E. W. Scripps
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Edward Wyllis Scripps (June 18, 1854 – March 12, 1926), was an American newspaper publisher and founder of The E.W. Scripps Company, a diversified media conglomerate, and United Press International news syndicate. The E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University is named for him.
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[edit] Early life
E. W. Scripps was born and raised in Rushville, Illinois, to James Mogg Scripps from London, and Julia A. Osborne from New York. He had five brothers and sisters.
[edit] Newspaper career
Both E. W. and his half-sister Ellen worked with his older half-brother, James when he founded The Detroit News in 1873. E. W. started as an office boy at the paper. In 1878, with loans from his half-brothers, E. W. went on to found The Penny Press (later the Cleveland Press) in Cleveland. With financial support from sister Ellen, he went on to begin or acquire some 25 newspapers. This was the beginning of a media empire that is now the E.W. Scripps Company.
E. W. would lend money to promising young, local newspaper publishers, and buy the successful one, having 51% share of the paper. Once bought, he did not "sell out", but held on to the paper. A guiding tenet of E. W. was that local editors know best about running local newspapers. Editors were carefully groomed and given considerable autonomy. Among the innovations E. W. made were distributing newspapers to the suburbs and, with his brother James, of getting the bulk of income from advertisers instead of subscribers.
In 1907, Scripps created United Press Associations, later the UPI news service, from smaller regional news services. Scripps later said "I regard my life's greatest service to the people of this country to be the creation of the United Press", to provide competition to the Associated Press.
[edit] Later life
In 1898, he finished his home at Scripps Ranch thinking that the dry, warm climate would help his colds that he had all his life. He built it as a Winter home to escape the cold of Illinois, but eventually lived there year around, and conducted his newspaper business from the ranch.
In 1903, he and his half-sister Ellen were the founding donors of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Initially Scripps was reluctant to support the venture, thinking scientists could not be business-like. However, he developed a deep friendship with the scientific director, William Emerson Ritter, and together they began to plan projects for the Institute. As the Institute started to succeed, he became an enthusiastic supporter, and took a great interest in its work.
Scripps became somewhat of a hermit, calling himself a "damned old crank". He enjoyed sailing the seven seas on a yacht, smoking 50 cigars a day.
Scripps died at the age of 71 in March 12, 1926.
[edit] See also
- E.W. Scripps Company (formerly Scripps-Howard)
- E. W. Scripps (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1933) by Negley D. Cochran
- E. W. Scripps and the Business of Newspapers (1999) by Gerald J. Baldasty. ISBN 0-252-06750-9.
- Science Service as one Expression of E.W. Scripps's Philosophy of Life. (Washington, D.C.: Science Service, 1926) by William E. Ritter
- "Newspaper Man", Time, March 22, 1926
