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FROM HAND-WRITTEN NOTICES TO THE DAILY NEWS MOSCOW’S NEWSPAPER TIME LINE
Moscow Mirror, 1882- circa 1908
One of the papers that would become the Star-Mirror in 1911. Generally regarded as Moscow’s first printed weekly newspaper, it was founded by Ivan Chase and Co. In 1901, W. G. Emery wrote in his “History of Moscow” that the Mirror was a six-column sheet with boilerplate insides printed in Colfax. It sold 140 copies at $3 a year. Shortly after its inception, the Hon. Wills Sweet, Idaho’s first congressional representative became editor. On Nov. 17, 1882, C. B. Reynolds, a former teacher, paid an equivalent $400 for ownership of the entire plant. Reynolds managed and edited the paper from Nov. 17, 1882, to June 7, 1889, Emery wrote. Marie Ormsby, a journalism student in the late 1950s, wrote in a term paper that Sweet went on to become attorney general of Puerto Rico. In 1889, the Jolly brothers – Elmer, James D. and Thomas H. – took over the Mirror and raised circulation to 1,500 by 1900. W. D. Smith, who bought the paper in 1902, installed the first typesetting machine used in Moscow; he also boosted the size of the Mirror to eight columns, according to Ormsby.
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Moscow-Pullman
Daily News
Moscow Argus, 1878-79
Founded by Dr. William H. Taylor, R. H. Barton and George P. Richardson, members of the Moscow Literary Society. It was written by hand in the society’s weekly meetings. Some sources say copies were posted around town; others say it was read aloud.
MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS
North Idaho Star, 1887- circa 1908
Founded by J. L. Brown in 1887, the North Idaho Star was the other paper that would become the Star-Mirror. In 1901, Emery wrote “The North Idaho Star in its neat brick office on the southwest corner of Main and First streets, as noted elsewhere, is a bright newspaper issued weekSee TIME LINE, Page 4
100 years of daily newspapers Big egos, a religion, family dramas and a Palouse vision Newspapers love anniversaries, especially their own. Twenty-five years ago, Bert Cross, a recently retired University of Idaho journalism professor, produced the most definitive history we know of detailing the history of newspapers in Moscow. At the time, there had been a daily newspaper published continually in the city for 75 years. We’re sorry Cross didn’t quite get to read this update of his work, having died at 92 on July 25 of this year. But we are entirely in his debt. We dedicate this edition to his memory and to the great number of journalists who have come before us. Now, it is time for us celebrate our 100-year anniversary. In this special edition, we have asked Judy Sobeloff, a gifted Moscow free-lance reporter and writer, to build on Cross’s work. And she has done so with diligence and insight. The story Cross told actually went back 133 years to the Moscow Argus, a sheet of news handwritten for a while by members of Moscow Literary Society. It
Lee Rozen Editor’s Note
picked up again 129 years ago with the Moscow Mirror, the first printed weekly newspaper in the city. And you can trace the lineage of the city’s journalism from there directly to today’s Moscow-Pullman
Daily News. Perhaps, “directly” is too strong a word. For it was a history of continual change in owners and editors and nameplates and publishing cycles. Of buyouts and mergers and deaths. Of newspaper “wars” and of burying the hatchet. This paper’s middle history is tied in fascinating ways to a mail order religion called Psychiana, invented by one Frank B. Robinson and run with 100 employees from Moscow, Idaho, during the 1930s and 1940s. A company he founded technically publishes the Daily News, today.
But its later history, that of the last 25 years, while appearing relatively stable on the surface with long-running Idahonian nameplate, has involved one struggle after another to keep the city’s newspaper in local family ownership. In fact, for a while, the city’s paper was owned by AT&T’s cable company TCI. Inside you’ll find not only the big ideas and grand themes of the editors who ran the papers, but also the story of the Alford family, A.L. “Butch” Alford and his son, Nathan, in particular. The Alfords, it’s clear, have plowed their personal fortunes into keeping local ownership of this newspaper – and, when that wasn’t enough, gone deeply into debt. As Nathan says: “We believe in maintaining these newspapers for the benefit of the residents of the Palouse. Dad didn’t buy it to close it down. We’re committed.” Lee Rozen, managing editor of the Daily News, can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 209, or by email to lrozen@dnews.com.
