U-T History Brochure - San Diego Union Tribune

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As one of 950 U.S. daily newspapers
that sponsor year-round Newspaper In
Education programs, The San Diego
Union-Tribune’s Newspaper In
Education (NIE) serves approximately
850 schools throughout San Diego
County, and more than 50 schools in
Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
The Union-Tribune also publishes
Enlace, a weekly Spanish-language
news publication serving San Diego’s
substantial Hispanic population; and
operates SignOnSanDiego.com, the
leading online source for local news,
entertainment information and
classifieds in San Diego.
San Diego County.
Perhaps the best known of these
events is the Union-Tribune Race for
Literacy. The two-day event takes place
each May, with the Kids Magic Mile on
Saturday and the all-ages 8K Race for
Literacy through scenic Balboa Park
and downtown San Diego on Sunday.
All proceeds are donated directly to the
San Diego Council on Literacy.
Community involvement can also be
seen each year at the Union-Tribune’s
Newsroom at the Fair. Each summer,
The San Diego Union-Tribune sponsors approximately 120 community
events each year, partnering with
organizations from Camp Pendleton to
Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
The Union-Tribune
is comprised of the
following divisions:
The San Diego Union-Tribune began as
two separate papers, each created as a
“faithful mirror” and “reliable historian”
for San Diego. The San Diego UnionTribune has been providing news since
1868 and continues to be a leading
information source. The following is a
condensed history of the most widely
read newspaper in San Diego County.
Advertising
Small Beginnings
Circulation
In a small house in Old Town,
founder W. Jeff Gatewood and publisher
Edward W. Bushyhead printed the first
edition of The San Diego Union – four
pages on a hand press – on October 10,
1868. Bushyhead omitted his name,
using instead an employee's name to
deny any connection with the newspaper in case it was a failure.
Restored in 1966, the first home of
the Union still exists in San Diego’s Old
Town State Historic Park. It is now
“The San Diego Union’s Newspaper
Museum.”
Finance
The Union-Tribune and the
community
Human Resources
The Union-Tribune is an active
member of the San Diego community.
With a mission to partner with youth,
family and literacy programs, the newspaper supports various events each
year. As part of this effort, the paper’s
Community and Public Relations team
works with business, civic, cultural and
social organizations countywide to
develop and support programs that
help children and families throughout
Internet Operations
Marketing
News
San Diego County Fair attendees can
meet Union-Tribune staff members, learn
how stories are produced and check out
a variety of newspaper memorabilia
dating back to the turn of the century.
Operations
Union Co. merged the two papers. Also
about that time, the double-cylinder
Hoe press replaced the steam press.
Belmont Park in Mission Beach and the
San Diego & Arizona Railroad. As such,
Spreckels was a pioneer in helping
The Spreckels Years
In 1890, John D. Spreckels and his
brother Adolph B. Spreckels purchased
The San Diego Union from the Union Co.
John D., as he came to be known,
was a sharp businessman who
made many lucrative investments. Some of his larger
undertakings included the
purchase of the Hotel Del
Coronado, the creation
of a modern electric
streetcar system, and
the construction of the
Spreckels Theatre
Building downtown,
Spreckels Organ
Pavilion in
Balboa Park,
Far from Failure
Call: (619) 299-3131
To subscribe: (800) 533-8830
The San Diego Union-Tribune
P.O. Box 120191
San Diego, CA 92112-0191
Pressroom at Mission Valley location, present day
PM104249
By 1870, the editorial
duties of the weekly
Union rested squarely
on the shoulders of
employee Douglas Gunn.
Making the workload
more intense, Gunn and
Bushyhead began publishing a daily in 1871,
The Daily Union.
By 1881, newspaper
readership was on the
rise, thanks to a growing
economy and the introduction of the steam
press.
In 1886, Gunn sold
The San Diego Union to
the San Diego Union
Co., which also acquired
The Daily Bee in 1888.
The following year, the (From top to bottom) The San Diego Union-Tribune circa 1870-1878, 1952, present
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San Diego become one of the biggest
cities in the nation.
About the time Spreckels was seeking a new home for The San Diego
Union, he purchased the Evening Tribune,
one of the five competing newspapers
in San Diego at the end of the century.
He relocated both papers to the same
building in the heart of what is now San
Diego’s revitalized downtown.
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Tribune Publishing Company turned
another page in journalism history
when it rolled out The San Diego UnionTribune, the result of a mega-merger of
San Diego’s most-recognized newspapers – The San Diego Union and the
San Diego Tribune.
