941)</ref>

Another prominent editor of the ''Courant'' in the 20th century is [[Herbert Brucker]].<ref>Herbert Brucker, ''Journalist, eyewitness to history'' (Macmillan, 1962)</ref>

===Recent history===

The ''Courant'' was purchased in 1979 by [[Times Mirror Company|Times Mirror]], the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''{{-'}} parent company, for $105.6 million.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kleinfield |first=N. r |date=1979-07-11 |title=Times Mirror Is Seeking To Buy Hartford Courant |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/11/archives/times-mirror-is-seeking-to-buy-hartford-courant-times-mirror-is.html |access-date=2023-01-31 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The first years of out-of-town ownership are described by Andrew Kreig, a former ''Courant'' reporter, in a book titled ''Spiked: How Chain Management Corrupted America's Oldest Newspaper.'' <ref name=2007data>{{cite book |author=Andrew Kreig |title=Spiked: How Chain Management Corrupted America's Oldest Newspaper |year=1987 |location=Old Saybrook, Connecticut |publisher=Peregrine Press |isbn=978-0-933614-27-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/spikedhowchainma00krei }}</ref> One criticism expressed by Kreig is that the new owners were more interested in awards, and less interested in traditional ''Courant'' devotion to exhaustive coverage of local news.

The ''Courant'' won a 1992 [[Pulitzer Prize]] for inquiring into problems with the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] (a Connecticut company was involved in the construction), and it won a 1999 Pulitzer Prize in the Breaking News category for coverage of a 1998 [[Connecticut Lottery shooting|murder-suicide]] that took five lives at [[Connecticut Lottery]] headquarters. A series of articles about sexual abuse by the head of a worldwide Catholic order, published since February 1997, constituted the first denunciation of [[Marciel Maciel]] known to a wider audience.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-marcial-maciel-sg,0,5607762.storygallery |title=Courant Coverage of the Rev. Marciel Maciel Degollado |work=Hartford Courant |access-date=2014-01-15 |archive-date=2013-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131226212356/http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-marcial-maciel-sg,0,5607762.storygallery |url-status=dead }} {{Self-published source|date=January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/aliado/oscuro/Juan/Pablo/II/elpepisoc/20110429elpepisoc_9/Tes |title=El aliado oscuro de Juan Pablo II |work=[[El País]] |date=2011-04-29 |access-date=2014-01-15 |first=Jesús |last=Rodríguez}}</ref>

[[File:The Hartford Courant building in downtown Hartford, seen from I-84 East.jpg|thumb|The current building of the Hartford Courant Co.]]
In 2000, Times Mirror and the ''Courant'' became part of the [[Tribune Company]], one of the world's largest multimedia companies. By then the ''Courant'' had acquired the [[Valley Advocate]] group of "alternative" weeklies started by two former ''Courant'' staff members in 1973.  Tribune also owned two local television stations:  [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate [[WTIC-TV]] and [[The CW]] affiliate [[WCCT-TV]].

In 2005, The ''Courant'' became the most recent American newspaper to win the [[Society for News Design]]'s World's Best Designed Newspaper award.<ref>[http://www.medienhandbuch.de/news/die-zeit-worlds-best-designed-newspaper-2004-auszeichnung-erhalten-2328.html "'Die Zeit': World's Best Designed Newspaper 2004 Auszeichnung erhalten"]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} March 2, 2005 ''medienhandbuch.de'' accessed May 4, 2010</ref>  In 2006, the paper's investigation into mental health and suicides among Americans serving in the Iraq war was featured in the PBS documentary series ''[[Exposé: America's Investigative Reports]]'' in an episode entitled "Question 7."

In late June 2006, the Tribune Co. announced that ''Courant'' publisher Jack W. Davis Jr. would be replaced by Stephen D. Carver, vice president and general manager of Atlanta, Ga., TV station WATL. In March 2009, Tribune replaced Carver with Richard Graziano, who was given a dual role as Courant publisher and general manager of Tribune's two Hartford television stations.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}} In May of the same year, Tribune announced that Jeff Levine, a newspaper executive with a background in marketing, would become "director of content" and that the editor or "print platform manager" of the ''Courant'' would report to Levine as would the news director of WTIC-TV. Shortly after that, the ''Courant's'' two highest ranking editors were let go.<ref>Staff, [http://newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/05/check_out_the_n.php "Check Out The New 'Mr. Content'"] ''New Haven Independent'' May 17, 2009</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=13039 |title= CTNOW: Connecticut Events, Concerts, Attractions, Family Fun and More - Hartford Courant|website=www.hartfordadvocate.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523221326/http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=13039 |archive-date=May 23, 2009}}</ref>