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Centennial Edition
MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS
TIME LINE From page 3 ly. The paper is something Moscow can justly be proud of, it is democratic in politics and is ably edited and conducted by (postmaster) H. C. Shaver.” After 18 years of of publication, the paper was acquired by the Moscow Printing and Publishing Co., publishers of the Moscow Evening Journal, on Sept. 15, 1905. The two plants consolidated, with the Journal continuing as a daily and the Star a weekly, according to Peter L. Orcutt, editor of the Troy News. According to an editorial in the North Idaho Star that same day, the Star would primarily serve as a county paper. Moscow Democrat, also Times-Democrat, 1891-1908
Idahonian grew from bitter rivalry Printing cost row results in two newspapers By Bert Cross For the Idahonian
The Idahonian, the longest-running predecessor of the MoscowPullman Daily News, got its start with a bitter rivalry that ended with the accidental death of one of the key players. But that death led to a partnership that created a newspaper whose name lasted until 1991. Dr. Frank B. Robinson had founded Psychiana in 1928, and by then it was a highly successful mail-order religion. He attracted adherents by advertising in popular magazines and by direct mail. Believers – or, perhaps more accurately, subscribers – were sent a series of bi-weekly lessons by mail. Robinson adopted concepts such as affirmations, positive thinking, self-help and mental healing into Psychiana’s lessons and emphasized health and material prosperity as possible rewards for dedicated and hardworking Psychiana students. At one time, Psychiana was reportedly the nation’s seventh largest religious organization with
nearly 100 employees, mostly women. It handled up to 50,000 pieces of mail a day in Moscow. After Robinson’s death, Psychiana soon disappeared. The newspaper story began in 1933. As Robinson tells it, he was sitting in his offices above Creighton’s Main Street store when there was a knock on the door. Robinson said: “I saw there a short statured man with a decidedly Indian slant to his features. A big ‘seegar’ was tightly clenched between his teeth. I invited the gentlemen in and asked what I could do for him. “My name is Marineau. I run a two-by-four weekly newspaper in Elk River,” the man replied. “Waaalll, I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time — heard a lot about you and want to get some of your printing. I’ve got a good plant, but the Weyerhaeuser Lumber plant is closed down and the town of Elk River is all shot to hell.” Thus began a partnership that lasted until Robinson’s death. William T. Marineau was a
printer and newspaperman in Sandpoint and St. Maries before buying into the newspaper at Elk River. Marineau had built up a solid printing business and was doing jobs throughout the Northwest, but struggling in the Depression. Robinson, who was doing all his printing for Psychiana at the Star-Mirror in Moscow, found Marineau’s bid about half of the $2,000 a month he was paying. Robinson decided his best bet was to own his printing plant and offered Marineau $7,000. Marineau accepted and agreed to move the plant to Moscow immediately. “The Strange Autobiography of Frank B. Robinson,” first published by Robinson in 1941 and revised by his wife, Pearl chronicles this story. Robinson had long accused StarMirror Publisher George N. Lamphere, of overcharging for printing. Louis A. Boas, then Lamphere’s partner and editor of the StarMirror, said in an oral history recorded by the Latah County Historical Society that Lamphere had not overcharged Robinson. He claimed Robinson owed Lamphere
Dr. William H. Taylor, active in founding the Moscow Argus, started this paper in 1891. After four months, he sold it to Samuel T. Owings. It became the Times-Democrat. According to Ormsby, “Owings was a fiery type of editor which had all but disappeared from big-city newspapers by this period.” According to a paper done by a former Idaho student, Owing’s “editorial policy at times made it advisable for him to carry a gun and walk down the middle of the street after dark.” On June 2, 1908, a Star-Mirror editorial reported, the Moscow Democrat was taken over by the Star-Mirror and editor John J. Shik became a partner of John F. Yost in publishing the Star-Mirror. The editorial states that the number of newspapers in Moscow was reduced from three to two, leaving the Star-Mirror and the Idaho Post. It stated that the Star-Mirror was to be Democratic in politics.
The Double Standard, 1895 - circa 1901-08 According to Emery, “The Double Standard, edited by C. F. Lake and A. J. MacDonald and owned by E. C. Steele, is silver Republican in politics and also issued weekly. Its editorials are pungent and fearless and it has influence that is far-reaching in our community.”
The Idaho Argonaut, 1898-present The University of Idaho student paper
Centennial Edition
TIME LINE was started by Guy W. Wolfe, a student from Moscow, in November 1898. A student committee and the student government decided that a student newspaper was not “financially feasible.” Wolfe dissented and said he would start newspaper as a private enterprise if necessary. So he put it out himself. Rafe Gibbs writes, “Editorially, the Argonaut in its first year made quite a splash. Financially it did not do quite so well. Wolfe went in debt $64, but with an assist from his father, he kept it going — and it is still going.” Many, if not most, current and former reporters at Moscow’s various newspapers got their start at the Argonaut. The Moscow Evening Journal, circa 1905-1907
As a daily newspaper in Moscow, this lasted three years. This could have been the first daily newspaper publishing for any length of time in Moscow. Others started, but none lasted long. As noted above, the Evening Journal purchased the Star and about three years later ceased to publish the Journal. The last published issue on file is Aug. 27, 1907. The masthead proclaimed it was “Published everyday except Sunday.” An editorial in the Oct. 19, 1911, issue of the Star-Mirror referred to it as the Moscow Daily Journal and said “Up to the time it was boycotted, it was a paying proposition.” The who and why of the boycott is lost. When the daily Journal went out of business, its weekly Star likely merged with the Mirror to form the Star-Mirror in late 1907 or early 1908.
