Hartford Courant
The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is advertised as the oldest continuously published newspaper in the United States. A morning newspaper serving most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury, its headquarters on Broad Street in Hartford, Connecticut was a short walk from the state capitol. It reports regional news with a chain of bureaus in smaller cities and a series of local editions. It also operates CTNow, a free local weekly newspaper and website.
The Courant began as a weekly called the Connecticut Courant on October 29, 1764, becoming daily in 1837. In 1979, it was bought by the Times Mirror Company. In 2000, Times Mirror was acquired by the Tribune Company, which later combined the paper's management and facilities with those of a Tribune-owned Hartford television station. The Courant and other Tribune print properties were spun off to a new corporate parent, Tribune Publishing, separate from the station, in 2014. Tribune Publishing agreed in May 2021 to be acquired by Alden Global Capital, which operates its media properties through Digital First Media. The transaction was finalized on May 25, 2021.[2]
Origins of the title[edit]
Journalist Denis Edward Horgan suggest that the title could derive from Dutch krant.[28] The word, alternatively spelled courante,[29] would be a contraction of Dutch courante nouvellen, from French nouvelles courantes, indicating current news articles.[30] However, this Gallicism was already current in the English world and more specifically in the early modern newspaper industry. A case in point is the New-England Courant (Boston), founded by James Franklin in 1721.[31]
Awards[edit]
Pulitzer Prize[edit]
Nancy Tracy of the Hartford Courant was a 1984 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Feature Writing for her moving depiction of Meg Casey, a victim of premature aging.[32]
Robert S. Capers and Eric Lipton of the Hartford Courant won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism for their series on how a flawed mirror built at Connecticut's Perkin-Elmer Corporation immobilized the Hubble Space Telescope.[33][34]
The Hartford Courant Staff won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of a shooting rampage in which a state lottery employee killed four supervisors then himself.[35][36]
Reporters Mike McIntire and Jack Dolan of the Hartford Courant were 2001 Pulitzer Prize Finalists in Investigative Reporting for their work in revealing the mistakes of practicing doctors who have faced disciplinary action.[37]
Photojournalist Brad Clift was a 2003 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Feature Photography for his photo series "Heroin Town", which depicted heroin use in Willimantic.[38]
Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of the Hartford Courant were 2007 Pulitzer Prize Finalists in Investigative Reporting for their in-depth reporting on suicide rates among American soldiers in Iraq which led to congressional and military action addressing the issues raised in the series.[39]
The Hartford Courant Staff was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for its comprehensive and compassionate coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.[40][41] The paper was given exclusive access originally to the investigative files collected by the FBI on the shooter's life, growing up.
Politics[edit]
The paper endorsed George W. Bush in both the 2000 Presidential election and the 2004 Presidential election.[42][43]
In the 2012 Presidential Election, the Courant endorsed President Barack Obama for a second term over Republican Mitt Romney.[44]
The Courant weighed in on the contentious and antagonistic 2016 Presidential Election, endorsing Democrat Hillary Clinton over Republican candidate Donald Trump.[45]
In August 2018 the Courant endorsed Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary as the only "credible" choice compared to rival Joe Ganim.[46] The Courant went on to endorse independent candidate Oz Griebel in the general election.[47]
For the 2020 Presidential Election, The Courant weighed in, endorsing Democrat Joe Biden over Republican candidate Donald Trump. The Courant took a stronger stance in its 2020 endorsement against Trump than it did in 2016, arguing that a vote for Trump was a vote for racism.[48]
Controversies[edit]
Sleepy's[edit]
In August 2009, the Courant attracted controversy over its firing of George Gombossy, a 40-year veteran of the paper and its consumer advocate at the time. Gombossy charged that the Courant had spiked an article he had written about an ongoing investigation by the Connecticut attorney general accusing Sleepy's (a major advertiser in the paper) of selling used and bedbug-infested mattresses as new.[49][50][51]
Gombossy's lawsuit against the Courant was thrown out by a Connecticut Superior Court judge in July 2010. In his decision, Judge Marshall K. Berger, Jr. remarked that newspaper owners and editors have a "paramount" right to "control [the] content of their papers," further observing that in his role at the Courant, Gombossy had "no constitutional right to publish anything."[52]
However, Gombossy's attorneys filed a second complaint, and Judge Berger reinstated the complaint. The case headed to trial in the fall of 2011. "In late 2011 the suit was resolved," according to Gombossy's CTWatchdog website.[53]
Website blockage in the European Union[edit]
In 2018, the Hartford Courant began banning users of the internet in the European Union from accessing its website because of its absence of data protection compliance.[56][57][58]