Green Bay News-Chronicle
Encyclopedia
The Green Bay News-Chronicle (originally known as the Green Bay Daily News) was a daily newspaper
published in Green Bay
, Wisconsin
from 1972 to 2005. The paper was owned and operated by Denmark, Wisconsin
-based Brown County Publishing Company during much of its existence, and competed with the larger and more established Green Bay Press-Gazette
. The Gannett newspaper chain, the Press-Gazette's parent company, owned the News-Chronicle during its last year of existence.
had gone on strike against the Press-Gazette, unhappy with the hot-lead-to-computer typeset changeover and other new technologies that the Press-Gazette and other newspapers were acquiring at that time, which the union feared would cost its membership their jobs. The Daily News was formed to bring in money for the strikers and to support their cause.
From 1972 to 1976, the Daily News lost money in its head-to-head competition with the Press-Gazette. During that time both newspapers were distributed in the afternoon. Wealthy local businessman Victor McCormick, who had a personal dislike for the Press-Gazette, became a major investor in the Daily News and remained an active voice in its operations until a 1976 heart attack forced him to end his financial support.
Wood's first major change to the paper had already taken place three years earlier, when the Daily News moved from afternoon to morning publication. After the purchase, the paper was rechristened the Green Bay News-Chronicle (the hyphenated name referring to Wood's weekly paper, the Brown County Chronicle). Wood also revamped the paper from broadsheet to a tabloid format, which made it easier to read at the breakfast table. After purchasing the paper, he also started to grow a beard and vowed not to shave until the paper had a break-even month. It took 21 months and a 13-inch beard before the News-Chronicle turned a $125.81 profit in November 1977.
Wood brought editorial cartoonist Lyle Lahey
over from the weekly Chronicle to the daily News-Chronicle. Lahey and his cartoons were a prominent feature of the News-Chronicle's Opinion section until the paper's closing. The Opinion section also featured a lively array of local columnists with varying viewpoints: Curt Andersen, Ray Barrington, Warren Bluhm, Michelle Kennedy, Bill LuMaye, Yvonne Metivier and Sid Vineburg.
The News-Chronicle gained a niche audience with its local sports coverage, including reporting on the sport of bowling
. Wood decided to market subscriptions to the local bowling community, promising that their sport would receive better and more prominent coverage in the News-Chronicle. The move paid off with a substantial increase in subscriptions from area bowlers, as well as the paper earning several awards from bowling organizations for its in-depth coverage of the sport.
Wood had long disdained Gannett and its operation of the Press-Gazette, but felt that the conglomerate's tactics went too far. He responded by calling on long-time friend and Santa Fe Reporter editor/publisher Richard McCord to document for the News-Chronicle the tactics Gannett used to rid its competition in other two-newspaper towns. In November and December 1989, those findings were printed in an award-winning two-week series, "It's Now Or Never", which chronicled the alleged abuses by Gannett and moves that the News-Chronicle had made to counter the Press-Gazette's tactics. McCord later wrote a book about Gannett's abuses and the News-Chronicle series, entitled The Chain Gang: One Newspaper Versus the Gannett Empire.
"It's Now Or Never" served as a battle cry for the News-Chronicle in its efforts to survive and remain a second voice in the Green Bay newspaper market. As a "call to arms" to local readers, however, the series proved to be too successful. The increased attention the series provided, along with subscription incentives, resulted in a deluge of subscription orders. The increase overwhelmed the paper's circulation staff, and as a result many subscribers became unhappy with the poor customer service, and dropped their subscriptions.
printing facilities in the mid-1990s, the News-Chronicle added full-color photography and graphics to the paper. A major redesign in 1997 gave the paper a full-color front and back page. The paper's sections also underwent redesign, including the Friday entertainment section, "Rave!"
The News-Chronicle launched a Web site in September 1996, greenbaynewschron.com, getting on the Internet ahead of its competition. The entry was timely, as the Green Bay Packers'
run to Super Bowls XXXI
and XXXII
gave the paper and its sports coverage worldwide attention.
By 1998, the Press-Gazette changed from an afternoon to a morning newspaper, first changing subscriptions in outlying rural areas to morning distribution and then gradually doing the same for Green Bay metropolitan area subscribers. This caused both newspapers to once again go head-to-head for subscribers and readership.
In 1999, the News-Chronicle began a Sunday edition which was distributed as part of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
, requiring subscribers to take the Milwaukee paper if they wanted the News-Chronicle's Sunday edition. The move was seen as increasing the visibility of the Green Bay paper. After a few months, the News-Chronicle also sold its Sunday edition separately, and the joint venture started to dissolve when the Journal Sentinel changed distribution in the Green Bay area from its regular Sunday edition to an earlier, less-complete edition.