The Idaho Post, 1906-1935
It was founded Sept. 20, 1906, with George Fields as editor and proprietor. Later, John J. Schik, a former part owner of the Star-Mirror and editor of the Moscow Democrat, took over the Idaho Post. On May 9, 1918, Schik became editor and proprietor of the daily Star-Mirror, and the Post became part of the Star-Mirror operation. It was published weekly as the Post until Jan. 11, 1935, when its name changed to the Weekly Star-Mirror. When the Mirror and the Star merged See TIME LINE, Page 6
MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS
“something like $5,000 for six or seven months in arrears,” and Lamphere threatened to sue for the debt. “That was the fracture,” Boas said. “I tell you that because I know it. And Robinson eventually paid up.” On June 8, 1933, The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review reported that Robinson had purchased the Elk River News and was moving the plant to Moscow, where Robinson “owns two drug stores and a hospital” to compete with the StarMirror. After the Spokesman-Review story appeared, Robinson said Lamphere confronted him on the street and quoted Lamphre saying: “I own the newspaper business in this town and I’m going to keep owning it. I tell the businessmen in this county where they’ll advertise, and if you go through with this newspaper deal, I’ll put you in the federal penitentiary, and by God, I’ve got enough political pull to do it.” Robinson said he hadn’t been planning to publish a newspaper, but retorted: “Lamphere, you have given me an idea. Now let me give you a little advice. Go up to your office and take off your coat and go to work, for I’m putting in a newspaper.” Shortly thereafter, Robinson bought the Moscow Shopper’s Guide, a successful mimeograph paper that J.W. Lieuallen had start-
ed in January 1933 and was almost exclusively advertising. As a new paper, it could not qualify for county legal advertising, so early in 1934, Robinson purchased the long-established Troy News and combined it with the Review to “age” his publication, now called the News-Review, and qualify it for lucrative county legal advertising. The paper began publishing twice a week. On Sept. 9, 1935, it became Moscow’s second daily newspaper. They were fierce and unfriendly competitors. Robinson wrote that all Lamphere could talk about was “putting that son of a bitch in the federal penitentiary.” Robinson was convinced Lamphere was out to get him and was doing everything possible to get him deported. On Feb. 11, 1936, a federal grand jury in Boise indicted Robinson on a charge of falsification of information to obtain a passport in 1934. He had given his birthplace as New York City when, it claimed, he actually was a native of England. Robinson boasted that his newspaper, the News-Review, carried the story days before the StarMirror. The trial began in the federal court house in Moscow on
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May 16, 1936, and on May 20, a jury found him not guilty of knowingly swearing falsehood. It did not establish him as a citizen of the United States. Robinson was arrested on Aug. 8, 1936, on a warrant charging that he was in the United States illegally. After much maneuvering, Robinson was allowed to go to Cuba and return to the United States in 1942. Lamphere’s death by an accidental gunshot wound on June 9, 1939, dissolved the Star-Mirror partnership with Boas. Boas and his brother-in-law, John Montgomery, became its owners. The fierce competition between the two newspapers made it impossible for either to be financially solid. Abe Goff, attorney for the Star-Mirror, suggested to Boas and Montgomery the possibility of merging the two papers. He approached Robinson, who was agreeable, and the merger was made through the News-Review See IDAHONIAN, Page 6
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Centennial Edition
MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS
TIME LINE From page 5 in 1908, the Post was one of two competing newspapers in Moscow, the other being the Moscow Democrat.
The Star-Mirror, circa 1908-1911
Although some sources differ, when the Moscow Evening Journal folded, its weekly Star likely merged with the Mirror to form the Star-Mirror in late 1907 or early 1908. The Star was considered the dominant paper. In 1908, the Star-Mirror published twice a week under proprietor John F. Yost. Peter L. Orcutt, who had been editor and proprietor of the Troy News and an outspoken editorialist, became affiliated with the Star-Mirror and was listed as one of the owners when it became a daily newspaper on Sept. 28, 1911.
