The Sacramento Bee

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The July 27, 2005 front page of The Sacramento Bee
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet

Owner	The McClatchy Company
Publisher	Janis Besler Heaphy
Editor	Rick Rodriguez
Founded	1857 (as The Daily Bee)
Headquarters	2100 Q Street Sacramento, CA 95819 United States
Circulation	298,907 Daily 346,186 Sunday

Website: www.sacbee.com

The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper. The original newspaper was owned by the McClatchy family of California. The Bee was the foundation for McClatchy Newspapers, a regional chain that grew into the nationwide McClatchy Company. The Sacramento Bee is one of the four largest newspapers in California (alongside the San Francisco Chronicle, The Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times), with a circulation of 295,304 daily and 348,494 Sunday with distribution in the Sacramento Valley and its surrounding areas.

1 History
2 Recognition
3 Mission statement
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Under the name The Daily Bee, the first issue of the newspaper was published on February 3, 1857, proudly boasting that "the object of [the Sacramento Bee] is not only independence, but permanence." At this time, the Bee was in competition with The Sacramento Union, a newspaper founded in 1851. Although the Bee soon surpassed the Union in popularity, the Union survived until its closing in 1994, leaving the Sacramento Bee to be the longest running newspaper in Sacramento's history.

Although the first editor of the Sacramento Bee was Rollin Ridge, James McClatchy took over the position by the end of the first week.

Also within a week of its creation, the Bee uncovered a state scandal which led to the impeachment of Republican California State Treasurer Henry Bates.

On March 13, 2006, The McClatchy Company announced their agreement to purchase Knight Ridder, the United States' second largest chain of daily newspapers. The purchase price of $4.5 billion in cash and stock will give McClatchy thirty-two daily newspapers in 29 markets, with a total circulation of 3.3 million.[1]

On February 3rd 2007 they celebrated their 150 aniversity. In every newspaper they included a copy of the original paper. On February 4th 2007 they included a 120 page section about their history from their founding to today.

[edit] Recognition

The Sacramento Bee has won four Pulitzer prizes in its history. It has won numerous other awards, including many for its progressive public service campaigns promoting free speech (the Bee often criticized government policy, and uncovered many scandals hurting Californians), anti-racism (the Bee supported the Union during the American Civil War and publicly denounced the Ku Klux Klan), worker's rights (the Bee has a strong history of supporting unionization), and environmental protection (leading numerous tree-planting campaigns and fighting against environmental destruction in the Sierra Nevada). A full list of recent major awards won by the Bee can be found here.

[edit] Mission statement

The mission statement of The Sacramento Bee, located at their website:

A newspaper is not solely about news and information. It’s about people, their real life stories and how we understand them. Our readers and our community are the most important part of the equation. They are why we are here and why our mission is to be the most valued regional news and information provider through superior performance in business and journalism.