Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞

On this article titled Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞, we shall cover everything you need to know about the Newspaper company. To do this, we shall also cover relevant subtopics like; Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 Overview, Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 History, Production, 2020 “Buildings Matter, Too” article, Overview, Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 customer service.

Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 Overview

Daily newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the USA. As of 2017, the daily has the greatest readership in the Delaware Valley metropolitan area, which includes South-eastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland, as well as the highest readership in the whole United States.
The newspaper is the third-longest continually running daily newspaper in the country. It was first published on June 1, 1829, as The Pennsylvania Inquirer. As of 2021, it has received 20 Pulitzer Prizes. During the American Civil War, The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 initially rose to prominence as an important newspaper. After the Civil War, the newspaper’s readership then decreased. However by the late 19th century, it had recovered. The Inquirer, which had first supported the Democratic Party, ultimately leaned more toward the Whig Party. And then the Republican Party until declaring itself to be politically neutral in the middle of the 20th century.
By the end of the 1960s, The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 was falling behind its main rival, The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. This was because they lacked contemporary resources and qualified personnel. However, the daily was transformed into one of the most well-known in the nation in the 1970s by new owners and editors. The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also publishes a news site(philly.com) and Philadelphia’s daily news tabloid, Philadelphia Daily News, owns the newspaper. Gabriel Escobar is the newspaper’s editor, while Elizabeth H. Hughes is its publisher and CEO.

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Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 History

John R. Walker, a publisher, and John Norvell, a former editor of the Aurora & Gazette, the biggest newspaper in Philadelphia, launched The Philadelphia Inquirer as The Pennsylvania Inquirer. The Pennsylvania Inquirer’s initial editorial said that the publication will be committed to the minority’s right to free speech. They also stated that “the defence of the people’s rights and freedoms, equally against the injustices as the takeover of authority.” By supporting “home industries, American manufacturing, and internal improvements that so largely contribute to the agricultural, commercial, and national prosperity,” they vowed to support then-President Andrew Jackson. The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞, which was established on June 1st, 1829, is the third-oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the country.
However, a historian hired by the Inquirer in 1962 was able to link the publication to John Dunlap’s The Pennsylvania Packet. The Packet and The North American, a different newspaper, were then combined in 1850. The North American thereafter amalgamated with the Philadelphia Public Ledger. In the 1930s, the Public Ledger then amalgamated with The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Unfortunately, lack of resources compelled Norvell and Walker, six months after The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 founding, to then sell the publication to publisher and associate editor of the United States Gazette Jesper Harding. The Pennsylvania Inquirer was temporarily published as an afternoon edition after Harding bought it. It then switched back to its regular morning format in January 1830. The Inquirer also relocated under Harding to a new site between Second and Third Streets in 1829, leaving its former home between Front and Second Streets. The Inquirer was once again relocated ten years later. However, this time to its own building at the intersection of Third Street and Carter’s Alley. The Inquirer’s content was increased by Harding, and the publication quickly became a significant Philadelphia daily.

Civil War to 1920s

Harding resigned in 1859, and his son William White Harding, who had joined as a partner three years before, then replaced him. Harding started delivery routes, reduced the paper’s price, and also had newsboys hawk publications on the streets. He did this in an effort to boost circulation. Circulation had been around 7,000 in 1859; by 1863, it had then risen to 70,000. The popularity of news during the American Civil War contributed to the growth in some measure. Throughout the war, between 25,000 and 30,000 copies of The Inquirer were often given to Union troops. Also, on multiple occasions, the American government requested that The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 publish a special edition only for soldiers. Despite the Philadelphia Inquirer’s backing for the Union, Harding wished for its reporting to be impartial. Because they thought the newspaper’s coverage of the war was truthful, Confederate generals often requested copies of the publication.
Uriah Hunt Painter, a reporter for the Inquirer, participated in the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, which the Confederates won. Initial official reports gave the Union the advantage. However, The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 trusted Painter’s eyewitness account. Because of the news, crowds threatened to burn down The Inquirer’s building. General George Meade was so incensed by another story, this one against him, that he censured the reporter who authored it, Edward Crapsey. Later, Crapsey and other war reporters made the decision to credit Ulysses S. Grant, who oversaw the whole Union army, with any successes achieved by Meade’s Army of the Potomac. Meade would thereafter take the blame for any Army of the Potomac setbacks. The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 expanded throughout the war, hiring additional employees. They then moved once again into a bigger space on Chestnut Street.
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Challenges and Comeback