Idahonian from Page 5 Publishing Company. The agreement stipulated that Boas would be editor, Montgomery advertising manager and Marineau general manager. Boas made a special point that no individual would be publisher of the newspaper. The Daily NewsReview and The Star-
Mirror were first published Nov. 1, 1939. Before the end of the year, the name had been changed to the Daily Idahonian. Robinson had been accused and tried for a federal crime and had almost been deported, but in the end he could say: “There is only one newspaper in Moscow now, and I control that.” Boas had doubts at first that he could get
along with Robinson. “Though we did, we got along fine,” he said. “He (Robinson) didn’t take any active part in the newspaper at all. Bill Marineau didn’t want him around any more than I did. He owned stock in it and that was that, just as much as I would own stock in General Electric Co. in New York. But he didn’t have anything to say about the newspaper’s
operation or anything.” Boas emphasized that Robinson was the silent partner and Mrs. Robinson was the same way after her husband died. But Boas did have a definite opinion as to why Robinson started a second newspaper in Moscow. “Out of spite, yes,” he said. “Partly out of spite and partly out of, oh conceit; he wanted to be a big shot.”
The Daily Star-Mirror, 1911-1939
Started Sept. 28, 1911, this was the beginning of the continuous publication of a daily newspaper in Moscow. Orcutt and Yost were proprietors and editors. The daily Star-Mirror continued to publish the weekly Star-Mirror, circulated mostly to county residents. It competed most directly with the Idaho Post. The Star-Mirror’s circulation remained rather static in its first year, but in 1912, it sponsored a subscription contest in which two new five-passenger Ford touring cars were given away along with two $125 diamond rings. Through the contest, the paper reportedly added 1,500 readers. By 1913, Peter Orcutt was gone and Yost was listed as sole proprietor and editor. On Jan. 20, 1914, the Star-Mirror officially changed hands from Yost to S.E. Sutton. L.F. Parsons was listed as the publisher in early 1918. The Daily Star-Mirror was the dominant newspaper of the Palouse, and other than the weekly Idaho Post, it had little competition. It bought the Idaho Post on May 9, 1918. and it continued to publish until the name was changed to the Weekly Star-Mirror in 1935. On May 9, 1918, John J. Schik, a former part owner of the Star-Mirror who was then editor and proprietor of the Post, became editor and proprietor of The Daily Star-Mirror. George N. Lamphere became the publisher. In an editorial announcing the change,
Centennial Edition
TIME LINE Lamphere noted that he had lived and published a newspaper in Moscow for more than two years and had engaged in newspaper work in a neighboring town for 25 years. In 1926, Louis A. Boas became a partner and editor at the Star-Mirror. He remained editor through the merger with the NewsReview in 1939 until 1967. After Lamphere’s death, Boas and brother-in-law George Montgomery became owners of the Daily Star-Mirror.
Moscow Shopper’s Guide, 1933
Begun in January 1933 by J.W. Liuallen, it was mimeographed and carried mostly advertising with a few news stories. It was bought by Frank B. Robinson, the founder of the Psychiana, a strictly mail order religion headquartered in Moscow, in June 1933. Moscow Review and Shopping Guide, 1933-1934
On June 30, 1933, Robinson launched the Moscow Review and Shopping Guide as a weekly newspaper. Prior to this, Robinson had bought the printing plant for the Elk River News, operated by W. T. Marineau, and moved Marineau and all the printing equipment to Moscow to have printing facilities for Psychiana. Robinson felt that the Star-Mirror, which had been doing the printing, was overcharging him, so he decided to buy his own printing plant. At first, he claimed he was not interested in starting a rival newspaper. But after an encounter with George Lamphere, publisher of the Daily Star-Mirror, and speculation in the Spokane Spokesman-Review that he was to start a competing newspaper, he did.
The Moscow News-Review, 1934-1939
It was first published as the Moscow NewsReview and Shopping Guide, a weekly with Marineau as managing editor. Early in 1934, Robinson purchased the long-established Troy News and incorporated it into the Review. In 1934, the News-Review became a biweekly tabloid and on Sept. 9, 1935, it became Moscow’s second daily newspaper in competition with the Star-Mirror. According to Ormsby, “... Having acquired See TIME LINE, Page 8
MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS
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The Shelledy Era: 1981-1991 Newspaper advocated unity on the Palouse By Judy Sobeloff for the Daily News
Newspapers are tasked with reporting the news objectively, gathering facts from the various sides of an issue and turning it into information. When James “Jay” Shelledy led the Idahonian as editor and publisher, the reporters did that, but the editorial page and business office had an additional agenda. From 1981 to 1991, Shelledy put himself in the middle of a storm being waged across state lines to bring the then-competing communities of Moscow and Pullman together. It was “a time when an additional role of the paper was to unify the Palouse. That doesn’t happen too often,” Shelledy said. It was also fun. “It was a really fun time, stompin’ ass and taking names,” he said. “We brought in some really aggressive, talented young people that mixed well with our veterans. It was good journalism and they were turned on by it and having fun, and so worked harder. Sometimes a paper gets right in the middle of a community issue, right in the middle of when the community is starting to believe something else. “Reporters aren’t on any bandwagon,” he clarified. “They’re covering the news.” It was the opinions on the editorial page and some business decisions that pushed the wagon. Shelledy, executive editor of the Lewiston Tribune before coming north, saw an opportunity. He and his boss, Butch Alford, editor and publisher of the Tribune, “saw the Moscow-Pullman area as one. As a region. Moscow and Pullman had much in common, but had played against each other in football one too many times.
