The Detroit News

History

The Detroit News was founded by James E. Scripps, who, in turn, was the older half-brother and one-time partner of Edward W. Scripps. The paper's eventual success, however, is largely credited to Scripps' son-in-law, George Gough Booth, who came aboard at the request of his wife's father. Booth went on to construct Michigan's largest newspaper empire, founding the independent Booth Newspapers chain (now owned by S.I. Newhouse's Advance Publications) with his two brothers.

The Detroit News building was erected in 1917. It was designed by architect Albert Kahn, who included a faux-stone concrete building with large street-level arches to admit light. The arches along the east and south side of the building were bricked-in for protection after the 12th Street Riot in 1967. The bricked-in arches on the east and south ends of the building were reopened during renovations required when the Free Press relocated its offices there 20 years later.

In 1931, The Detroit News made history when it bought a three-place Pitcairn PCA-2 auto-gyro as a camera aircraft that could take off and land in restricted places and semi-hover for photos. It was the ancestor of today's well-known news helicopter. In 1935 a single Lockheed Model 9 Orion was purchased and modified by Lockheed as a news camera plane for The Detroit News. To work in that role, a pod was built into the frontal leading edge of the right-wing about 8 ft out from the fuselage. This pod had a glass dome on the front and a mounted camera. To aim the camera the pilot was provided with a primitive grid-like gun sight on his windshield.

Deb Price's debut column in The Detroit News in 1992 was the first syndicated national column in American mainstream media that spoke about gay life.

On July 13, 1995, Newspaper Guild employees of the Detroit Free Press and The News along with pressmen, printers and Teamsters, working for the "Detroit Newspapers" distribution arm, went on strike. Approximately half of the staffers crossed the picket line before the unions ended their strike in February 1997. The strike was resolved in court three years later, with the journalists' union losing its unfair labor practices case on appeal. Still, the weakened unions remain active at the paper, representing a majority of the employees under their jurisdiction.

On August 3, 2005, Gannett announced that it would sell The News to MediaNews Group and purchase the Free Press from the Knight Ridder company. With this move, Gannett became the managing partner in the papers' joint operating agreement. On May 7, 2006, the combined Sunday Detroit News and Free Press was replaced by a stand-alone Sunday Free Press. On December 16, 2008, Detroit Media Partnership announced a plan to limit weekday home delivery for both dailies to Thursday and Friday only. On other weekdays the paper sold at newsstands would be reduced to about 32 pages, and redesigned. This arrangement went into effect on March 30, 2009.

In February 2014, the DMP announced its offices along with those of The News and the Free Press would move from the West Lafayette building to six floors in both the old and new sections of the former Federal Reserve building at 160 West Fort Street. The partnership expected to place signs on the exterior similar to those on the former offices. The move took place October 24–27, 2014.

In December 2024, The Detroit News moved to the historic Albert Kahn-designed former Cadillac showroom at 6001 Cass Avenue, which was built in 1920.

In January 2025, Gannett (now USA Today Co.) announced that the Sterling Heights plant that printed The News and Free Press would close after the production run August 3, and printing would move to other Gannett facilities.

In June 2025, it was subsequently announced that the Detroit Media Partnership would be dissolved, with MediaNews Group and Gannett respectively operating the Detroit News and Free Press independently effective December 28, 2025*.* The Detroit News announced that it would reinstate a Sunday edition beginning January 18, 2026, and the paper also began to collaborate with its sister publications The Macomb Daily and The Oakland Press. The Sunday edition was later delayed indefinitely. On January 26, 2026, USA Today Co. announced that it would acquire The Detroit News, putting both papers under common ownership. The sale was completed on January 31.

Politics

The News describes itself as "a conservative newspaper since its founding in 1873." In 1958, The News described itself as consistently conservative on economic issues and consistently liberal on civil liberties issues. It has never endorsed a Democratic candidate for president, and has only failed to endorse a Republican presidential candidate six times: twice during the Franklin D. Roosevelt era; in 2004, when it did not endorse George W. Bush for re-election; in 2016, when it endorsed Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson rather than Republican nominee Donald Trump, and in 2020 and 2024, when it continued to withhold its endorsement from Trump and did not endorse a candidate.

Staff

The staff of The Detroit News includes editorial page columnists Nolan Finley, Kaitlyn Buss and Bankole Thompson; food critic Melody Baetens; sports columnists Bob Wojnowski and John Niyo; sportswriters Angelique Chengelis, Tony Paul, Chris McCosky, Rod Beard, Nolan Bianchi, Ted Kulfan and James Hawkins; auto critic Henry Payne and business columnist Daniel Howes. Previous staff members include sportswriter David Goricki.