Today, the corporate headquarters
for all the Copley Newspapers – 10
dailies and numerous other publica-
A Copley Tradition
The Copley family legacy began in
1928 when Colonel Ira C. Copley of
Illinois purchased both The San Diego
Union and the Evening Tribune from
John D. Spreckels’ estate. Spreckels had
died just two years earlier in 1926.
Copley was already the owner of the
daily paper in his hometown of Aurora,
Illinois. Around the same time he
purchased the Union and the Tribune,
Col. Copley purchased several other
newspapers in Los Angeles and
Springfield, Illinois.
Upon his death in 1947, Colonel
Copley’s son James S. Copley took over
as the sole owner. After James’ death
from cancer in 1973, his widow, Helen
K. Copley, became publisher.
On February 2, 1992, the Union-
her son, David C. Copley, to succeed
her. Remaining an active member of the
board of directors, Helen held the titles
of chairman emeritus of The Copley
Press and publisher emeritus of The
San Diego Union-Tribune until her death
in 2004.
David Copley is president and chief
executive officer of The Copley Press,
Inc. and publisher of The San Diego
Union-Tribune, which is led by Editor
Karin Winner and President/CEO
Gene Bell.
Notable Achievements
tions – is located in La Jolla, California.
Helen Copley retired in 2001 after
nearly three decades as chairman of
The Copley Press, Inc. and publisher of
The San Diego Union-Tribune. She named
The Union-Tribune’s main operations take place in the Mission Valley
office, with eight other news bureaus
and/or offices located in Carlsbad,
downtown San Diego, El Cajon,
Escondido, Golden Triangle, Chula
Vista, Sacramento, and Tijuana, Baja
California, Mexico. Additionally, 10
distribution centers are located in
Carlsbad, Chula Vista, El Cajon, Kearny
Mesa, Mira Mesa, Mission Gorge,
Pacific Highway, Rancho Bernardo,
Rancho San Diego and San Marcos.
In 1979, the Evening Tribune was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for local
general/spot news reporting. A mere 28
minutes before the Tribune’s deadline, a
single-engine aircraft collided over
San Diego with a PSA jetliner. The
Tribune managed to cover the story and
get the edition to the public only 10
minutes behind normal schedule.
The San Diego Union press room, circa the late 1800s
The newsstand in front of The San Diego Union building in 1926
U.S. Newspaper Fun Facts
✒ There are approximately 1,456 daily
papers in the U.S.
✒ In the U.S., more than 55 million
newspapers are sold daily and
almost 59 million on Sundays.
Nearly 355,000 copies of the UnionTribune are sold daily and nearly
445,000 copies are sold on Sundays.
✒ Newspapers employ approximately
381,300 people in the U.S. The
Union-Tribune employs more than
1,700 people (1,400 full-time; more
than 300 part-time). The newsroom
accounts for approximately 400 of
the Union-Tribune’s employees
(includes reporters, photographers,
editors and library staff).
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A vintage hand-press
✒ On Saturdays, the Union-Tribune
publishes an early Sunday edition
available at select retail businesses.
✒ The Union-Tribune’s Enlace, a
Spanish-language weekly (the
largest in the region), is delivered to
select ZIP codes throughout
San Diego County.
A “slug”
(a one-piece line
of type), part of the
letterpress printing process
Employees at The Tribune, circa 1900
Early model printing press
✒ The San Diego Union-Tribune uses
approximately 244 rolls of
newsprint daily and 1,708 rolls
weekly.
✒ Currently, The San Diego UnionTribune uses about 49% recycled
newsprint.
✒ There are four Goss Metro Presses
in the Mission Valley Plant.
✒ From 1999-2000, the UnionTribune’s four presses underwent a
$38 million expansion to increase
the amount of color and pages
printed in the paper each day.
✒ Each of the Union-Tribune’s four
presses is 106 feet long and 33 feet
tall.
✒ Each of the presses weighs approximately 434 tons and is on a foundation made of 363 tons of concrete.
✒ Each of the presses has the capability of printing 60,000 newspapers
per hour.
✒ Each roll of newsprint weighs nearly
2,000 pounds.
✒ There are nine miles of newsprint in
each roll.
✒ The Union-Tribune uses an average
of 25,600 gallons of ink each month.
Source: ABC FAS-FAX, March 31, 2005. Ranked by highest total paid daily circulation for each paper; nationally run newspapers were removed (USA Today, Wall
Street Journal, New York Times). The top 25 newspapers were then re-ranked using each newspaper’s city zone or designated market circulation and households
to arrive at each paper’s coverage percentage. The San Diego Union-Tribune ABC Audit for 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2003; Dirks, Van Essen & Murray.