Geoff Crimmins/Daily News
Department heads of the Idahonian were captured in this 1984 painting. James “Jay” Shelledy, front right, was publisher at the time. “The rivalry was most acute with the merchants, who looked at the other city as driving away their business,” Shelledy says. The changes the two men identified included local calling ability; joint academic calendars between the University of Idaho and Washington State University; a single regional hospital; an umbrella Chamber of Commerce organization; public transportation between the two communities and a single newspaper to deliver the news of both towns across state lines. “We didn’t believe we could achieve these goals without a single newspaper,” Shelledy said. “It was important that Pullman read Moscow’s news stories and Moscow read Pullman’s stories, be they general, civic, or economic.” Although not all of the goals were achieved, the men came close.
The universities moved toward a common calendar and crosslisting certain classes, a process columnist Kenton Bird said was “like turning two battleships.” As for his motivation, Shelledy said “the border is artificial. You can do so much more with [a metropolitan area of 75,000] than with two towns of 30,000. You can attract businesses. A regional hospital medical center could do so much more than the two tertiary hospitals you have there now.” Shelledy credits Pullman business owners Bill Chipman, Tom Neill and Mark Dissmore, and university financial vice presidents Dave McKinney (UI) and Jay Hartford (WSU). Pullman was also thirsty for its own news. See SHELLEDY, Page 8
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Centennial Edition
MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS
Shelledy from Page 7 The Washington town had been covered by the twice-weekly Pullman Herald since 1888, which wasn’t adequate, Shelledy said. “A weekly newspaper doesn’t serve the needs of a city as sophisticated as Pullman,” he said. So, he opened a Pullman bureau of the Idahonian in a storefront office on Grand Avenue and hired two young reporters, David Ledford and Peter Harriman. The Herald didn’t last with the influx of daily reporting. It went out of business in 1989. The Herald was owned by the Coeur d’Alene-based Hagadone newspaper chain, which decided to make some cost-cutting measures of its own at exactly the wrong time, said Dick Fry, a Pullman resident and former manager of the WSU news service. Hagadone eliminated some long-time staff positions and brought in lessexpensive young labor without a familiarity with the community. “The Herald finally collapsed of its own weight and folded,” Fry said. The Idahonian’s arrival “didn’t help, but (the Herald’s) demise was more self-inflicted.” As a bureau, the Pullman version of the paper ran many of the same stories as its counterpart across the state line, although placement of local news stories, as well as legislative coverage, changed by border. The editorial page and general coverage remained the same. Shelledy made it clear the paper had high standards, said Harriman, an original Pullman reporter. “We were expected to be resourceful and rewarded for being resourceful,” he said. “Jay really made [the paper] a vital institution. We were a must-read. If you wanted to know what’s important to your life, we were the authoritative voice. I can’t emphasize enough how much Jay was and is still a visionary in this business.” Even then, Shelledy was envisioning a future with multiple news
platforms, Harriman said. They used a cable news channel to help get more information out, their own early version of the Internet. Shelledy also kept reporters on their toes, rearranging desks on a whim and shaking up beats. He was also constantly changing the paper’s design and fonts. He also made some unconventional hires, including Vera White in 1983. White had just finished three terms as Nez Perce County Commissioner and had no journalism experience, she said. But Shelledy was looking for someone with name recognition, which White had through politics. She also had a reputation for “being a kind of a mouthy woman,” she said. White eventually worked in every aspect of the newsroom except sports, and now writes the INK column. It “draws a pretty good readership. People either love me for it or they hate my guts, which is satisfying to me, actually,” she said. Shelledy also picked up freelancer Bill London, who’d written for local “lefty” publications. London had a scoop on a Forest Service