The Press Democrat
{{short description|Newspaper based in Sonoma County, California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = The Press Democrat
| image = The Press Democrat cover.jpg
| image_size = 225px
| caption = The February 28, 2012, front page of
The Press Democrat
| type = Daily newspaper
| format = Broadsheet
| foundation = 1897
(as the Sonoma Democrat)
| ceased publication =
| owners = MediaNews Group
| editor = John D'Anna, Interim Executive Editor
| circulation = 20,000 Daily
25,000 Sunday
18,000 Digital Only
| circulation_date = 2023
| headquarters = 416 B Street
Santa Rosa, California 95401
{{Coord|38.441743|-122.714944|display=title}}
| ISSN = 0747-220X
| sister newspapers = Sonoma Index-Tribune, Argus-Courier
| free = {{URL|1=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=SRPD&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|2=cdnc.ucr.edu}} (1875-1928)
| website = {{URL|1=http://pressdemocrat.com}}
}}
The Press Democrat, with the largest circulation in California's North Bay, is a daily newspaper published in Santa Rosa, California.
History
File:The Press Democrat 9 October 1897 Front Page Trim.jpg
The newspaper was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley, Grant Richards, and Charles O. Dunbar, who merged their Evening Press and Thomas Thompson's Sonoma Democrat (originally created as a voice for the Democratic Party). Finley bought the Santa Rosa Republican in 1927, which was merged with The Press Democrat in 1948.{{cite news |last1=LeBaron |first1=Gaye |title=Sonoma County marks 165 years of local newspapers |url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/lebaron-sonoma-county-marks-165-years-of-local-newspapers/ |access-date=12 April 2025 |work=The Press Democrat |date=22 October 2021 |location=Santa Rosa}}
Finley, his wife Ruth Woolsey Finley, daughter Ruth Finley Person, and son-in-law Evert B. Person owned and published the "PD" between 1897 and 1985. After the death of his wife in 1985, Evert Person sold the paper to The New York Times Company.
The most popular feature in The Press Democrat for many years was Gaye LeBaron's community column, according to a readership survey. LeBaron produced more than 8,000 columns between 1961 and her semi-retirement in 2001, writing on human interest, cultural events, ethnic history and local politics.{{cite web |url=http://library.sonoma.edu/specialcollections/lebaron/aboutgayelebaron|first=Tim|last=Tesconi|title=Voice of the Community|work=The Press Democrat|date=18 March 2001|access-date=24 November 2016}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TAhUAAAAMAAJ&q=gaye+lebaron|title=Newspaper Design for The Times|first=Louis|last=Silverstein|year=1990|publisher= Van Nostrand Reinhold|isbn= 0442283210|page=260}}
Along with The Press Democrat, The New York Times Company bought the North Bay Business Journal and the Petaluma Argus-Courier; all were acquired by Halifax Media Group in January 2012. Less than a year later, in November 2012, Halifax resold its California papers to a local ownership group, Sonoma Media Investments, LLC, which included former congressman Douglas H. Bosco,{{cite web|url=http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20121101/ARTICLES/121109973|title=Local group to buy The Press Democrat, affiliated publications|date=1 November 2012|access-date=17 August 2018}} Jean Schulz, the widow of Peanuts comic strip creator Charles M. Schulz, and Norma Betz Person, widow of The Press Democrat{{'s}} former publisher Evert Person.{{cite web|url=https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/its-official-press-democrat-sold-to-local-group/|title=It's official: Press Democrat sold to local group|date=8 November 2012|access-date=17 August 2018}}
In 2019, Sonoma Media Investments acquired the Sonoma County Gazette of Forestville, a monthly newspaper.{{Cite web| title = Press Democrat owner adds to media holdings, acquiring monthly hyperlocal publication| work = The North Bay Business Journal| access-date = 2020-09-06| date = 2019-12-30| url = https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/industry-news/press-democrat-owner-buys-sonoma-county-gazette-a-free-monthly-publication/}}
In 2025, the newspaper was acquired by MediaNews Group.{{Cite web |last=Bandlamudi |first=Adhiti |date=2025-05-02 |title=Santa Rosa’s Press Democrat Was Just Sold. Locals Are Concerned For the Paper’s Future |url=https://www.kqed.org/news/12038583/santa-rosas-press-democrat-was-just-sold-locals-are-concerned-for-the-papers-future |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=KQED |language=en}}
Awards and honors
File:427MendocinoAve-SantaRosa-ThePressDemocrat-NEcorner.JPG in 2016]]
The Press Democrat{{'}}s staff was the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting for "[f]or lucid and tenacious coverage of historic wildfires that ravaged the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County."{{cite web|last=Pulitzer Prizes|title=Pulitzer Prize|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/staff-press-democrat|access-date=17 August 2018|website=www.pulitzer.org}} Former staff photographer Annie Wells also won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography "for her dramatic photograph of a local firefighter rescuing a teenager from raging floodwaters."{{cite web|last=Pulitzer Prizes|title=Pulitzer Prize|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/1997-Spot-News-Photography|access-date=17 August 2018|website=www.pulitzer.org}}
The newspaper was also the 2004 recipient of the George Polk Award for Regional Reporting,{{cite web|title=George Polk Awards for Journalism press release|url=http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2005.html|access-date=November 22, 2006|publisher=Long Island University}} given annually by Long Island University to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.pressdemocrat.com}}
{{PulitzerPrize BreakingNews 2001–2025}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Press Democrat, The}}
Category:George Polk Award recipients
Category:Daily newspapers published in the San Francisco Bay Area
Category:Newspapers established in 1897
Category:Mass media in Santa Rosa, California
Category:1897 establishments in California
Category:History of Sonoma County, California