New York Herald

The New York Herald was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924, when it was acquired by its smaller rival the New-York Tribune to form the New York Herald Tribune.

Not to be confused with New York Herald Tribune or International Herald Tribune.

New York Herald
Cover of New York Herald on June 20, 1861, covering news of the American Civil War
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
PublisherJames Gordon Bennett, Sr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
Founded1835
Ceased publication1924
HeadquartersManhattan
Circulation84,000 (1861)
New York Herald Building (1908) by architect Stanford White. It was demolished in 1921
François Flameng (1856-1923), A winter evening in a crowded Herald Square at the New York Herald Building, oil on board 62.4 x 52.4 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1909. Provenance: Simonis & Buunk Fine Art, The Netherlands.

It ceased publication in 1966 after a prolonged and draining strike with its printers union; its European edition was jointly acquired by The Washington Post and The New York Times, which renamed it the International Herald Tribune. The Times subsequently gained full control, publishing it today as The New York Times International Edition.[1] New York magazine, created as the Herald Tribune's Sunday magazine in 1963,[2] was independently revived in 1968. It continues to publish today under this name.

History
The New York Herald, December 8, 1862

The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett Sr., on May 6, 1835.[3] The Herald distinguished itself from the partisan papers of the day by the policy that it published in its first issue: "We shall support no party—be the agent of no faction or coterie, and we care nothing for any election, or any candidate from president down to constable." Bennett pioneered the "extra" edition during the Herald's sensational coverage of the Robinson–Jewett murder case.[4]

By 1845, it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the United States.[3] In 1861, it circulated 84,000 copies and called itself "the most largely circulated journal in the world."[5] Bennett stated that the function of a newspaper "is not to instruct but to startle and amuse."[6][7] His politics tended to be anti-Catholic and he had tended to favor the Know-Nothing faction. But he was not as anti-immigrant as the Know-Nothing party were. During the American Civil War, Bennett's policy, as expressed by the newspaper, was to staunchly support the Democratic Party. Frederic Hudson served as managing editor of the paper from 1846 to 1866.

In April 1867 Bennett turned over control of the paper to his son James Gordon Bennett Jr..[8] Under James Jr., the paper financed Henry Morton Stanley's expeditions into Africa to find explorer David Livingstone, where they met on November 10, 1871.[9] The paper also supported Stanley's trans-Africa exploration. In 1879 it supported the ill-fated expedition of George W. De Long to the Arctic region.

In 1874, the Herald ran the New York Zoo hoax,[10][11] in which the front page of the newspaper was devoted entirely to a fabricated story of wild animals getting loose at the Central Park Zoo and attacking numerous people.

On October 4, 1887, James Jr. sent Julius Chambers to Paris, France to launch a European edition. Bennett later moved to Paris, but the New York Herald suffered from his attempt to manage its operation in New York by telegram. In 1916 a Saturday issue of the paper reported that a major financier was found dead from poisoning; it added that in 1901 he was "mysteriously poisoned and narrowly escaped death."[12]

In 1924, after James Jr.'s death, the New York Herald was acquired by its smaller rival the New York Tribune, to form the New York Herald Tribune. In 1959, the New York Herald Tribune and its European edition were sold to John Hay Whitney, then the U.S. ambassador to the UK.

In 1966, the New York paper ceased publication after a lengthy and costly printers' strike. The Washington Post and The New York Times acquired joint control of the European edition, renaming it the International Herald Tribune. The IHT, renamed The New York Times International Edition, is now wholly owned by The New York Times.[1]

When the Herald was still under the authority of its original publisher Bennett, it was considered to be the most intrusive and sensationalist of the leading New York papers. Its ability to entertain the public with timely daily news made it the leading circulation paper of its period.

Evening Telegram

The New York Evening Telegram was founded in 1867 by the junior Bennett, and was considered by many to be an evening edition of the Herald. Frank Munsey acquired the Telegram in 1920, and ceased its connection to the Herald.[13]

Commemorated
Minerva, the Bellringers, and Owls by Antonin Carles
  • New York's Herald Square is named after the New York Herald newspaper.[14]
  • The New York Herald Building was designed by the prestigious firm of Stanford White, and completed in 1908. It occupied the north side of the square. At its top was a sculpture commemorating the Bennetts. The statue of Minerva, the Bellringers, and Owls, by Antonin Carles, sounded every hour with bellringing.
  • After the building was demolished in 1921 to make way for other development, the sculpture was installed on the north side of Herald Square, and the sound was stopped.

See also

References
  1. Doreen Carvajal (June 24, 2008). "The Times and I.H.T. Study Web Merger". The New York Times.
  2. Kluger 1986, p. 679.
  3. Crouthamel, James (1989). Bennett's New York Herald and the Rise of the Popular Press. Syracuse University Press. The finished four-page Herald with its circulation of twelve thousand as in 1845 the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the United States. Its niche was so secure that its success seemed almost inevitable. But Bennett was fifty years old, and his success had come very late, after many years of apparent failure. ...
  4. Cohen, Daniel (2000). Yellow Journalism. Twenty-First Century Books. pp. 14–15. ISBN 0761315020.
  5. Sandburg, Carl (1942). Storm Over the Land. Harcourt, Brace and Company. p. 87.
  6. Katherine Roeder (March 25, 2014). Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy, Mass Culture, and Modernism in the Art of Winsor McCay. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 28–. ISBN 978-1-62674-117-1.
  7. New Outlook. Outlook Publishing Company, Incorporated. 1892. pp. 489–.
  8. Harris, Gale (November 21, 1995). "Bennett Building" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. p. 7. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  9. Carey, John (March 18, 2007). "A good man in Africa ?". The Sunday Times. Retrieved November 15, 2007. His quest to find David Livingstone was financed by his paper, the New York Herald. Nothing had been heard of the great explorer since the previous year, when he was somewhere on Lake Tanganyika.
  10. Robert E. Bartholomew; Benjamin Radford (October 19, 2011). The Martians Have Landed!: A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes. McFarland. pp. 84–85. ISBN 978-0-7864-8671-7.
  11. Connery, T. B. (June 3, 1893). A Famous Newspaper Hoax, Harper's Weekly, p. 534
  12. "Jacques S. Halle dies". New York Herald. December 2, 1916. p. 5.
  13. "The Telegram Sold to Scripps-Howard". The New York Times. February 12, 1927.
  14. Eve Zibart (2010). The Unofficial Guide to New York City. p. 1678. ISBN 0470637234.
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