cover-up of a subcontractor’s death from a herbicide accident, but was unable to sell it. Shelledy saw a story. “He had a reputation as being an investigative journalist,” London said. “He sent me back with one of his reporters and let me share the byline. That was my chance, and then he bought a few stories from me. What he did for me was way out of line. I’m forever in his debt.” As a longtime Idahonian and Daily News reader, London has seen the paper change. “When Shelledy left, the Daily News was a good paper,” London said. “It was fun to read, it was uppity, it had a good flavor. Jay had his fingers on the pulse of the city.” Although Shelledy began the change to a one-newspaper region, he didn’t complete the transition. He left the Idahonian in 1991 for the Salt Lake Tribune, and Randy Frisch, then the Sparks (Nevada) Tribune publisher and a previous advertising manager for the Idahonian, returned to the
Palouse as publisher. Frisch saw the need for a single paper within three months. It was a “natural progression,” he said. But it took guts. Shelledy said it was a “very courageous thing. If you think about it and you want to treat the communities as one, why are you editioning? It was exactly what had to happen, but I didn’t do it.” Frisch describes the decision as a long-time realization that the two communities would be better off working together. Even with that understanding, Frisch knew it wouldn’t come without difficulty. For one, Moscow residents had grown attached to their quirky Idahonian name. “The name was theirs,” Firsch said. “I knew how it would feel to some members of the community to take it away.” The paper ran full-page ads as ballots for several months listing 10 possible names, as well as space to write in their own ideas. The move proved itself unpopular. Longtime employee Kristin Moulton said relatives in Bovill were “aghast that they could just kill off a name that was so distinctive and that their local news would be given the same ink as Pullman.” They viewed it as “a whole different state, not part of the community,” Moulton said. But despite objections, the need for a name that represented both communities equally was required and so the Moscow-Pullman Daily News became the newspaper’s name after the voting process was complete. Now, the paper strives to serve both communities equally, said Nathan Alford, publisher and editor of the Daily News. Although complaints come up, a six-month content study revealed that both communities were getting a fair shake at coverage. “It’s pretty darn even,” he said. “We’re mindful of that.” Something predecessors Shelledy and Frisch would be proud of. Judy Sobeloff can be reached by email to freewriting@turbonet.com.
TIME LINE From page 7 two able men (Lieuallen and Marineau) and a well-equipped plant, Robinson proceeded to ‘age’ his paper by buying the Troy News.” The long publishing history of the Troy News enabled Robinson’s publication to meet Idaho’s requirements that a publication be well-established before being allowed to print county legal notices, a lucrative source of revenue. The Daily News-Review and the Star-Mirror, 1939
George Lamphere died June 9, 1939, of an accidental gunshot wound to the head. His death dissolved the partnership between Lamphere, Boas and Montgomery (Boas’ brother-in-law) in the Star-Mirror. According to an oral history by Louis A. Boas, the merger came about through Abe Goff, the NewsReview attorney. Goff approached Robinson about a merger, and Robinson accepted. The merger was through Robinson’s NewsReview Publishing Co. With the tremendous volume of printing for Psychiana, plus the News-Review, plus other job printing done at his plant, Robinson was in the dominant position. The new paper was printed in the plant of the News-Review Publishing Co. Stockholders in the newly formed News-Review Publishing Co. were Dr. and Mrs. Robinson. Marineau, Boas and Montgomery. Technically, this is the company that publishes today’s MoscowPullman Daily News. The two staffs were retained and departments merged. The first edition of the combined daily newspapers in Moscow was published Nov. 1, 1939. The agreement stipulated that Boas would be editor, Montgomery advertisement manager and Marineau general business manager. The publisher was the corporation, Boas said, not an individual. As reasons for the merger, Boas cited the competition between the two papers. No one was making money and both were cutting prices. The logical thing was to merge, he said.