At the same time, the News-Chronicle also added a Sunday supplement, This Week, with writing from other newspapers owned by Brown County Publishing.
Many of the News-Chronicle's employees and readers were stunned at the announcement, but Gannett had said they would maintain the status quo for the short term. Although the News-Chronicle continued to publish as a separate paper, and received printing and technological upgrades as it was switched to Gannett facilities and presses, its circulation and advertising functions were gradually merged with that of the Press-Gazette.
The News-Chronicle's ownership by Gannett couldn't reverse the paper's failing health, as advertisers spent their advertising money with the larger Gannett newspaper. On May 26, 2005, Gannett announced that the paper would cease operations with the June 3, 2005 edition. The News-Chronicle had been the longest-running "strike paper" in newspaper publishing history. Most of its remaining employees were offered jobs at other Gannett publications in the area.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published in Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
from 1972 to 2005. The paper was owned and operated by Denmark, Wisconsin
Denmark, Wisconsin
Denmark is a village in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 2,123 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area...
-based Brown County Publishing Company during much of its existence, and competed with the larger and more established Green Bay Press-Gazette
Green Bay Press-Gazette
The Green Bay Press-Gazette is a newspaper whose primary coverage is of northeastern Wisconsin, including Green Bay. It was founded as the Green Bay Gazette in 1866 as a weekly paper, becoming a daily newspaper in 1871. The Green Bay Gazette merged with its major competitor, the Green Bay Free...
. The Gannett newspaper chain, the Press-Gazette's parent company, owned the News-Chronicle during its last year of existence.
The Early Years
The News-Chronicle launched on November 13, 1972 as The Green Bay Daily News. The International Typographical UnionInternational Typographical Union
The International Typographical Union was a labor union founded on May 3, 1852 in the United States as the National Typographical Union. In its 1869 convention in Albany, New York, the union—having organized members in Canada—changed its name to the International Typographical Union...
had gone on strike against the Press-Gazette, unhappy with the hot-lead-to-computer typeset changeover and other new technologies that the Press-Gazette and other newspapers were acquiring at that time, which the union feared would cost its membership their jobs. The Daily News was formed to bring in money for the strikers and to support their cause.
From 1972 to 1976, the Daily News lost money in its head-to-head competition with the Press-Gazette. During that time both newspapers were distributed in the afternoon. Wealthy local businessman Victor McCormick, who had a personal dislike for the Press-Gazette, became a major investor in the Daily News and remained an active voice in its operations until a 1976 heart attack forced him to end his financial support.
Frank Wood Takes Over
With the Daily News on the verge of bankruptcy and owing one of their creditors enough money to have them pull the plug, that creditor—Brown County Publishing Co., publisher of several weekly publications in Northeast Wisconsin and the Daily News printer—agreed to buy the Daily News. The company's owner, Frank A. Wood, made the purchase believing that the Green Bay community could benefit from two daily newspapers.Wood's first major change to the paper had already taken place three years earlier, when the Daily News moved from afternoon to morning publication. After the purchase, the paper was rechristened the Green Bay News-Chronicle (the hyphenated name referring to Wood's weekly paper, the Brown County Chronicle). Wood also revamped the paper from broadsheet to a tabloid format, which made it easier to read at the breakfast table. After purchasing the paper, he also started to grow a beard and vowed not to shave until the paper had a break-even month. It took 21 months and a 13-inch beard before the News-Chronicle turned a $125.81 profit in November 1977.
Wood brought editorial cartoonist Lyle Lahey
Lyle Lahey
Lyle Lahey is an American political cartoonist in Wisconsin and the author of the book The Packer Chronicles Lahey was born in 1931 in Abrams, Wisconsin. After a tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Korea, he completed a degree in journalism at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he also...
over from the weekly Chronicle to the daily News-Chronicle. Lahey and his cartoons were a prominent feature of the News-Chronicle's Opinion section until the paper's closing. The Opinion section also featured a lively array of local columnists with varying viewpoints: Curt Andersen, Ray Barrington, Warren Bluhm, Michelle Kennedy, Bill LuMaye, Yvonne Metivier and Sid Vineburg.
The News-Chronicle gained a niche audience with its local sports coverage, including reporting on the sport of bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
. Wood decided to market subscriptions to the local bowling community, promising that their sport would receive better and more prominent coverage in the News-Chronicle. The move paid off with a substantial increase in subscriptions from area bowlers, as well as the paper earning several awards from bowling organizations for its in-depth coverage of the sport.