The staff also includes metro reporter Robert Snell, who was named Michigan Journalist of the Year in 2014, 2018, and 2020 by the Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Former staff

• Jack Berry, sportswriter from 1971 to 1993
• Jerry Green, sportswriter from 1963 to 2023
• Mike O'Hara sportswriter from 1967-2008

Awards

• 2017 Sigma Delta Chi Award Christine MacDonald
• 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting Eric Freedman and Jim Mitzelfeld
• 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Detroit News
• 1977 Penney-Missouri Award for General Excellence.
• 1942 Pulitzer Prize for Photography Milton Brooks (the first winner of a photojournalism Pulitzer)

References

References

1. (2022-02-01). "2022-2023 Michigan Press Association Member Directory".
2. Ballentine, Summer. (2025-12-28). "End of newspaper JOA heralds new era of competition in Detroit".
3. "Detroit Times Building". Buildings of Detroit.
4. (1918). "The Detroit News: Eighteen Hundred and Seventy-Three, Nineteen Hundred and Seventeen, a Record of Progress". Franklin Press.
5. (October 1931). "Hover Plane and Camera Join News Staff". Hearst Magazines.
6. (April 1935). "Flying Camera Aimed Like a Machine Gun". Hearst Magazines.
7. (November 28, 2020). "Deb Price, Pioneering Columnist on LGBTQ+ Issues, Dead at 62". [[The Advocate (LGBT magazine).
8. Smith, Harrison. (December 2, 2020). "Deb Price, first nationally syndicated columnist on gay life, dies at 62". [[The Washington Post]].
9. (March 31, 2009). "Detroit's Daily Papers Are Now Not So Daily". [[The New York Times]].
10. (20 February 2014). "Free Press, News moving to new home in core of downtown Detroit". Detroit Free Press.
11. Aguilar, Louis. (23 April 2014). "Detroit News, Free Press, DMP will occupy 6 floors in old Federal Reserve building". The Detroit News.
12. Rubin, Neil. (October 24, 2014). "News moving out, leaving century of memories behind". The Detroit News.
13. Noble, Breana. (December 12, 2024). "The Detroit News is moving newsroom into Albert Kahn-designed building near New Center". The Detroit News.
14. (January 21, 2025). "Detroit Free Press' printing facility in Sterling Heights to shutter in August". Detroit Free Press.
15. Rubin, Neal. (2025-06-16). "Detroit Free Press, Detroit News to end joint operating agreement at end of 2025".
16. "Detroit News to operate independently at year’s end".
17. Ballentine, Summer. (2025-12-28). "End of newspaper JOA heralds new era of competition in Detroit".
18. Shalhout, Fuad. (2026-01-26). "USA TODAY Co. to acquire The Detroit News, joining Detroit Free Press under one owner".
19. Mazza, Sandy. (2026-01-31). "The Detroit News now part of USA TODAY Network".
20. Winkler, Claudia. (October 28, 2004). "'For President: None of the Above': 'The Detroit News' Completes Its Retreat from Principle to Mush". [[The Weekly Standard]].
21. (September 29, 2016). "Endorsement: Libertarian Gary Johnson for President". The Detroit News.
22. (October 28, 2020). "Editorial: For president, we can't lend our name to men whose values we don't share". The Detroit News.
23. (2024-10-24). "Editorial: Our view on the presidential candidates".
24. Henning, Lynn. "'Very good man,' versatile Detroit News sports writer Dave Goricki dies at 64".
25. (April 18, 2018). "News' Snell named journalist of the year". The Detroit News.
26. (February 15, 2007). "Veteran Detroit-Area Sportswriter Jack Berry Named Recipient of PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award - The Golf Wire".
27. (10 June 2024). "After a Half Century, Michigan Sports Hall of Fame Writer Mike O'Hara Retires. 'It Was a Ball.'". Deadline Detroit, Inc..
28. (April 23, 2018). "Detroit News reporter wins national award". The Detroit News.
29. (1994). "For dogged reporting that disclosed flagrant spending abuses at Michigan's House Fiscal Agency.".
30. (1982). "For a series by Sydney P. Freedberg and David Ashenfelter which exposed the U.S. Navy's cover-up of circumstances surrounding the deaths of seamen aboard ship and which led to significant reforms in naval procedures.".
31. (December 20, 1977). "Two Times Reporters Win Penney-Missouri Awards". The New York Times.
32. (1942). "For his photo entitled ''Ford Strikers Riot.''".