The Daily Idahonian, 1939-1991
The name The Daily News-Review and the Star-Mirror was dropped after six weeks and it became the Daily Idahonian. No one seems to know where the name
Centennial Edition
TIME LINE came from or why the “ni” was inserted into the more common “Idahoan.” Ormsby writes: “Source of the word ‘Idahonian’ is obscure; it might have been another of Dr. Robinson’s flashes out of the blue, such as the word ‘Psychiana’ was.” The name caught the fancy of area citizens who were consulted on the subject, and it became the official name of the paper with the Dec. 19, 1939 issue. An editorial in the first edition of the Idahonian said: “Generally, ‘Idahonian’ was liked. It is unique; it is expressive; it is descriptive.” The word ‘Daily’ was dropped in the early 1970s. Robinson died Oct. 19, 1948. His part of the stock ownership, which was the majority, went to his wife. This ownership and management of the Idahonian continued until April 1967, when Duane Hagadone, who controlled a group of newspapers in the Scripps League chain, purchased the Pullman Herald and made an offer to purchase the Idahonian. Boas, Montgomery’s widow, and the Robinsons were receptive to his overtures, but Marineau was not. Marineau went to Bud Alford, then editor and publisher of the Lewiston Morning Tribune, and to the Short family of Moscow. The families raised money and divided ownership, with the Tribune Publishing Co. (the Alford family) controlling 40 percent; Short family 30 percent and Marineau 30 percent. Marineau was named publisher and his son, A.J. (Jack) Marineau, became general manager and later succeeded his father as publisher and also took on the title of editor. Eventually the Tribune Publishing Co. bought out the Short family and became the majority stock holder. In 1980, Jack Marineau sold his 30 percent interest to the McClatchy Newspaper Group. In 1981, James E. Shelledy, former executive editor of the Lewiston Morning Tribune, was named editor and publisher. Two years later, McClatchy sold its interest to Tribune Publishing, which then owned 100 percent of the Idahonian. In 1984, three branches of the Alford family owned the Tribune Publishing Co., which published the Idahonian (and its Daily News in Pullman) and the Lewiston Morning Tribune. But everyone wanted to sell except See TIME LINE, Page 10
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| Saturday, September 24, 2011 | 9
Family-owned Daily News remains integral part of Palouse community By Judy Sobeloff for the Daily News
In a time when people are predicting the end of newspapers, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News has defied the trend. When family newspapers were getting swallowed up by chains, Butch Alford reasserted the Alford family ownership and wrested back the Alford family legacy from a huge telecommunications corporate chain. The region has 119 years of Alford family newspaper involvement, and Butch wasn’t ready to give up. “Why would a man go into debt for millions and millions of dollars on the eve of his retirement?” asked Nathan Alford, Butch’s son and current editor and publisher of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Lewiston Tribune. Nathan refers to the his father’s decision, at age 59 in 1998, to re-purchase the Daily News, the Tribune and two other small newspapers, the Sparks Tribune of Nevada and the weekly Colfax Gazette from a major cable television company, TeleCommunications Inc. “The guy was (nearly) 60 years old, dumping a good deal of his money into buying back this newspaper. Just the act itself showed a huge commitment to local ownership,” said Steve McClure, who began as a reporter at the Daily News and was managing editor from 1999-2009. “Just knowing that Butch Alford felt so strongly about newspapers and local ownership impacted the newspapers and the people who worked in them,” The 119 years of “custodianship” is unusual in an industry marked by a few large companies. But the Alfords view themselves as custodians to the news, with readers and advertisers as
Barry Kough/Lewiston Tribune
Nathan Alford, left, is the Daily News’ editor and publisher. He is seen with his father A.L. “Butch” Alford Jr., right, president of the company. the real owners. The Alfords are also more than satellite owners who get involved when troubles arise or to pick up a prize. The family is engaged and committed because they live in the communities they serve, said Kenton Bird. They’re supporters of Vandal athletics and most community art programs, such as Rendezvous in the Park, Bird said. They support Festival Dance, the United Way, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, the Idaho Repertory Theatre and several other programs. Profitability matters, but Butch Alford has been more interested in quality journalism, said Jay Shelledy, who was publisher of the Idahonian from 1980-1991.
The Idahonian “could have been twice as profitable,” but Butch “allowed us to staff up and do things that cost money. And allowed us to grow and go into Pullman,” Shelledy said.
Butch’s career Butch began working at the Tribune at age 10, then majored in journalism at the University of Oregon. After graduation, he had jobs lined up elsewhere in the state. It wasn’t to be. His father, Bud Alford, then editor and publisher, told Butch, “I See FAMILY, Page 10
10 | Saturday, September 24, 2011 |
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Family from Page 9 want you to partially repay the family college scholarship” by working at the Tribune for three years. “Fifty years later,” Butch jokes, “I’ve never been able to get another job.” Bud died in 1968 and so Butch served 40 years, from 1968-2008 as editor and publisher of the Tribune. He remains president of TPC Holdings and a near daily presence at the Tribune. He still comes up to the Daily News occasionally, too.
Wednesday September 21, 2011 Today’s high: 81 Tonight’s low: 50 Weather | 8A Volume 99 | Number 308
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TIME LINE From page 9
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Economist gives Gem State positive forecast Jeff Thredgold speaks at Idaho Association of Counties’ conference state is on the mend. The keynote speaker for Daily News staff writer the annual conference of the The nation is suffering from Idaho Association of Counties, a recession of confidence as both Thredgold is an economist and consumers and businesses eye executive consultant with Zions the economy wearily, said Jeff Bank who also serves on five Thredgold, but he provided good national forecast panels. And news to representatives from 41 while unemployment, global Idaho counties Tuesday — the economics and the national defiBy Brandon Macz
cit remain serious concerns, he managed to lighten the room as he ran through his forecast for the economic future of the country. At one point, he suggested the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service could boost revenue on its mail routes by selling ice cream as well.
