The Arizona Republic

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The Arizona Republic is a newspaper published in Phoenix, Arizona. It is the state's largest newspaper, and it circulates throughout Arizona.

The Republic is the foremost newspaper in the city of Phoenix (466,926 circ.) and statewide as well. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain.

Early history

The newspaper was started in the late 1800s, under the name The Arizona Republican. Back then, it was known for its rather racist points of view, particularly against Indians, blacks and Mexicans. Over the years, the newspaper changed its name and its views on race.

Dwight B. Heard, a Phoenix land and cattle baron, ran the newspaper from 1912 until his death in 1929. The paper was then run by two of its top executives, Charles Stauffer and W. Wesley Knorpp, until it was bought by midwestern newspaper magnate Eugene C. Pulliam in 1946. Stauffer and Knorpp had changed the newspaper's name to the Arizona Republic in 1930, and also had bought the rival Phoenix Evening Gazette and Phoenix Weekly Gazette, later known, respectively, as The Phoenix Gazette and the Arizona Business Gazette.

Pulliam, who bought the two Gazettes as well as the Republic, ran all three newspapers until his death in 1975 at the age of 86. A strong period of growth came under Pulliam, who imprinted the newspaper with his conservative brand of politics and his drive for civic leadership. Pulliam was considered one of the influential business leaders who created the modern Phoenix area as it is known today.

An investigative reporter for the newspaper, Don Bolles, was the victim of a car-bombing on June 2, 1976, dying eleven days afterwards. He had been lured to a meeting in Phoenix in the course of work on a story and the bomb detonated as he started his car to leave. Retaliation against his pursuit of organized crime in Arizona is thought to be a motive in the murder.

Recent history

Pulliam's holding company, Central Newspapers, Inc., as led by Pulliam's widow and son, assumed operation of the Republic/Gazette family of papers upon the elder Pulliam's death. The Phoenix Gazette was closed in 1997 and its staff merged with that of the Republic. The Arizona Business Gazette is still published to this day.

During the 1990s, the Republic gave much coverage to the boxing career of Michael Carbajal, a Mexican-American fighter. During the 2000s, The Arizona Republic has followed the career of another Mexican-American boxer, Jesus Gonzales, very closely. In addition, the newspaper has Hispanic writers such as Mark Armijo and Richard Ruelas, as well as some important black writers.

In 1998, a weekly section geared towards college students, "The Rep", went into circulation. Specialized content is also available in the local sections produced for many of the different cities and suburbs that make up the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Central Newspapers was purchased by Gannett in 2000, bringing it into common ownership with USA Today, the Tucson Citizen (the afternoon newspaper in Tucson which Gannett purchased in 1977) and the local Phoenix NBC television affiliate, KPNX. The Republic often supplements its coverage of Southern Arizona with stories from the Citizen. The Republic and KPNX combine their forces to produce their common local news website, [www.azcentral.com].

One of Arizona's most well known sports writers, Norm Frauenheim, works for The Arizona Republic. Other notable figures include Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist Steve Benson, sometimes controversial columnist E.J. Montini and crime/community issues writer Laurie Roberts.

Editorial position

The editorial pages promote a center-right viewpoint on most issues.

The Arizona Republic editorial board endorsed President George W. Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

The paper has produced special reports on the massive population growth of the greater Phoenix area, as well as on controversial topics of interest to the American Southwest, such as illegal immigration.

According to the 2005 World Almanac, the Arizona Republic has the 15th highest newspaper circulation in the U.S..

Sections

• Valley and State
• Classifieds
• News (first section)
• Sports
• Arizona Living (Mondays through Fridays)
• The Rep (on Thursdays only)
• Travel (on Sundays only)
• Arts & Entertainment (Sundays only)
• Food + Drink (Wednesdays only)
• Home (Saturdays only)
• Business
• Local (localized compact newspapers, Wednesday-Saturday)

External links

• [Official web site]
• [History of the Republic from Arizona Newspapers Association website]

 

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