However, after the war, The Inquirer suffered from economic downturns and Harding’s illness. The distribution decreased from 70,000 during the Civil War to 5,000 in 1888, despite Philadelphia’s population expansion. The publication was then given to publisher James Elverson in 1889. Elverson then relocated The Inquirer to a new facility with cutting-edge printing equipment and a larger workforce. He did this in order to revive the newspaper. The “new” Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 made its debut on March 1. It was so well-received that Elverson decided to launch a Sunday edition. The Inquirer’s price was reduced, and the paper’s size was raised, largely via classified ads, in 1890. This was in order to boost circulation even further. After five years, The Inquirer was eventually forced to relocate to a bigger structure on Market Street. It subsequently grew onto a nearby plot of land.
James Elverson Jr., Elverson’s son with Sallie Duvall, took over after his father’s death in 1911. The newspaper also grew under Elverson Jr., ultimately necessitating another shift. The 18-story Elverson Building, commonly known as the Inquirer Building, was constructed when Elverson Jr. purchased the site at Broad and Callowhill Streets. On July 13, 1925, the first Inquirer publication printed at the structure was published. A few years later, in 1929, Elverson Jr. passed away, and his sister Eleanor Elverson, Mrs. Jules Patenôtre, then took over.

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Annenberg years

The ownership of the publication was quickly placed up for sale when Eleanor Elverson Patenôtre imposed cutbacks across it. She was, however, not really interested in managing it. On March 5, 1930, Cyrus Curtis and Curtis-Martin Newspapers Inc. purchased the publication. After Curtis passed away a year later, John Charles Martin, his stepson-in-law, then took over. Martin then combined The Inquirer with the Public Ledger. However, the Great Depression had a negative impact on Curtis-Martin Newspapers, which missed payments on maturing debts. Eventually, Elverson Corp. and the Patenôtre family regained control of The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞. When Moses L. Annenberg bought The Inquirer Co. in 1936, Charles A. Taylor was still serving as president of the company. The Inquirer remained stagnant between Elverson Jr. and Annenberg. It’s s editors mostly avoiding the bad economic news of the Depression.
The Philadelphia Record, published by J. David Stern, surpassed The Inquirer in circulation. It took over as Pennsylvania’s top newspaper as a result of the lack of development. The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 then made a 180-degree shift under Moses Annenberg. To boost circulation, Annenberg boosted employees, created new features, and also staged promotions. The Inquirer’s daily circulation then rose from 280,093 in 1936 to 345,422 by November 1938. The Record’s circulation has decreased over that time also from 328,322 to 204,000. Annenberg was accused of evading taxes in 1939. Prior to his trial, Annenberg entered a guilty plea and received a three-year jail term. Unfortunately, he developed a brain tumour while he was detained and passed just six weeks after his June 1942 release.

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Walter Annenberg take over

Walter Annenberg then took over when his father Moses Annenberg passed away. The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 became the sole significant daily morning newspaper in Philadelphia shortly after the Record went out of business in 1947. The Inquirer remained profitable although it was still second behind the Evening Bulletin as the most popular newspaper in Philadelphia. New printing machines for The Inquirer as well as Annenberg’s other publications, Seventeen and TV Guide, throughout the 1950s and 1960s were located in a new building that Walter Annenberg added to the Inquirer Building in 1948. The Philadelphia Daily News was then acquired by Annenberg in 1957. Thereafter, its facilities were integrated with those of The Inquirer.
The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 suffered from a 38-day strike in 1958. After it was over, so many reporters had taken buyout offers and fled. As a result, the workplace was visibly deserted. Additionally, many of the present reporters had little experience and had been copy clerks just before the strike. Harry Karafin, an investigative reporter, was one of the few prominent journalists of the 1950s and 1960s. He revealed corruption and other insider information for The Inquirer during his career. However, he also coerced people and businesses into paying him money. In order to prevent being exposed, Karafin would claim that he possessed damaging information and would demand payment. Karafin was exposed in 1967 and found guilty of extortion a year later. This occurred from the late 1950s through the early 1960s. The journal had then declined in readership and ad income by the end of the 1960s.

