Hartford Courant facts for kids
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Front page of the March 28, 2024, edition
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
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| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Tribune Publishing |
| Founded | October 29, 1764 (as the Connecticut Courant) |
| Headquarters | PO Box 569 Hartford, CT 06141 |
| Country | United States |
| Circulation | 92,998 Daily 135,609 Sunday (as of 2018) |
| ISSN | 1047-4153 |
| OCLC number | 8807834 |
The Hartford Courant is the biggest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is known as the oldest newspaper that has been published without stopping in the United States. This morning newspaper covers most of Connecticut, especially areas north of New Haven and east of Waterbury. Its main office in Hartford, Connecticut used to be very close to the state capitol building.
The Courant shares local news through smaller offices in different cities. It also creates local versions of the paper. It runs CTNow, which is a free weekly newspaper and website for local news.
The Courant started as a weekly paper called the Connecticut Courant on October 29, 1764. It became a daily newspaper in 1837. In 1979, the Times Mirror Company bought it. Later, in 2000, the Tribune Company took over Times Mirror. The Courant and other Tribune newspapers became part of a new company called Tribune Publishing in 2014. In 2021, Alden Global Capital bought Tribune Publishing.
Contents
The Newspaper's Start and Key People
The Hartford Courant's story began with a weekly paper called the Connecticut Courant. Thomas Green started this paper on October 29, 1764. Over the years, its name changed a few times. It was called The Connecticut Courant and Hartford Weekly Intelligencer for a while. Then it became The Connecticut Courant, and the Weekly Intelligencer. Finally, it went back to The Connecticut Courant until 1914.
In 1837, John L. Boswell started publishing The Daily Courant. He had taken over The Connecticut Courant the year before. In 1840, the daily paper changed its name to The Hartford Daily Courant. It became The Hartford Courant in 1887. Because the daily paper grew from the weekly one, the newspaper adopted the slogan "Older than the nation" in 2018.
Other newspapers also claim to be the oldest in the U.S. The New Hampshire Gazette began in 1756. It was brought back as a small paper in 1989. However, it had mostly disappeared for many years before that. The New York Post also says it's the oldest daily paper. But the Courant was a weekly paper for almost 40 years before the Post even started. The Providence Journal also claims to be the oldest continuously published daily newspaper. The Journal started daily publishing 28 years after the New York Post. Some people point out that the Post had strikes in 1958 and 1978, which might mean it wasn't published continuously. The Connecticut Courant was a weekly paper for almost 70 years before The Providence Journal was founded.
In 1867, Joseph Roswell Hawley bought the newspaper. He was a well-known Republican politician and a former governor of Connecticut. He combined the Courant with another paper called the Press. Under his leadership, the Courant became a very important newspaper in Connecticut. It was also one of the leading Republican papers in the country.
Emile Gauvreau was another important person at the Courant. He became a reporter in 1916 and the managing editor in 1919. His energetic and sometimes dramatic news style bothered Charles Hopkins Clark, who owned and edited the paper. Clark fired Gauvreau when he refused to stop writing stories about fake medical diplomas. Gauvreau later became a big name in the New York City newspaper world. He was the first managing editor of the New York Evening Graphic. He also worked as managing editor of the New York Mirror.
Herbert Brucker was another notable editor of the Courant in the 20th century.
Recent Times for the Courant
The Courant was bought by Times Mirror in 1979. This company also owned the Los Angeles Times. A former Courant reporter, Andrew Kreig, wrote a book about these early years. He said the new owners cared more about winning awards than about covering local news in detail.
The Courant won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for looking into problems with the Hubble Space Telescope. A company in Connecticut helped build it. The paper won another Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for its breaking news coverage.
In 2000, Times Mirror and the Courant became part of the Tribune Company. This was one of the world's largest media companies. By then, the Courant had bought the Valley Advocate group of "alternative" weekly papers. These papers were started by two former Courant staff members in 1973. Tribune also owned two local TV stations: Fox station WTIC-TV and The CW station WCCT-TV.
In 2005, The Courant won the World's Best Designed Newspaper award from the Society for News Design. In 2006, the paper's investigation into mental health among American soldiers in the Iraq war was shown in a TV documentary.
After 2010, the Courant started offering early retirement and buyout packages to its staff. This was to reduce the number of employees as advertising money decreased. There have also been layoffs and fewer pages in the newspaper. The newsroom staff was almost 400 people in 1994. By 2008, it was down to 175, and in 2009, it was 135.
The Tribune Company often changed the top leaders at the Courant. In 2014, the Courant bought the ReminderNews chain of weekly newspapers. These papers kept the Reminder name until November 2015. Then they were redesigned and renamed Courant Community.
In October 2020, the Courant announced it would stop printing the paper in Hartford. Future printing would be done by the Springfield Republican in Massachusetts.
In December 2020, Tribune Publishing said it would close the Courants Broad Street newsroom. They had no plans to open another one at that time. As of 2023, the Courants website lists its mailing address as 100 Pearl Street in Hartford.
In January 2024, it was announced that the Courant Community newspapers would stop publishing on January 18.
What Does "Courant" Mean?
Journalist Denis Edward Horgan thinks the name "Courant" might come from the Dutch word krant. This word, sometimes spelled courante, is a shorter version of Dutch courante nouvellen. This means "current news articles" in French. This French term was already used in the English newspaper world a long time ago. For example, the New-England Courant in Boston was started by James Franklin in 1721.
Who Leads the News Today?
- Executive editor: Helen Bennett
- Managing editor: Kellie Love
- Content editor: Kaitlin McCallum
- Sports editor: William Dayton
Awards and Honors
Pulitzer Prize Wins
The Hartford Courant has won several important awards, including the Pulitzer Prize.
- Nancy Tracy of the Hartford Courant was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing in 1984. She wrote a touching story about Meg Casey, who suffered from early aging.
- Robert S. Capers and Eric Lipton from the Hartford Courant won the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism in 1992. Their series explained how a faulty mirror built in Connecticut caused problems for the Hubble Space Telescope.
- The Hartford Courant Staff won the Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Reporting in 1999.
- Reporters Mike McIntire and Jack Dolan were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting in 2001. They uncovered mistakes made by doctors who had faced disciplinary action.
- Photojournalist Brad Clift was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography in 2003.
- Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting in 2007.
- The Hartford Courant Staff was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2013. This was for their detailed and caring coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The paper was given special access to the FBI's investigation files on the shooter's life.
Politics and Endorsements
The newspaper has shared its opinions on presidential elections over the years.
- It supported George W. Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 Presidential elections.
- In the 2012 Presidential Election, the Courant supported President Barack Obama for his second term. He ran against Republican Mitt Romney.
- The Courant gave its support to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential Election. She ran against Republican candidate Donald Trump.
- In August 2018, the Courant supported Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary election. They called him the only "credible" choice over his rival Joe Ganim. The Courant then supported independent candidate Oz Griebel in the main election.
- For the 2020 Presidential Election, The Courant supported Democrat Joe Biden over Republican candidate Donald Trump. The Courant took a stronger stance against Trump in 2020 than it did in 2016.
See also
In Spanish: Hartford Courant para niños