After 2010, ''Courant'' has offered early retirement and buyout packages to reduce staff as it continues to experience declines in advertising revenue. There have also been layoffs and reduction in pages.  Newsroom staff peaked in 1994 at close to 400 staff, down to 175 staff by 2008, and 135 staff in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-layoffs-courant-20110707,0,4770389.story |title=Courant Trims Newsroom Jobs |first=Kenneth R. |last=Gosselin |newspaper=Hartford Courant |publisher=Tribune Publishing |date=July 7, 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Tribune Company brought frequent changes in the Courant's top leadership. On November 18, 2013, Tribune appointed Nancy Meyer as publisher, succeeding Rich Graziano who left to become president and general manager of WPIX-TV (PIX11) in New York City.

In 2014, the ''Courant'' purchased the ''[[ReminderNews]]'' chain of weekly newspapers.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 26, 2014 |title=Hartford (CT) Courant to Acquire ReminderNews Publications – Editor & Publisher |url=http://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/hartford-ct-courant-to-acquire-remindernews-publications/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105193222/https://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/hartford-ct-courant-to-acquire-remindernews-publications/ |archive-date=January 5, 2016 |access-date=9 December 2017 |website=[[Editor & Publisher]]}}</ref> The ''Reminder'' name remained on the mastheads of all editions until November 2015, when the papers were redesigned and renamed ''Courant Community''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Dehnel |first1=Chris |last2=Jensen |first2=Tim |date=2024-01-05 |title=Employees 'Announce' Imminent Demise Of Courant Community Papers |url=https://patch.com/connecticut/vernon/employees-announce-imminent-demise-courant-community-papers |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=[[Patch Media]] |language=en}}</ref>

On October 10, 2014, Tribune Company announced the appointment of Rick Daniels as publisher of the Courant, succeeding Nancy Meyer, who was promoted to publisher and CEO of the Orlando Sentinel.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-new-courant-publisher-rick-daniels-nancy-meyer-20141010-story.html|title=Rick Daniels Named Courant Publisher; Nancy Meyer Leaving For Florida Media Group|first=KENNETH R.|last=GOSSELIN|website=Hartford Courant|publisher=Tribune Publishing|access-date=December 9, 2017}}</ref>

Andrew Julien was named the combined publisher and editor in March 2016, replacing Tom Wiley, who departed after two months.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gosselin |first1=Ken |title=Julien Named Courant Publisher And Editor-in-Chief In Tribune Shake-Up |url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-tribune-courant-20160302-story.html |access-date=20 September 2018 |agency=The Hartford Courant |date=March 2, 2016}}</ref>

In 2018, the Hartford Courant joined more than 300 newspapers in releasing editorials in response to President's Trump's anti-media rhetoric, a show of solidarity initiated by [[The Boston Globe]]. "The Hartford Courant joins newspapers from around the country today to reaffirm that the press is not the enemy of the American people.''"'' <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-enemy-of-the-american-people-20180810-story.html|title=Editorial: The President Wants You To Think We're The Enemy. Here's What We Really Do|date=16 August 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/16/media/free-press-trump-editorials/index.html|title='We are not the enemy': 16 must-read editorials that capture the spirit of a free press|date=16 August 2018}}</ref>

In October 2020, the ''Courant'' announced that it would be discontinuing printing the paper in Hartford and outsourcing future printing to the ''[[Springfield Republican]]'' in Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kenneth R. Gosselin |title=Hartford Courant will outsource printing of newspaper |url=https://www.courant.com/business/hc-biz-courant-outsource-printing-20201019-n4ckr2bcyrev3blpig5xbsst3u-story.html |work=Hartford Courant |date=October 19, 2020 |access-date=2020-10-19 }}</ref>

In December 2020, [[Tribune Publishing]] announced that it would be closing the ''Courant'''s Broad Street newsroom by the end of the year with no current plans to open another.<ref>{{cite news |author=Katie Robertson |title=The Hartford Courant's newsroom is closing down |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/business/media/the-hartford-courants-newsroom-is-closing-down.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 4, 2020 |access-date=2020-12-04 }}</ref> On its website as of 2023, the ''Courant'' lists its mailing address as 100 Pearl Street in Hartford.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hartford Courant - Contact Us |url=https://membership.courant.com/contact-us/ |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=membership.courant.com |date=10 January 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

In January 2024, it was announced ''Courant Community'' newspapers was to cease publication on Jan. 18.<ref name=":0" />