Howard Publications
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Howard Publications was a family-owned company of newspapers in the United States. It was based in Oceanside, California and owned 16 daily newspapers when it sold to Lee Enterprises for $694 million in 2002.[1]
Origins
Robert "Bob" Staples Howard was born on October 23, 1924. His parents operated a small weekly newspaper in Wheaton, Minnesota called the Wheaton Gazette. Bob Howard left the University of Minnesota to serve as a Second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps flying bombers in the South Pacific during World War II. He earned a Purple Heart after being shot down in the Battle of Leyte. After the war, he returned to University and then helped his widowed mother operate the Gazette.[2]
Howard then worked for a number of papers across the country until he purchased the Dalles Chronicle in December 1948.[3] Scripps League Newspapers became a co-owner with Howard in June 1949, with the joint-venture called Western Publishing Company.[4] In October 1949, Western Publishing purchased a stake in the Tribune Journal Company, which published the Idaho State Journal. Howard then moved from The Dalles, Oregon to Pocatello, Idaho to help manage the business.[5][6] After moving, Howard helped manage the Daily Inter Lake in Montana, which Scripps owned.[2]
In October 1955, Howard purchased the Chester Times,[7] which was later renamed to the Delaware County Daily Times.[8] This acquisition marked the start of the Howard Publications newspaper chain.[2] At this time Howard left Scripps and disposed of any interests he had with the company.[7]
Expansion
In August 1958, Howard became co-owner of The Glasgow Courier.[9] He sold the Daily Times in June 1961.[10] He then purchased the Casper Tribune-Herald and Casper Morning Star in October 1961,[8] The Times of Northwest Indiana in May 1962,[11] sold The Glasgow Courier in March 1964, and Logansport Pharos-Tribune in January 1966.[12] Howard became co-owner of Coastline Publishers in September 1966. The company published The Coastline Dispatch, San Clemente Sun-Post and Dana Point Lamplighter.[13] The subsidiary purchased the San Clemente Independent in January 1967.[14]
Howard Publications acquired the Oceanside Blade-Tribune in March 1967,[15] Twin Falls Times-News in April 1968,[16] Carlisle Sentinel in May 1968,[17] The Post-Star and The Glens Falls Times in December 1970.[18] Howard became of co-owner of the Sioux City Journal with Hagadone Corporation, an affiliate of Scripps League Newspapers, in December 1971.[19] The company then acquired the Corning Leader in May 1972,[20] Times-Courier in December 1972,[21] Journal Gazette in March 1973,[22][23] The Auburn Citizen in July 1975,[24] Freeport Journal Standard in September 1976,[25] San Dieguito Citizen in May 1979,[26] The Ledger Independent in October 1980,[27] The Times and Democrat in May 1981,[28] Waterloo Courier and Cedar Falls Record in January 1983.[29] The Oceanside Blade-Tribune, San Dieguito Citizen and two other papers were merged to form the North County Blade-Citizen in June 1989.[30] Howard purchased The Longview Daily News in June 1999.[31]
Sells-off
In March 1993, Howard sold the San Clemente Sun-Post to Freedom Communications.[32] In July 1995, Howard agreed to acquire the Times Advocate Company, a subsidiary of Tribune Company. The sale included the Escondido Times-Advocate, The Californian of Temecula, and The Enterprise of Fallbrook. Howard operated a subsidiary called South Coast Newspapers, which published the North County Blade-Citizen of Oceanside.[33] The Times-Advocate and Blade-Citizen were merged to form the North County Times.[34]
In August 1995, Howard traded the Logansport Pharos-Tribune to Thomson Corporation in exchange for The Valparaiso Vidette-Messenger, later renamed to the Vidette Times.[35] On February 12, 2002, Lee Enterprises announced that it would acquire Howard Publications for $694 million, with a closing later that year.[36] At the time of the sale, Howard employed 2,400 people, and its papers had a total daily circulation of 479,000.[36] Company founder R.S. Howard died in February 2022.[2]
List of previously owned newspapers
References
- ↑ York, Tom (2 December 2019). Special Report: Wealthiest San Diegans, San Diego Business Journal (paywall) ("Robert S. Howard was for many years a North County newspaper publishing magnate. He founded Howard Publication in 1961 and built it into a chain of 19 dailies including the North County Times...")
- 1 2 3 4 "Obituaries | Robert Staples Howard". The Desert Sun. Palm Springs, California. February 20, 2022. pp. A26.
- ↑ "The Dalles Paper Changes Hands". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. December 3, 1948. p. 40.