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Move to Strawbridge’s building

The Inquirer Building was sold by Philadelphia Media Network to developer Bart Blatstein of Tower Investments Inc. in October 2011. Blatstein then planned to convert the structure into a mixed-use complex with offices, shops, and residences. The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞, Daily News, and Philly.com’s 600 of the 740 workers of the Philadelphia Media Network were to then relocate to offices at the now vacant Strawbridge & Clothier department store on east Market Street, according to publisher and CEO Gregory J. Osberg’s announcement the following month.
The rest of the staff would also relocate to suburban offices. In July 2012, The Philadelphia Media Network relocated, combining all of its operations on the third level. The Inquirer Building’s 525,000 square feet (49,000 m2) had also been mostly left vacant due to budget cuts. However, Philadelphia Media’s departments were combined at the 125,000 square foot (12,000 m2) east Market Street building. It combined The Inquirer’s and Daily News’ newsrooms. A lobby and event space would also be located on the ground floor of the new building. Electronic signage, such as a news ticker on the corner of the high-rise, was also planned for the structure.
The Daily News became an issue of The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 in 2019. This was when Philadelphia Media Network changed its name from Philly.com to Inquirer.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC replaced Philadelphia Media Network as the company name. The Philadelphia Inquirer was also an inaugural member of Spotlight PA in 2019.

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2020 “Buildings Matter, Too” article

Buildings Matter, Too was the title of an Inga Saffron story on the George Floyd demonstrations that appeared in The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. The article was a reference to the “Black Lives Matter” campaign. The Inquirer writers sent an open letter outlining the paper’s shortcomings to adequately report on non-white neighborhoods on June 3. The editors also issued an apology for the title. The letter indicated that these journalists would be calling in “sick and fatigued” on June 4. It also requested a strategy for resolving these problems.
“We’re weary of having to pull this 200-year-old institution into a more fair era, the letter said, among other things. When we voice our concerns, we’re sick of hearing platitudes about “diversity and inclusion” and being told how far the company has come. We’re sick of seeing our words and images misrepresented to fit a story that doesn’t accurately depict our reality. Also, we’re sick of being told that we need to present both sides of a situation where there are none.”
— The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Journalists of Color

On June 4, over 40 Inquirer employees reported being ill. Stan Wischnowski’s resignation as senior vice president and executive editor was announced by the newspaper on June 6. The media was informed that they would not have a say in who would take his place. In 2022, the newspaper acknowledged racism on its staff and in the publication of the article.

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Production

Together with the Philadelphia Daily News, the Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 also has its headquarters at 801 Market Street in Center City Philadelphia’s Market East neighborhood. About 500 workers were let off when The Inquirer liquidated its Schuylkill Printing Plant in Upper Merion Township in 2020. The printing of The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News has been outsourced as of 2021 to a Gannett-owned printing facility in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Publisher of The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 as of September 2022 is Elizabeth H. Hughes. Gabriel Escobar is also an editor and senior vice president. Charlotte Sutton, Patrick Kerkstra, Richard G. Jones, Michael Huang, and Danese Kenon serve as managing editors. James Neff, Kate Dailey, and Brian Leighton serve as the Deputy Managing Editors.
The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 has been accessible online since 1995, most recently as Inquirer.com. it is a division of The Philadelphia Inquirer LLC together with the Philadelphia Daily News.
Philadelphia, southeast Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey are all included in the local coverage areas of The Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞. Inquirer News Tonight, a 10 p.m. broadcast, was co-produced by The Inquirer and WPHL-TV in September 1994. The program ran for a year until WPHL-TV completely took over and then renamed to WB17 News at Ten. The Inquirer and Philadelphia’s NBC station, WCAU, partnered in 2004 to provide the newspaper with access to WCAU’s weather predictions. As well as the opportunity to participate in news segments all through the day.

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Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 customer service

How do I contact the Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞?

Reach out to our Customer Service Department at: 215.222. 2765. Our Customer Service representatives are also available seven days a week, weekdays from 6:30 am to 3:00 pm and weekends from 7:30 am to 12:00 pm.

How much does the Inquirer (Philadelphia)🗞 cost?

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