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St. Cloud Times

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Coordinates: 45°33′34″N 94°09′39″W / 45.559411°N 94.160761°W / 45.559411; -94.160761 (D: St. Cloud Times)
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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 71.37.20.163 (talk) at 16:22, 14 May 2023 (→‎History: clarity lack of Lowry paper in list of mergers). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

See also: List of newspapers in Minnesota
St. Cloud Times
Owner(s)Gannett
EditorLisa Schwarz
Founded1861 (1861)
LanguageAmerican English
Headquarters24 Eighth Ave. S, St. Cloud 56301
CitySt. Cloud
CountryUnited States
Circulation8,598 (as of 2021)[1]
ReadershipCentral Minnesota
ISSN0899-5028
OCLC number18126925
Websitewww.sctimes.com

St. Cloud Times is an American, English language daily newspaper headquartered in St. Cloud, Minnesota.[2][3] The Times is owned by mass media holding company Gannett and is part of the USA Today network of newspapers.[4] The print version of the paper is printed by ECM Publishers in Princeton, Minnesota.[5]

History

The St. Cloud Times and Journal Press was created in 1929 through the merger of several local newspapers, including the St. Cloud Union, The Visitor, St. Cloud Democrat, St. Cloud Journal-Press, and German Language Der Nordstern.[4] The paper was renamed to the St. Cloud Daily Times in 1941, becoming a six-day a week afternoon paper owned by Fred Schilplin.[4] The newspaper was purchased by Speidel Newspapers in 1975, which in turn was purchased by Gannett, the largest newspaper holding company in the United States, in 1977.[4] The Times added a Sunday edition in 1988.[4]

The St. Cloud Journal-Press had previously been known as the "St. Cloud Journal"[6]

St. Cloud was also home to the Minnesota Union newspaper,[7] founded by Sylvanus Lowry, a slave owner from Kentucky, Democratic political boss, and the city's first council president (the office of mayor did not exist) to compete with Radical Republican Jane Swisshelm's Saint Cloud Visiter and to provide a pro-slavery viewpoint.[7][8] Lowry lived in St. Cloud in 1854 until his death in 1865. Swisshelm left St. Cloud when the Civil War broke out in 1861.

In a May 2010 report by Minnesota Public Radio, St. Cloud State University professor Christopher Lehman claimed that "Lowry founded a pro-slavery newspaper, The Union, which later became the St. Cloud Times."[9] The Minnesota State Historical Society does not reference any holdings for the Lowry paper.[10] The St. Cloud Times history of multiple changes of ownership does not include the Lowry "The Union" paper among the five local publications that merged over time.[4] "With a population of just over two thousand in 1870, St. Cloud, Minnesota, was a bustling thoroughfare, but not large enough to support the multiple newspapers published in the city."[11]

Award Winning Journalism and Photography

In 2016, the Times published an in-depth look at immigration in central Minnesota that was named "Story of the Year" by the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists. "In its prime, the paper had 40 to 50 people in its newsroom covering three counties and beyond, regularly winning state and even national journalism awards."[12]

Decline and Downsizing

Parent company Gannett cut newsroom reporter and editing staff to the point that only a single newspaper reporter remained in 2022 covering Minnesota's fifth largest metropolitan area, with a population of 200,000. Local news was replaced by stories from Gannett's national USA Today, local sports coverage, once supported by a staff of 10, was eliminated (later in 2023 a single sports reporter was hired). The local paper had no coverage of St. Cloud State University's hockey team, ranked number one in the nation.[13] Industry observers referred to the shell publication as a 'Ghost Paper'.[14]

Axios (website) asked Gannett in December 2022 how the barebones St. Cloud staff can keep producing a daily paper. The email response: "While incredibly difficult, implementing these efficiencies and responding decisively to the ongoing macroeconomic volatility will continue to propel Gannett's future," [15]

In January 2023, the last remaining news reporter at the paper resigned, to join a new daily free online publication produced by The Forum Communications Company, headquartered in Fargo North Dakota, 155 miles northwest of St. Cloud by Interstate 94.

Forum Chief Content Office Mary Jo Hotzler said: "St. Cloud, from a geographical standpoint, makes sense. But more than that, we are deeply committed to local journalism and see a need in St. Cloud."[16] [17] [18]

Corporate Gannett eliminated more than half (12,000+) of its jobs between 2019 and 2022, cuts substantially deeper than the rate of newspaper revenue decline. The downsizing is blamed in part on millions of dollars in debt payments related to a 2018 merger. [19]

In 2022, Gannett ended newspaper delivery of the Times, distributing the paper through the U.S. Mail instead, eliminating a separate Saturday edition and delivering the Sunday paper on Saturday instead.

Online Digital

The newspaper's website, sctimes.com, was established in 1998.[4], and refers to the publication as the "SC Times". The publication offers readers a 'digital only' option.

References

  1. ^ "Minnesota Newspaper Directory 2022" (PDF). Minnesota Newspaper Association. 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  2. ^ "About St. Cloud times. (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1988-current". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  3. ^ "The St. Cloud daily times". Library of Congress. Library of Congress. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Our History". St. Cloud Times. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  5. ^ "ECM to print St. Cloud Times". HometownSource.com. July 6, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  6. ^ "St. Cloud Journal", Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub.
  7. ^ a b Lehman, Christopher P. (2019). Slavery's reach : Southern slaveholders in the North Star State. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 179–181. ISBN 9781681341354.
  8. ^ Espinoza, Ambar (May 7, 2010). "St. Cloud professor unearths history of slavery in Minnesota". MPR News. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  9. ^ Ambar Espinoza, St. Cloud professor unearths history of slavery in Minnesota, MPRnews, St. Paul, May 7, 2010.
  10. ^ Digital Newspapers at MNHS
  11. ^ The St. Cloud Journal (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, Minnesota Historical Society, Digital Newspapers At MNHS.
  12. ^ John Reinan "Deep staff cuts leave St. Cloud Times a 'ghost paper', Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 9, 2022
  13. ^ "St. Cloud State Men’s Hockey Ranked No. 1 in the Nation, Huskies ascend to the top spot in the polls after weekend sweep of No. 3 Denver", scsuhuskies.com.news January 23, 2023
  14. ^ John Reinan, "Deep staff cuts leave St. Cloud Times a 'ghost paper'. Serving a region of 200,000 residents, the paper now has a news staff of two.", Minneapolis Star Tribune, December 9, 2022
  15. ^ Nick Halter and Torey Van Oot , "The St. Cloud Times' newsroom decimated by staff cuts", Axios Twin Cities, December 8, 2022
  16. ^ Adam Uren, "Last remaining St. Cloud Times reporter leaving for new Forum Communications rival. The St. Cloud Times has been decimated by reporter departures and cuts by parent company Gannett." Jan 24, 2023
  17. ^ Audrey Kennedy, St. Cloud Times' newsroom loses lone reporter, Axios Twin Cities, January 24th, 2023.
  18. ^ Jennifer Hoff, "Last St. Cloud Times reporter leaves newspaper", KARE 11 News, January 27, 2023
  19. ^ Joshua Benton, "The scale of local news destruction in Gannett’s markets is astonishing", NiemanLab, March 9, 2023.

45°33′34″N 94°09′39″W / 45.559411°N 94.160761°W / 45.559411; -94.160761 (D: St. Cloud Times)

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