| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Scripps-Howard; Joseph E. Cole |
| Editor | Joseph E. Cole |
| Founded | 1878 |
| Ceased publication | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
The Cleveland Press was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis Seltzer.
The paper may be best remembered for its controversial role in the 1954 Sam Sheppard murder case.
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The paper was founded by Edward W. Scripps as the Penny Press in 1878, a name that was shortened to the Press in 1884, before finally becoming the Cleveland Press in 1889. By the turn of the century, the Press had become Cleveland's leading daily newspaper, bypassing its main competitor, The Plain Dealer.
During the 1920s, the Press reached nearly 200,000 in circulation and stood out by proposing the city manager form of government for Cleveland, while also supporting Progressive candidate Robert M. La Follette, Sr. for president in 1924. Seltzer became the paper's 12th editor in 1928, and stressed the area's neighborhoods, promoting the slogan "The Newspaper That Serves Its Readers."
The paper endorsed winning mayoral candidates Frank J. Lausche and Anthony J. Celebrezze.
However, in 1954, the Press's role in the prosecution of Dr. Sam Sheppard for the murder of his wife, Marilyn, eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The paper's aggressive coverage and goading of local officials to charge Sheppard with the murder resulted in a ruling that pre-trial publicity had been injurious to Sheppard and resulted in a new trial in 1966.
In January 1960, the paper's owner, the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, purchased Press rival the Cleveland News and merged it to become the city's only afternoon newspaper.[1] Four years later, the Press was named one of America's 10 best newspapers in a list compiled by Time magazine, but under Seltzer's successor, Thomas L. Boardman, the Press began a decline that was shared in general with other large afternoon dailies throughout the country.[2]
The Press was passed in circulation by The Plain Dealer in 1968, and after Boardman's retirement in 1979, rumors began circulating that the Press would shortly suspend publication unless a buyer could be found. Scripps-Howard sold the paper on October 31, 1980, to Cleveland businessman Joseph E. Cole, who purchased the paper only after gaining concessions from the employee unions.
Cole introduced a Sunday edition on August 2, 1981, followed by a morning edition on March 22, 1982. However, a bad economy, coupled with losses in advertising resulted in the paper's closing just three months later.
The remnants of the paper live on in the Cleveland Press Collection at the Cleveland State University library. The collection consists of clippings and photographs from the newspaper's archives. Among the paper's foremost writers from the 1940s-1970s were Jack Ballantine and Dick Feagler.