The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer, often referred to simply as The Inquirer and occasionally The Inky, is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, The Philadelphia Inquirer is the third-longest continuously operating daily newspaper in the United States.
The newspaper has the largest circulation of any newspaper in both Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia metropolitan area, which includes Philadelphia and its surrounding communities in southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, northern Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland. As of 2020, the newspaper has the 17th-largest circulation of any newspaper in the United States As of 2020, The Inquirer has won 20 Pulitzer Prizes.
Several decades after its 1829 founding, The Inquirer began emerging as one of the nation's major newspapers during the American Civil War. Its circulation dropped after the Civil War's conclusion, but it rose again by the end of the 19th century. Originally supportive of the Democratic Party, The Inquirers political orientation eventually shifted toward the Whig Party and then the Republican Party before stating, in the mid-20th century, that it was politically independent.
By the end of the 1960s, The Inquirer trailed its chief competitor, The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin in circulation, and was lacking modern facilities and experienced staff. In the 1970s, however, following its acquisition by Knight Ridder and the hiring of new editors, it once again emerged as one of the nation's most prominent and influential newspapers.
The Philadelphia Inquirer is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which merged the Philadelphia Daily News, the city's daily tabloid, into The Inquirer in 2019. As of 2023, the newspaper's publisher and chief executive officer is Elizabeth H. Hughes, and its editor is Gabriel Escobar.
History
19th century
The Philadelphia Inquirer was founded June 1, 1829, by printer John R. Walker and John Norvell, former editor of Philadelphia's largest newspaper, the Aurora & Gazette. An editorial in the first issue of The Pennsylvania Inquirer promised that the paper would be devoted to the right of a minority to voice their opinion and "the maintenance of the rights and liberties of the people, equally against the abuses as the usurpation of power." They pledged support to then-President Andrew Jackson and "home industries, American manufactures, and internal improvements that so materially contribute to the agricultural, commercial and national prosperity."The Philadelphia Inquirer is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States. In 1962, an Inquirer-commissioned historian traced The Inquirer to John Dunlap's The Pennsylvania Packet, which was founded on October 28, 1771.
In 1850, The Packet was merged with another newspaper, The North American, which later merged with the Philadelphia Public Ledger. The Public Ledger, in turn, merged with The Philadelphia Inquirer in the 1930s.
Between 1962 and 1975, a line on The Inquirers front page claimed that the newspaper is the United States' oldest surviving daily newspaper. If the lineage of The Packet and The North American is counted in the newspaper's history, The Inquirer would currently be the longest continuously published newspaper in the nation.
Six months after The Inquirer was founded, with competition from eight established daily newspapers, lack of funds forced Norvell and Walker to sell the newspaper to publisher and United States Gazette associate editor Jesper Harding. In 1829, The Inquirer moved from its original location between Front and 2nd streets to between 2nd and 3rd streets. After Harding acquired The Pennsylvania Inquirer, it was briefly published as an afternoon paper before returning to its original morning format in January 1830.
When Harding bought and merged the Morning Journal in January 1830, the newspaper was moved to South Second Street. Ten years later, The Inquirer moved again, this time to its own building at the corner of Third Street and Carter's Alley.
Harding expanded The Inquirer's content, and the newspaper soon grew into a major Philadelphia newspaper. The expanded content included the addition of fiction. In 1840, Harding gained rights to publish several Charles Dickens novels for which Dickens was paid a significant sum, even though the common practice was to pay little or nothing for the rights of foreign authors' works.
Harding retired in 1859, and was succeeded by his son, William White Harding, who had become a partner three years earlier. William Harding changed the name of the newspaper to its current name, The Philadelphia Inquirer. In an attempt to increase circulation, Harding cut the price of the paper, began delivery routes and had newsboys sell papers on the street.
American Civil War
In 1859, circulation had been around 7,000; by 1863 it had increased to 70,000. Part of the increase was due to the interest in news during the American Civil War. An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 copies of The Inquirer were distributed to Union Army soldiers during the war and several times the U.S. government asked The Philadelphia Inquirer to publish special editions for its soldiers. The Philadelphia Inquirer supported the Union, but Harding wanted their coverage to remain neutral. Confederate generals often sought copies of the paper, believing that the newspaper's war coverage was accurate.During the Civil War, Inquirer journalist Uriah Hunt Painter was at the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861, a battle which ended in a Confederate victory. Initial reports from the government claimed a Union victory, but The Inquirer went with Painter's firsthand account. Crowds threatened to burn The Inquirer building down because of the report. Another report about General George Meade angered him enough that he punished Edward Crapsey, the reporter who wrote it. Crapsey and other Civil War correspondents at the newspaper later decided to attribute any victories of the Army of the Potomac, Meade's command, to Ulysses S. Grant, commander of the Union Army. Any defeats, conversely, were attributed to Meade.
