Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune, formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", remains the leading daily newspaper of the Midwestern United States.

History

Founded in 1847, the Tribune published its first edition on June 10, as a Know Nothing paper. It consisted mostly of columns that were xenophobic, with constant foreigner and Roman Catholic bashing. The xenophobia was toned down, but the paper began promoting temperance. Eight years later when "Long" John Wentworth entered his second term as mayor of Chicago, he sold The Chicago Democrat to Joseph Medill and five partners. Before and during the American Civil War, Joseph Medill pushed an abolitionist agenda and strongly supported Abraham Lincoln, whom he persuaded to run for the Presidency in 1860. The paper remained a strong force in Republican politics for years afterwards. Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Related Topics:
1847 - June 10 - Know Nothing - Xenophobic - Roman Catholic - Temperance - "Long" John Wentworth - Mayor of Chicago - The Chicago Democrat - Joseph Medill - American Civil War - Abolitionist - Abraham Lincoln - 1860 - Republican - Great Chicago Fire - 1871

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Under the 20th century editorship of Col. Robert R. McCormick the paper was strongly isolationist and actively biased in its coverage of political news and social trends, calling itself "The American Paper for Americans," excoriating the Democrats and the New Deal, resolutely disdainful of the British and French, and greatly enthusiastic for Chiang Kai-shek and Sen. Joseph McCarthy. McCormick died in 1955, just four days before Richard J. Daley was elected mayor for the first time.

Related Topics:
20th century - Robert R. McCormick - Isolationist - Democrats - New Deal - Chiang Kai-shek - Joseph McCarthy - 1955 - Richard J. Daley

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The Tribune 's legendary sports editor Arch Ward created the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1933 as part of the city's Century of Progress exposition. The Tribune 's reputation for innovation extended to radio -- it bought an early station, WDAP, in 1924 and renamed it WGN (AM), as in "World's Greatest Newspaper," and started WGN-TV on April 5, 1948.

Related Topics:
Major League Baseball All-Star Game - 1933 - Century of Progress - 1924 - WGN (AM) - WGN-TV - April 5 - 1948

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Many of the biases of the Tribunes past were consigned to the past under Clayton Kirkpatrick, who edited the newspaper from 1969 to 1979. Notably, in 1974, in a break with tradition that caused a nationwide stir, the Tribune called for the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon after first publishing the complete 246,000-word text of the famous Watergate tapes.

Related Topics:
1969 - 1979 - 1974 - Richard M. Nixon - Watergate

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Subsequently the Tribune has been a leader on the Internet, acquiring 10 percent of America Online in the early 1990's, then launching such Web sites as chicagotribune.com (1995), metromix.com (1996), and ChicagoSports.com (1999). In 2002 it launched a tabloid newspaper targeted at 18- to 34-year-olds known as RedEye.

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