The battle with Gannett
By the mid 1980s, the paper had just started to make an occasional profit when Gannett, which had bought the Press-Gazette in 1980, started to make life difficult for the News-Chronicle, which at the time had a circulation of 15,000 compared to the Press-Gazette's 100,000. By virtue of its worldwide presence, Gannett could afford to sell its advertising at a much lower price, thus to stifling or killing competing papers such as the News-Chronicle.Wood had long disdained Gannett and its operation of the Press-Gazette, but felt that the conglomerate's tactics went too far. He responded by calling on long-time friend and Santa Fe Reporter editor/publisher Richard McCord to document for the News-Chronicle the tactics Gannett used to rid its competition in other two-newspaper towns. In November and December 1989, those findings were printed in an award-winning two-week series, "It's Now Or Never", which chronicled the alleged abuses by Gannett and moves that the News-Chronicle had made to counter the Press-Gazette's tactics. McCord later wrote a book about Gannett's abuses and the News-Chronicle series, entitled The Chain Gang: One Newspaper Versus the Gannett Empire.
"It's Now Or Never" served as a battle cry for the News-Chronicle in its efforts to survive and remain a second voice in the Green Bay newspaper market. As a "call to arms" to local readers, however, the series proved to be too successful. The increased attention the series provided, along with subscription incentives, resulted in a deluge of subscription orders. The increase overwhelmed the paper's circulation staff, and as a result many subscribers became unhappy with the poor customer service, and dropped their subscriptions.
Advancements in the 1990s
Following an upgrade at the paper's DenmarkDenmark, Wisconsin
Denmark is a village in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 2,123 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area...
printing facilities in the mid-1990s, the News-Chronicle added full-color photography and graphics to the paper. A major redesign in 1997 gave the paper a full-color front and back page. The paper's sections also underwent redesign, including the Friday entertainment section, "Rave!"
The News-Chronicle launched a Web site in September 1996, greenbaynewschron.com, getting on the Internet ahead of its competition. The entry was timely, as the Green Bay Packers'
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
run to Super Bowls XXXI
Super Bowl XXXI
Super Bowl XXXI was an American football game played on January 26, 1997, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1996 regular season. The National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American...
and XXXII
Super Bowl XXXII
Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played on January 25, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1997 regular season...
gave the paper and its sports coverage worldwide attention.
By 1998, the Press-Gazette changed from an afternoon to a morning newspaper, first changing subscriptions in outlying rural areas to morning distribution and then gradually doing the same for Green Bay metropolitan area subscribers. This caused both newspapers to once again go head-to-head for subscribers and readership.
In 1999, the News-Chronicle began a Sunday edition which was distributed as part of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
, requiring subscribers to take the Milwaukee paper if they wanted the News-Chronicle's Sunday edition. The move was seen as increasing the visibility of the Green Bay paper. After a few months, the News-Chronicle also sold its Sunday edition separately, and the joint venture started to dissolve when the Journal Sentinel changed distribution in the Green Bay area from its regular Sunday edition to an earlier, less-complete edition.
At the same time, the News-Chronicle also added a Sunday supplement, This Week, with writing from other newspapers owned by Brown County Publishing.
The end of the line
Wood's printing operation and other successful weeklies provided the profits to cover the News-Chronicle's losses. But by 2004, the then 76-year-old Wood finally ran out of steam. A downturn in the commercial printing market, as well as no set plans for succession within the company, forced Wood to sell his operations—and to the most unlikely of buyers. On July 23, 2004, Wood announced he would sell the News-Chronicle and his other weeklies to Gannett for an undisclosed price. Wood kept ownership of his printing business, as well as an automobile sales publication.Many of the News-Chronicle's employees and readers were stunned at the announcement, but Gannett had said they would maintain the status quo for the short term. Although the News-Chronicle continued to publish as a separate paper, and received printing and technological upgrades as it was switched to Gannett facilities and presses, its circulation and advertising functions were gradually merged with that of the Press-Gazette.
The News-Chronicle's ownership by Gannett couldn't reverse the paper's failing health, as advertisers spent their advertising money with the larger Gannett newspaper. On May 26, 2005, Gannett announced that the paper would cease operations with the June 3, 2005 edition. The News-Chronicle had been the longest-running "strike paper" in newspaper publishing history. Most of its remaining employees were offered jobs at other Gannett publications in the area.
External links
- 2004 press release regarding Gannett's purchase of the News-Chronicle and its sister publications
- Green Bay to lose smaller daily paper, from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 27, 2005.
- "Cheesed Off: Locals Respond to Death of Green Bay Daily", from Editor & Publisher, May 28, 2005
- Media Watch: Requiem for a Bantamweight, from Tucson Weekly, June 9, 2005.
- July 2005 Valley Scene interview with former News-Chronicle columnist Curt Andersen