The Clarion-Ledger
The Clarion Ledger is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating division of Gannett River States Publishing Corporation, owned by Gannett.
History[edit]
The paper traces its roots to The Eastern Clarion, founded in Jasper County, Mississippi, in 1837. Later that year, it was sold and moved to Meridian, Mississippi.[2]
After the American Civil War, it was moved to Jackson, the capital, and merged with The Standard. It soon became known as The Clarion.
In 1888, The Clarion merged with the State Ledger and became known as the Daily Clarion-Ledger.
Four employees who were displaced by the merger founded their own newspaper, The Jackson Evening Post, in 1892. One of those four was Walter Giles Johnson, Sr. He survived the other three to grow the paper later known as the "Jackson Daily News". Johnson served as General Manager and Publisher alongside Editor Frederick Sullens until his death in October 1947. His son Walter Giles Johnson, Jr. assumed the duties of General Manager.
In 1907, Fred Sullens purchased an interest in the competing The Jackson Evening Post. He soon changed the name to the Jackson Daily News, keeping it as an evening newspaper.
Thomas and Robert Hederman bought the Daily Clarion-Ledger in 1920 and dropped "Daily" from its masthead.
On August 24, 1937, The Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News incorporated under a charter issued to Mississippi Publishers Corporation for the purpose of selling joint advertising.
On August 7, 1954, the Jackson Daily News sold out to its rival, The Clarion-Ledger, for $2,250,000. This was despite a recent court ruling that blocked The Clarion-Ledger owners from controlling both papers. The Hederman family consolidated the two newspaper plants.[3]
In 1982, the Hedermans sold the Clarion-Ledger and Daily News to Gannett, ending 60 years of family ownership. Gannett merged the two papers into a single morning paper under the Clarion-Ledger masthead, with the Clarion-Ledger incorporating the best features of the Daily News. The purchase of both papers by Gannett essentially created a daily newspaper monopoly in Central Mississippi (Gannett also owns the Hattiesburg American in Hattiesburg, Mississippi), which still operates.
Starting Monday, Dec. 4, 2023, the newspaper switched from carrier to mail delivery through the U.S. Postal Service.[4]
Awards and recognition[edit]
In 1983, The Clarion-Ledger won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for a package of stories on Mississippi's education system.[6]