Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle is a daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. It is one of the 10 largest newspapers in the United States, with a daily circulation of more than 549,300. With the demise of its long-time rival the Houston Post, its nearest major competitors are located in Dallas-Fort Worth. It is the largest daily paper owned and operated by the Hearst Corporation, a multinational corporate media conglomerate with $4 billion in revenues. The paper employs nearly 2,000 people, including approximately 300 journalists, editors, and photographers. The Chronicle has bureaus in Washington, D.C., Mexico, Colombia, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Beaumont and the Rio Grande Valley. Its web site averages 25 million hits per month. The paper is currently the subject of multiple boycott efforts including by a Houston radio station and the Houston Republican Party over allegations of a liberal political bias.

History

1901: Marcellus E. Foster

The Houston Chronicle was founded in 1901 by a former reporter for the now-defunct Houston Post, Marcellus E. Foster. Foster, who had been covering the Spindletop oil boom for the Post, invested in Spindletop and took $30 of the return on that investment — at the time equivalent to a week's wages — and used it to found the Chronicle.

Related Topics:
1901 - Houston Post - Marcellus E. Foster - Spindletop

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Chronicle's first edition was published on October 14, 1901 and sold for two cents per copy, at a time when most papers sold for five cents each. At the end of its first month in operation, the Chronicle had a circulation of 4,378 — roughly one tenth of the population of Houston at the time. Within the first year of operation, the paper purchased and consolidated the Daily Herald.

Related Topics:
October 14 - 1901

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Goodfellows

In 1911, City Editor George Kepple started Goodfellows. On a Christmas Eve in 1911, Kepple passed a hat among the Chronicle's reporters to collect money to buy toys for a shoe-shine boy. Goodfellows continues today through donations made by the newspaper and its readers. It has grown into a city-wide program that provides needy children between the ages of two and ten with toys during the winter holidays. In 2003, Goodfellows distributed almost 250,000 toys to more than 100,000 needy children in the Greater Houston area.

Related Topics:
1911 - Christmas Eve - Winter holidays - 2003 - Greater Houston

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1926: Jesse H. Jones

In 1926, Jesse H. Jones became the sole owner of the paper.

Related Topics:
1926 - Jesse H. Jones

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1968, the Chronicle set a Texas newspaper circulation record.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1981, the business pages — which up until then had been combined with sports — became its own section of the newspaper.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1987: Hearst

On May 1, 1987, the Hearst Corporation purchased the Houston Chronicle for $415 Million.

Related Topics:
May 1 - 1987 - Hearst Corporation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1994, the Chronicle switched to being a morning-only paper and is now this cities only major daily newspaper.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~