Akron newspaper...

The Akron Beacon Journal, a morning newspaper in Ohio, was begun on April 15, 1839, when the first edition was published. It is the only daily newspaper in Akron. This newspaper is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio and mainly highlights local and business news. With an average weekly circulation of about 143,000, and 185,000 on Sunday, the Akron Beacon Journal has been serving the community for the last 167 years. Before the merger of 1974, which led to the creation of Knight Ridder, the Akron newspaper had been the flagship of the publishing empire of the Knight family. It was one of the twelve newspapers sold after McClatchy Co. purchased Knight Ridder Inc. The Akron Beacon Journal has won many awards, including four Pulitzer Prizes for editorial writing in 1968, general local reporting for Kent state shootings in 1971, general news reporting for Goodyear war in 1987, and public service - a question of color in 1994.

History of Akron Beacon Journal: The Akron Beacon Journal was founded with the merger of the Summit Beacon and Akron Evening Journal in 1897. It started a campaign for the creation of a county, centered in Akron. In 1869, the Summit Beacon, a weekly newspaper started publishing ‘the Akron Daily Beacon’. In the late 1800s, about a dozen newspapers started to compete with the Beacon. The first edition of the Beacon Journal was printed after Beacon merged with the Akron Evening Journal in 1897. Later, in 1903, the editor of the Women’s Home Companion, Charles Landon Knight, bought the newspaper, along with T.J. Kirkpatrick.

After the death of C.L. Knight in 1933, the Akron Beacon Journal was left to his sons John and James. In 1937, the Knights purchased the Miami Herald. This marked the beginning of the series of purchases leading to the acquisition of Knight Newspapers that later merged with Ridder Publications, which finally became Knight Ridder. Eventually, the Knight brothers owned thirty-three newspapers. The Akron Times, the last competitor of Akron Beacon Journal was purchased by them in 1938 and was shifted into the rival’s building in downtown Akron. The newspaper has been there ever since.

The Akron Beacon Journal was first published on the web in1995, with an exclusive website for the coverage of the Cleveland Indians. Owing to its popularity, ohio.com became the newspaper’s official website. The newspaper spearheaded the drive to purchase a fire truck and other emergency vehicles, in order to substitute the lost equipment in New York City after the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001, which led to an increased number of pledges of contributions, totaling to .4 million. Many similar campaigns were held later, for example in 2004 to help the victims of the Asian Tsunami, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In June 2006, the McClatchy Company purchased Knight Ridder with the aim to sell twelve Knight Ridder newspapers. Later, the newspaper was sold to the Black Press on August 2, 2006.

Latest About Akron Beacon Journal: The McClatchy Company announced the selling of the Akron Beacon Journal to Sound Publishing Holdings, Inc. This Canadian publishing house is a company that generates over hundred publications in British Columbia, Alberta, Hawaii and the state of Washington. The financial conditions of the business deals were not revealed according to the request of the buyers. The transaction includes the Beacon Journal and other publications, as well as the newspaper websites.

The Akron Beacon Journal has proved to be a significant community newspaper, which aims for the development of the society, along with high standards of journalism.