During the Civil War, The Inquirer continued to grow with more staff being added and another move into a larger building on Chestnut Street. Following the Civil War, The Inquirer faced financial challenges, and Harding became ill. Despite Philadelphia's population growth, distribution fell from 70,000 during the Civil War to 5,000 in 1888.
In 1889, the newspaper was sold to publisher James Elverson, who moved The Inquirer to a new building that included the latest printing technology. Elverson also increased the newspaper's staff. A new Inquirer premiered on March 1, 1889, and was successful enough that Elverson launched a Sunday edition of the newspaper. In 1890, in an attempt to increase circulation further, the price of The Inquirer was cut and the paper's size was increased, mostly with classified advertisements. After five years, The Inquirer had to move into a larger building on Market Street and later expanded further into an adjacent property.
20th century
After Elverson's death in 1911, his son by his wife Sallie Duvall, James Elverson Jr. took charge. Under Elverson Jr., the newspaper continued to grow, eventually needing to move again. Elverson Jr. bought land at Broad and Callowhill Streets and built the 18-story Elverson Building, now known as the Inquirer Building. The first issue of The Inquirer was printed at the new building on July 13, 1925. Four years later, in 1929, Elverson Jr. died, and his sister, Eleanor Elverson Patenôtre, widow of Jules Patenôtre, assumed leadership of The Inquirer.Patenôtre ordered cuts throughout the paper, but was not really interested in managing it, and ownership of the newspaper was put up for sale. Cyrus Curtis and Curtis-Martin Newspapers Inc. bought the newspaper on March 5, 1930.
Curtis died a year later and his stepson-in-law, John Charles Martin, took charge. Martin merged The Inquirer with another paper, the Public Ledger, but the Great Depression hurt Curtis-Martin Newspapers and the company defaulted in payments of maturity notes. Ownership of The Inquirer then returned to the Patenôtre family and Elverson Corp.
Charles A. Taylor was elected president of The Inquirer Co. and ran the paper until it was sold to Moses L. Annenberg in 1936. During the period between Elverson Jr. and Annenberg The Inquirer stagnated, its editors ignoring most of the poor economic news of the Depression. The lack of growth allowed J. David Stern's newspaper, The Philadelphia Record, to surpass The Inquirer in circulation and become the largest newspaper in Pennsylvania.
Under Moses Annenberg, The Inquirer turned around. Annenberg added new features, increased staff and held promotions to increase circulation. By November 1938 Inquirer
In 1939, Annenberg was charged with income tax evasion. Annenberg pleaded guilty before his trial and was sentenced to three years in prison. While incarcerated, he fell ill and died from a brain tumor six weeks after his release from prison in June 1942. Upon Moses Annenberg's death, his son, Walter Annenberg, took over.
In 1947, the Record went out of business, and The Philadelphia Inquirer emerged as Philadelphia's only major daily morning newspaper. While still trailing behind Philadelphia's largest newspaper, the Evening Bulletin, The Inquirer also continued to operate profitably.
In 1948, Walter Annenberg expanded the Inquirer Building with a new structure that housed new printing presses for The Inquirer. During the 1950s and 1960s, Annenberg acquired Seventeen magazine and TV Guide.
In 1957, Annenberg bought the Philadelphia Daily News and combined the Daily News
In 1958, a 38-day strike hurt The Inquirer and, following the strike, so many reporters had accepted buyout offers and left that the newsroom was noticeably empty, leaving many copy clerks with little experience responsible for reporting.
One of the few star reporters of the 1950s and 1960s was investigative reporter Harry Karafin, who exposed corruption and wrote exclusive stories for The Inquirer, but also extorted money out of individuals and organizations. Karafin told sources that he had harmful information on them, and would demand money in exchange for him not making the information public. This went on from the late 1950s into the early 1960s before Karafin was exposed in 1967 and was convicted of extortion in 1968. As the newspaper entered the 1970s, circulation and advertising revenue was declining, and the newspaper had become, as Time magazine reported, "uncreative and undistinguished."