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Tucson Citizen

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Tucson Citizen
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
OwnerGannett
Founder(s)Richard C. McCormick
John Wasson
Founded1870
Ceased publication
May 16, 2009 (print)
January 31, 2014 (online)
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters4850 South Park Avenue
Tucson, Arizona 85714
United States
Circulation17,000 (May 2009)[1]
ISSN0888-5478
Websitetucsoncitizen.com

The Tucson Citizen was a daily newspaper published in Tucson, Arizona, from 1870 to 2009. At the time of its closure, the Citizen was the oldest continuously published newspaper in the state.[1]

The Citizen published as Tucson's afternoon paper, six days per week except Sunday, when only the morning Arizona Daily Star was published as part of the two papers' joint operating agreement.

History

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On October 15, 1870, publisher Richard C. McCormick with editor John Wasson published the first edition of the Arizona Citizen. McCormick had originally been the owner of the Arizonan. However, when the editor of the Arizonan refused to support McCormick's re-election as congressional delegate for the territory of Arizona, McCormick took the press and started the Citizen with Wasson.[2] During the mid-1880s, the newspaper was known as the Tucson Weekly Citizen. Allan Brown Jaynes was owner, manager and editor of the Tucson Citizen between 1901 and 1920. He was very involved in the statehood of Arizona and is in the Arizona Newspaper Hall of Fame.[3]

In 1935, owner Frank Harris Hitchcock died.[4] His estate then sold the paper to William H. Johnson and William A. Small. In 1958, Johnson sold out to Small,[5] who retired in 1966 and was succeeded by his son, William A. Small Jr.[6] In 1976, Gannett acquired the Citizen from the Small family for $30 million in company stock.[7][8]

In January 2009, Gannett announced it would close the Citizen by March 21 if a buyer were not found,[9] though on March 17, 2009, Gannett announced the paper would remain open past that closing date because it was in negotiations with two potential buyers.[1] However, those negotiations did not bear fruit, and on May 15, 2009, Gannett announced that the final print edition would appear the following day, and that the Citizen would thereafter be an Internet publication.[10] The last print edition was delivered on May 16, 2009.[11] When it ceased printing, the daily circulation was approximately 17,000, down from a high of 60,000 in the 1960s.[1]

Successors

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The successor site, TucsonCitizen.com, edited by the paper's former assistant city editor, Mark B. Evans, described itself as "a compendium of blogs . . . written by Tucsonans for Tucsonans. The bloggers and citizen journalists here provide news, information, opinion, commentary and perspective on the issues, interests and events that affect daily life in the Old Pueblo." It was a division of Gannett Company, Inc., and a partner of Tucson Newspapers.[12] The site closed on January 31, 2014.[13]

Several former Citizen staffers founded TucsonSentinel.com, a nonprofit online news site, after the newspaper was closed.[14]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "'Tucson Citizen' to cease print publication". Associated Press via USA Today. May 16, 2009. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
  2. ↑ The Tucson Citizen on the Arizona Memory Project
  3. ↑ "Tucson Citizen timeline". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Frank H. Hitchcock Is Taken By Death". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. August 6, 1935. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "Johnson Sells Interest In Daily Citizen". Tucson Citizen. May 1, 1958. p. 31.
  6. ↑ "Small Retires as Tucson Publisher". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, Arizona. February 2, 1966. p. 19.
  7. ↑ "Citizen sold to Gannett". Tucson Citizen. November 30, 1976. p. 1.
  8. ↑ "Purchase of Citizen concluded". Tucson Citizen. December 29, 1976. p. 1.
  9. ↑ "Tucson Citizen to cease publication March 21 if no buyer found". Tucson Citizen. January 17, 2009. Archived from the original on February 25, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Gannett to cease print publication of the Tucson Citizen" (Press release). Gannett Company. May 15, 2009. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
  11. ↑ Rotstein, Arthur H. (May 16, 2009). "Final Edition of Tucson Citizen Hits the Streets". Associated Press via Newsvine.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  12. ↑ "About Us", TucsonCitizen.com
  13. ↑ So Long (Again), Tucson Citizen
  14. ↑ TucsonSentinel.com
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