- ↑ "Scripps Steps In At Dalles Paper". The Oregonian. June 24, 1949. p. 1.
- ↑ "Publisher Howard Of The Dalles And Scripps League Buy Interest In Pocatello Tribune - Post Sold". The Coeur d'Alene Press. Associated Press. September 30, 1949. p. 4.
- ↑ "Tribune Journal In Pocatello Purchases Post". The Idaho Statesman. Associated Press. October 1, 1949. p. 14.
- 1 2 "Chester Times Sold To Idaho Publisher". The Daily News. Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. October 7, 1955. p. 15.
- 1 2 "Casper Newspapers Go to New Owners". Scottsbluff Daily Star-Herald. Associated Press. October 1, 1961. p. 1.
- ↑ "Glascow Courier Sold To Out-Of-State Publishers". Miles City Star. Associated Press. August 3, 1958. p. 12.
- ↑ "Delaware Co. Paper Sold | New Firm Acquires Daily Times' Stock". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News. June 13, 1961. p. 13.
- ↑ "New Corporation Purchases Times". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. May 29, 1962. p. 2.
- ↑ "Interest Sold In 2 Papers". The Anderson Herald. United Press International. January 15, 1966. p. 10.
- ↑ "Karl Wray Is Named Publisher". Coastline Dispatch. San Juan Capistrano, California. September 7, 1966. p. 1.
- ↑ "Independent Is Sold". Sun Post News. San Clemente, California. January 4, 1967. p. 1.
- ↑ "Braden Sells Blade-Tribune". The Californian. Salinas, California. United Press International. p. 5.
- ↑ "Indiana Firm Buys Paper In Twin Falls". The Idaho Statesman. April 2, 1968. p. 1.
- ↑ "Howard Buys Sentinel In Carlisle, PA". The South Bend Tribune. Associated Press. May 11, 1968. p. 12.
- ↑ "Glen Falls Newspapers Have Been Purchased By Howard Publications, Oceanside, Calif; Carl M. Davidson Has Been Named Publisher". The Post-Star. Glens Falls, New York. December 30, 1970. Retrieved 2025-11-28 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "Sale of The Journal Is Announced; John F. McGaugh to Be Publisher". The Sioux City Journal. December 14, 1971. p. 1.
- ↑ "Corning Leader Is Sold". The Post-Star. Glens Falls, New York. Associated Press. May 31, 1972. p. 1.
- ↑ "Coles County Paper Sold". Herald and Review. Decatur, Illinois. December 19, 1972. p. 13.
- ↑ Sampson, Bob (March 9, 1973). "California Firm Buys Stock in Newspapers". Herald and Review. Decatur, Illinois. p. 21.
- ↑ Sampson, Bob (October 20, 1973). "California Man Controls Newspaper". Herald and Review. Decatur, Illinois. p. 14.
- ↑ "Citizen-Advertiser Sold to Howard". The Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York. July 25, 1975. p. 8.
- ↑ "Journal-Standard Sold To Howard". Freeport Journal-Standard. Freeport, Illinois. September 28, 1976. p. 1.
- ↑ "Solana Beach-Cardiff Paper Sold". North County Times. Oceanside, California. May 18, 1979. p. 13.
- ↑ "Maysville Publishing Co. sold to Howard Publications". The Advocate-Messenger. Danville, Kentucky. Associated Press. October 26, 1980. p. 6.
- ↑ "Howard Publications Full T&D Owner". The Times and Democrat. Orangeburg, South Carolina. May 16, 1981. p. 1.
- ↑ Hovelson, Jack (January 27, 1983). "Waterloo, Cedar Falls newspapers sold". The Des Moines Register. p. 3.
- ↑ "From the publisher". North County Times. Oceanside, California. June 22, 1989. p. 1.
- ↑ "Final papers signed for purchase of Daily News and weekly newspapers". The Cowlitz County Advocate. June 9, 1999. p. 1.
- ↑ "San Clemente newspaper purchased". The Star-Tribune. Duarte, California. March 6, 1993. p. 6.
- ↑ "Tribune Company agrees to sell Times Advocate". Daily Times-Advocate. July 13, 1995. p. 1.
- ↑ Moran, Chris (December 2, 1995). "103-year paper sees new era | Circulation grows to more than 100,000". North County Times. p. 1.
- ↑ "Publishers swap Indiana papers". The South Bend Tribune. Associated Press. August 13, 1995. p. 40.
- 1 2 "Lee newspapers to buy Howard Publications". Baltimore Sun. February 13, 2002. Retrieved 2025-11-28.