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The Mercury News

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The Mercury News
The December 22, 2011 front page of the San Jose Mercury News
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Digital First Media
EditorDavid Butler
FoundedJune 20, 1851; 173 years ago (1851-06-20) (as San Jose Weekly Visitor)
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters4 North Second Street
San Jose, California 95190
U.S.[1]
CirculationAt 2011:
527,568 daily
602,566 Sunday[2]
ISSN0747-2099
OCLC number145122249
Websitewww.mercurynews.com
Logo of the San Jose Mercury News in 2015

The Mercury News (formerly San Jose Mercury News), often locally known as The Merc, is an American daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in Silicon Valley. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiary of Digital First Media.

Formerly published as the San Jose Mercury News, Bay Area News Group announced in March 2016 that the newspaper would be re-branded as The Mercury News as part of a consolidation plan.[3] The Mercury News launched on April 5, 2016.

History

Mercury News headquarters (1967-2014)
File:SJMerc wb elf.jpg
Sections vary by day of the week, but Business, Sports, and The Valley are standard daily fare.

The San Jose Mercury was founded in 1851 as the San Jose Weekly Visitor, while the San Jose News was founded in 1883. In 1942, the Mercury purchased the News and continued publishing both newspapers, with the Mercury as the morning paper and the News as the evening paper. In 1983, the newspapers were merged into the San Jose Mercury News, with morning and afternoon editions. The afternoon edition was later abandoned.

The paper says that the name "Mercury" refers to the importance of the mercury industry during the California Gold Rush, when the city's New Almaden Mines (now Almaden Quicksilver County Park) were the largest producer of mercury in North America. The name has a dual meaning, as Mercury is the Roman messenger of the gods as well as the god of commerce and thieves, known for his swiftness, and the name Mercury is commonly used for newspapers without the quicksilver association.

Because of its location in Silicon Valley, The Mercury News has covered many of the key events in the history of computing.

Ridder bought the Mercury and News in 1952. Ridder merged with Knight to form Knight Ridder in 1974.

On March 13, 2006, The McClatchy Company announced their agreement to purchase Knight Ridder. McClatchy decided that it would be expedient to explore the immediate resale of The Mercury News.[4]

On April 26, 2006, it was announced that Denver-based MediaNews Group would buy The Mercury News.[5] However, on June 12, 2006, federal regulators from the U.S. Department of Justice asked for more time to review the purchase, citing possible anti-trust concerns over MediaNews' ownership of other newspapers in the region. Although approval by regulators and completion of MediaNews' acquisition was announced on August 2, 2006, a lawsuit claiming antitrust violations by MediaNews and the Hearst Corporation had also been filed in July 2006.[6]

The suit, which sought to undo the purchase of both The Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times, was scheduled to go to trial on April 30, 2007. While extending until that date a preliminary injunction which prevented collaboration of local distribution and national advertising sales by the two media conglomerates, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on December 19, 2006 expressed doubt over the legality of the purchase.[7] On April 25, 2007, days before the trial was scheduled to begin, the parties reached a settlement in which MediaNews preserved its acquisitions.[8]

In September 2014 The Mercury News moved to downtown San Jose, leaving its purpose-built headquarters that opened in 1967. Cited as reasons for the move were that the printing presses were no longer on site and the staff reductions that had occurred over the years.[9]

In 2016, the San Mateo County Times merged into The Mercury News.[10]

Coverage

The paper's local coverage and circulation is concentrated in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County. Combined with other Bay Area News Group papers (East Bay Times, Marin Independent Journal), the combined news group covers the South Bay, Peninsula, East Bay, and Marin County.

Awards

The newspaper has earned several awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1986 for reporting regarding political corruption in the Ferdinand Marcos administration in the Philippines, and one in 1990 for their comprehensive coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Assistant managing editor David Yarnold was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2004 for a local corruption investigation.[11] The Mercury News was also named one of the five best-designed newspapers in the world by the Society for News Design for work done in 2001.

Controversies

In August 1996 The Mercury News published "Dark Alliance", a series of investigative articles by reporter Gary Webb. The series claimed that members of the Nicaraguan Contras, an anti-government group organized with the help of the Central Intelligence Agency, had been involved in smuggling cocaine into America to support their struggle, and as a result had played a major role in creating the crack-cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. The series sparked three federal investigations, but other newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times later published articles suggesting that the series' claims were overstated. Executive editor Jerry Ceppos, who had approved the series, eventually published a column that acknowledged shortcomings in the series' reporting, editing, and production, while maintaining the story was correct "on many important points".[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Carey, Pete (June 12, 2014). "Mercury News announces move to downtown San Jose". San Jose Mercury News. Bay Area News Group. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  2. ^ "Circulation averages for the six months ended: 9/30/2010". Audit Bureau of Circulation. April 21, 2011.
  3. ^ "Oakland loses Tribune, with paper folded into new East Bay Times". SFGate. March 1, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  4. ^ Seelye, Katharine; Sorkin, Andrew Ross (March 13, 2006). "Newspaper Chain Agrees to a Sale for $4.5 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
  5. ^ "McClatchy to sell four Knight Ridder newspapers for $1 billion" (PDF). The McClatchy Company/Media News Group. April 26, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 10, 2007.
  6. ^ Egelko, Bob (December 20, 2006). "Hearst-MediaNews ruling extended". SFGate - San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
  7. ^ Egelko, Bob (December 20, 2006). "Hearst-MediaNews ruling extended". SFGate - San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
  8. ^ Egelko, Bob (April 25, 2007). "Hearst, MediaNews Group settle Reilly suit". SFGate - San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
  9. ^ http://www.mercurynews.com/News/ci_26615094/Pizarro:-A-bittersweet-farewell-to-the-old-Mercury-News-building
  10. ^ "Oakland Tribune, San Jose Mercury News among publications affected in newspaper consolidation". KTVU. March 2, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  11. ^ White, Dana. (2001-02-24) "For the Birds" Westchester Magazine. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  12. ^ Ceppos, Jerry (May 11, 1997). "To readers of our 'Dark Alliance' series". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on November 19, 1997. Retrieved February 11, 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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