Quad-City Times
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Quad-City Times | |
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 The July 27, 2005 front page of the Quad-City Times |
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Broadsheet |
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| Owner | Lee Enterprises |
| Publisher | Julie Bechtel |
| Editor | Steve Thomas |
| Founded | 1855 |
| Headquarters | 500 E. Third St. Davenport, IA 52801 United States |
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| Website: qctimes.com | |
The Quad-City Times is a daily morning newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa, and circulated throughout the Quad Cities metropolitan area (Davenport, Bettendorf and Scott County in Iowa; and Moline, East Moline, Rock Island and Rock Island County in Illinois).
As it is a regional newspaper, the Quad-City Times is also circulated and has readership in Cedar, Clinton, Jackson, Louisa and Muscatine counties in Iowa; and Carroll, Henry, Mercer and Whiteside counties in Illinois.
The Quad-City Times chief rival is the Moline Dispatch-Rock Island Argus (of Moline and Rock Island, Ill.) a daily newspaper that covers primarily the Illinois Quad Cities but has growing news coverage and readership in Scott County.
According to the Iowa Newspaper Association, the Quad-City Times has a circulation of 61,366.[1] The newspaper is owned by Lee Enterprises, which is also located in Davenport.
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[edit] History
The Quad-City Times grew from several predecessors, including the Democratic Banner and Blue Ribbon News.
The Democratic Banner was founded in 1848, was sold in 1855 to a group of businessmen and rechristened the Iowa State Democrat. The Iowa State Democrat published its first edition on October 15 of that year, with E.T. Eagel its first publisher. The newspaper underwent many changes through its early history, and by 1899, its circulation was 1,300 daily and 2,500 weekly. The newspaper was eventually sold to Lee Enterprises in 1915. The newspaper eventually became known as the Davenport Democrat & Leader.
The Blue Ribbon News began publication in 1878; by 1886, it was known as the Davenport Daily Times. The newspaper, which struggled for many years, was sold in 1899 to A.W. Lee (founder of Lee Enterprises) for $120,000.
Both newspapers continued to grow in circulation, before combining operations in 1964. The formerly separate newspapers became known as the Times-Democrat. By 1974, with circulation expanding throughout eastern Iowa and western Illinois, the newspaper was given its current name.
In December 1989, the Quad-City Times moved into its current building at 500 E. Third St., Davenport. The facility, completed at a cost of $23.8 million, includes a five-story press room, mail room, warehouse and editorial offices. The facility also houses Trico, the newspaper's commercial printing business.
The Quad-City Times has been on the leading edge of technology, becoming the first all-electronic newspaper in 1973. Electronic pagination began in 1988, with all-digital photography taking root by 1994.
Current Quad-City Times columnists include Don Doxsie, Alma Gaul, Barb Ickes, Steve Martens, John Willard and Bill Wundrum. The editor is Steve Thomas.
Under former editor in chief John Humenik's watch, the Quad-City Times has won many awards from the Iowa Newspaper Assocaiton, the Associated Press and other contests. In 2002 and 2003, the newspaper was honored as Newspaper of the Year by the Suburban Newspapers of America.
[edit] Other editions
The Quad-City Times maintains a bureau in Clinton, Iowa, and publishes a "Gateway Edition" which is circulated throughout Clinton and Jackson counties in Iowa, and Carroll and Whiteside counties in Illinois during the week.
The newspaper receives Iowa political news from Lee Enterprises' Des Moines bureau, and Illinois political news from its Springfield bureau.
During the 1980s and 1990s, the Times published a separate Illinois edition that circulated in the Illinois Quad Cities, but that has since been discontinued.
[edit] Other publications
In addition to its other editions, the Quad-City Times also publishes:
- Quad-City Business Journal, a monthly business magazine with stories about Quad-City area businesses.
- On the River, a journal dedicated to life on the Mississippi River.
[edit] Sources
- "Scott County Heritage," Scott County Heritage Book Committee, Taylor Publishing, Dallas, 1991.
- "Quad-City Times: Doing Business Then and Now," Quad-City Times 150th anniversary section, Sept. 11, 2005. Includes a timeline detailing the newspaper's history on pages U22-27.
