Mail Tribune

History

In 1888, Thomas Harlan founded the Mail in Medford, Oregon. He was followed as publisher by Newell Harlan in 1890, Felix G. Kertson in 1891 and possibly at some point Ira Phelps. A. S. Bliton bought the paper from Kerton in 1893 and ran it for 16 years. At that time the paper was called the Southern Oregon Mail, but Bliton renamed it to the Medford Mail. It had been affiliated with People's Party, but Bliton went independent and lost half of his 500 subscribers due to his unpopular political attitude. Within two years he grew circulation to 1,500 and for a time brought W. T. York on as partner after 1894.

In 1909, Bliton sold the Mail to George Putnam, who then merged it with the Southern Oregonian, Jacksonville Times and Medford Tribune to form the Medford Mail-Tribune. The paper was viewed as a successor to the Oregon Sentinel, the first newspaper published in southern Oregon. Putnam was seen as the "epitome of the fighting editor during the Progressive Era in Oregon" and his journalism was notable enough to warrant George Stanley Turnbull authoring two books on him and his work at the paper.

In 1919, Putnam retired as president of the Medford Printing Company to own and operate the Capital Journal in Salem. He was succeeded by Robert W. Ruhl. Under his leadership, the Mail Tribune was awarded the 1934 Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Service, for its coverage of corrupt Jackson County politicians. The Ruhl family operated the paper for 62 years until selling it in 1973 to Ottaway Newspapers, a subsidiarity of the Dow Jones, owner of The Wall Street Journal. The company was acquired in 2007 by News Corp, owned by Rupert Murdoch.

On September 4, 2013, News Corp announced that it would sell Ottaway Newspapers, by then known as Dow Jones Local Media Group, to Newcastle Investment Corp., an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group for $87 million. The newspapers were to be operated by GateHouse Media, owned by Fortress. News Corp. CEO and former Wall Street Journal editor Robert James Thomson indicated that the newspapers were "not strategically consistent with the emerging portfolio" of the company. GateHouse in turn filed prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 27, 2013, to restructure its debt obligations in order to accommodate the acquisition.

The Mail Tribune and Ashland Daily Tidings were sold to Rosebud Media in 2017 for a reported $15 million. On September 21, 2022, the Mail Tribune announced it would discontinue its printed edition and only publish online. The Mail Tribune published its final online articles on January 13, 2023, and ceased operations.

References

References

1. Stiles, Greg. (June 6, 2017). "Mail Tribune is back in local hands". Mail Tribune.
2. Saslow, Steven. (January 11, 2023). "Mail Tribune to cease operations Friday". Mail Tribune.
3. Warner, Gary A.. (January 13, 2023). "Medford newspaper - state's fifth largest - suddenly shuts down.".
4. Turnbull, George S.. (1939). "[[wikisource:en:History of Oregon Newspapers". [[Binfords and Mort]].
5. (October 31, 1909). "Putnam Buys Medford Mail {{!}} Mail-Tribune to Be the Only Daily Newspaper in Southern Oregon Town.". The Oregon Daily Journal.
6. McKay, Floyd J.. (May 24, 2022). "George Putnam (1872-1961)". [[The Oregon Historical Society]].
7. (December 26, 1952). "George Putnam's Fight". Medford Mail Tribune.
8. Maxwell, Ben. (November 11, 1955). "3 Major Putnam Crusades Related in Turnbull's Book". The Capital Journal.
9. Atwood, Jay. (2014). "Political Turmoil in the 1930s". [[The Oregon Historical Society]].
10. LaLande, Jeff. (May 5, 2022). "Robert Ruhl (1880-1967)". [[The Oregon Historical Society]].
11. (April 28, 1973). "Medford Mail Tribune sold to subsidiary of Dow Jones". The Oregonian.
12. Jordan, Dearbail. "News Corp wins $5.6bn battle for Dow Jones". [[The Times]].
13. Frank, Christine. (September 4, 2013). "News Corp. sells 33 papers to New York investors". New York Business Journal.
14. (September 4, 2013). "News Corp. sells 33 papers to New York investors". New York Business Journal.
15. (September 27, 2013). "GateHouse Files for Bankruptcy as Part of Fortress Plan". [[Bloomberg News]].
16. Stiles, Greg. (January 31, 2017). "Updated: Mail Tribune and Daily Tidings sold to Rosebud Media". Mail Tribune.
17. (January 31, 2017). "New Media Completes the Acquisition of the Ohio Publishing Division of Wooster Republican Printing Company for $21.2 Million and Announces the Sale of the Medford, Oregon Mail Tribune for $15.0 Million".
18. Aldous, Vickie. (September 20, 2022). "Mail Tribune moving to online-only format". Mail Tribune.
19. (September 21, 2022). "Oregon newspaper Mail Tribune in Medford will stop printing at end of month". [[OregonLive]].
20. Neumann, Erik. (January 11, 2013). "Medford Mail Tribune announces it will close Friday". Oregon Public Broadcasting.
21. (January 12, 2023). "Oregon paper closing after more than century of publishing". [[KOIN]].