Gilroy Dispatch
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | New SV Media (Metro Newspapers) Dan Pulcrano |
| Founder(s) | John N. Hall and Thomas Losey |
| Publisher | Dan Pulcrano |
| Editor | Erik Chalhoub |
| Sports editor | Emanuel Lee |
| Founded | September 12, 1868 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 7455 Monterey Rd Gilroy, California 95020 United States |
| Sister newspapers | Hollister Free Lance, Morgan Hill Times |
| Website | gilroydispatch |
The Gilroy Dispatch is an American weekly newspaper published in Gilroy, California.
History[edit]
The Gilroy Dispatch traces its lineage to the Gilroy Advocate, which published from September 12, 1868, to April 28, 1949.[1] In 1925, John N. Hall and Thomas Losey started the competing The Advocate, a six-day daily.[2] In 1930, Hall sold his interest in the Dispatch to Lloyd E. Smith,[3] who also bought the Advocate and merged it with the Gilroy Evening Dispatch. Smith published the Dispatch until 1939.[4]
George R. Kane, Patrick H. Peabody and Joseph Hoeteling purchased The Dispatch in 1949 from George W. Werner, its publisher since 1941. Kane's group sold the publication to Jerry Fuchs and Millard Hoyle in March 1972. McClatchy Newspapers Inc. purchased it from Fuchs and Hoyle in August 1978. At the time of the sale it published three days a week and had a reported circulation of 6500.[5]
On February 28, 1997, McClatchy sold the Dispatch, along with the Hollister Free Lance, the Morgan Hill Times and the Amador Ledger, for $6.7 million to Independent Newspapers Ltd. of New Zealand. McClatchy's filing with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission reported a combined daily circulation of approximately 10,150, weekly circulation of 12,800 and $7.5 million in annual revenues for the year preceding the sale.[6] Independent's largest shareholder was Australia-based News Ltd., controlled by billionaire publisher Rupert Murdoch.[7]
The New Zealand group sold the papers in 1998 to Central Valley Publishing Holdings, Inc., an operator of 30 small market papers that was based in Festus, Missouri.[8] Michigan publishers Anthony Allegretti and Steve Staloch gained control of Central Valley's assets in a 2004 private equity-backed management buyout, assembling a group that included community newspapers in San Diego County, Santa Cruz and California's Central Valley. [9] Staloch and Allegretti left the company in 2013 and controlling shareholder, The Brookside Group of Stamford, CT, put its California newspapers on the market, selling its San Diego group in November.[10] [11]
Return to Local Ownership[edit]
Silicon Valley-based Metro Newspapers, headed by Dan Pulcrano, purchased the Mainstreet's four remaining weeklies, including the Dispatch, in April 2014, marking the first time the Dispatch had been owned by a publisher based in the region in 36 years. [12]
South Valley Magazine[edit]
The Dispatch and its sister paper, the Morgan Hill Times, launched South Valley magazine on July 15, 2016. The publication is home-delivered with the newspapers and distributed free at locations in the communities. [13] Its logo was drawn by typographer Mark Davis and art directed by Roger Black. [14]
Return to Downtown[edit]
After decades in a building at the south end of Monterey Ave., the Dispatch returned to downtown in August 2016, moving its offices to 64 W 6th St. [15]
Awards[edit]
The Gilroy Dispatch won 11 awards over a broad range of news categories, including three first-place awards, in the 2004 annual California Newspaper Publishers Association's Better Newspapers Contest.[16] It won two first place awards and four second place awards in the 2012 competition. [17] In 2015, the Dispatch won awards for agricultural reporting and front page design. [18]
References[edit]
- ^ "U.S. Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Wheeler, Jean French (November 1973). "Historical Directory of Santa Clara County Newspapers 1850-1972" (PDF). sourisseauacademy.org. Sourisseau Academy for State and Local History, San Jose State University. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ "Former Woodland Man Sells Paper!". Newspapers.com. Woodland Daily Democrat. February 21, 1930. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ "Historic Resources Inventory, The Chick House" (PDF). cityofgilroy.org. State of California. April 1988. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ "Gilroy Dispatch Sale Announced". Newspapers.com. Santa Cruz Sentinel. August 22, 1978. p. 10. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ "The McClatchy Company Form 10-K Annual Report". mcclatchy.com. Security and Exchange Commission. Mar 30, 1998. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Yewell, John (July 16, 1998). "Murdoch Era Ends at Good Times". Metroactive.com. Metro Santa Cruz. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ "Company Overview of Central Valley Publishing Holdings, Inc". Businessweek.com. Bloomberg Business Week. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ "Management Buyout Leads to New Company". dirksvanessen.com. Dirks, Van Essen & Murray. January 1, 2004. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Horn, Jonathan (Nov 1, 2013). "U-T buys 8 local community newspapers". utsandiego.com. U-T San Diego. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Witkowsky, Chris (April 1, 2014). "Brookside Group-backed MainStreet Media sells four weeklies". pehub.com. PE Hub. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Baumann, Greg (Mar 31, 2014). "Metro Newspapers buys weeklies in Santa Cruz, Gilroy, Morgan Hill and Hollister". bizjournals.com. Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
- ^ Pulcrano, Dan (July 15, 2016). "The Magazine of South Valley". South Valley Magazine.
- ^ Davis, Mark (July 15, 2016). "Designer Mark Davis". South Valley Magazine.
- ^ Hernandez-Cattani, Roseann (Aug 26, 2016). "Gilroy Dispatch Returns to Downtown". gilroydispatch.com. Gilroy Dispatch. Retrieved Aug 31, 2016.
- ^ "Dispatch earns 11 state journalism CNPA awards". gilroydispatch.com. Gilroy Dispatch. July 19, 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ^ "Dispatch recognized in CNPA's Better Newspaper Contest". gilroydispatch.com. Gilroy Dispatch. April 29, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ^ "The Winners Tab". cnpa.com. California Newspaper Publishers Association. April 30, 2016. Retrieved Aug 31, 2016.