But the punch line only sugarcoated his claims that the president and Congress are to blame for the weak economy that neither one seems willing to fix. The Great Recession spanned from 2007 to 2009, Thredgold said, but there is overwhelming consensus that the economic downturn in the U.S. will continue. The federal deficit ballooned from $250 billion in 2008 to $1.3 trillion today. He said much of
that can be blamed on out-ofcontrol government spending. He said the best idea for resolving it, which has already been rejected, was from President Barack Obama’s deficit commission. It proposed lowering the tax rate to 23 percent, eliminating certain tax credits and exemptions See FORECAST, Page 8A
Anti-poverty group seeks housing solutions
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Moscow meeting explores feasibility of faith-based alliance
Nathan’s entry
By Holly Bowen Daily News staff writer
Born and raised at the newspaper, Nathan Alford never had big dreams of management. A “normal kid from Lewiston,” he dabbled in music, recording an album and traveling the Northwest, before getting a degree in communication with a business minor from the University of Idaho. He then started a coffee shop in Boise, which he calls his “informal MBA.” It ran for three or four years before Nathan changed paths again, heading to law school. It was “a rite of passage,” Nathan said, something to “challenge the gut a little bit. (It was akin to) being a ski bum or joining the military or working on a fishing boat.” But Butch had another goal for his son. One night, over a few scotches, the father insisted his son spend his law school summers interning in the newsroom. Nathan objected, calling clerking boring. Butch knew better. “If you put in two years interning in the newsroom, you’ll end up being a lawyer who can write well, which would be refreshing. Anyone can hang a See FAMILY, Page 11
necessarily agree with the homosexual way … but I was a good soldier.” The judge advocate agreed, Beach said, and allowed him to remain with the 126th, but he was told to be discreet about his sexuality and to remove the Facebook post that started it all. Not long after he’d made the post, Beach said he received numerous texts and messages from friends, family and fellow guardsmen supporting him. “I had to delete that, which was really hard,” he said. Beach transferred to the University of Idaho last semester to study political science. On Tuesday — the effective date for the repeal of DADT — he told his story to a group of people in Moscow’s Friendship Square. They had rallied to celebrate the 8-yearold discriminatory law’s rescission as a step in the right direction and caution people there is still work to be done. “The problem is, all that does is prevent
A group of Moscow-area residents committed to fighting local poverty is planning to turn to the faith-based community for ideas and potential support. The city of Moscow hosted its fourth Poverty on the Palouse gathering Tuesday evening at Moscow City Hall to continue efforts that began last December. Mayor Nancy Chaney said the project began when she was approached by Steve Bonnar, director of Sojourners’ Alliance, after the shelter turned away a handful of families because of lack of space. Around the same time, she received word that donations to area food banks were on the decline and support agencies were seeing their budgets slashed. She said poverty is multidimensional and can affect some or all aspects of people’s lives, including employment, housing, childcare, access to medical care, transportation and more. “We’re trying to figure out how to put that together,” she said about the Poverty on the Palouse group. During Tuesday evening’s meeting, Bonnar recapped a June trip that several group members took to a faith-based housing organization in Lewiston, to consider whether that model would work for the Moscow area. “Without housing, anything else is irrelevant for someone who
See RIGHTS, Page 8A
See HOUSING, Page 6A
Dean Hare/Daily News
Chad Beach, left, 21, speaks to that attending the Day of Discontent Equal Rights For All rally in Friendship Square on Tuesday in Moscow.
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ ends, fight for rights continues Gay Idaho guardsman talks about coming out early By Brandon Macz Daily News staff writer
When Idaho National Guardsman Chad Beach heard President Barack Obama had signed the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in December, it took him several hours of questioning before he decided to come out as a gay soldier. He didn’t know at the time the obstacle course he was about to encounter. “I came out on Facebook, and that’s kind of how the whole thing started,” he said. “As soon as I posted it, there was this, ‘Ah, what did I do?’ ” At the time, Beach, 21, was enrolled at Boise State University and a cadet with the ROTC program in conjunction with the Idaho National Guard 126th Company. Not realizing the repeal date hadn’t taken effect, he soon found out when he was brought into an ROTC office filled with
superiors and a familiar Facebook profile on a computer screen. They asked him if the post he had made was true. “It was the hardest thing that I ever had to say,” Beach said. “It was almost worse than coming out to your parents.” His ROTC benefits were taken away, and he was barred from enrollment in the program. Then the ROTC officers went to his superiors with the Idaho Guard. “The military is why I go to school for free,” he said. “I wanted to stay in. They did so much for me. I felt like I owed them a lot more.” Under DADT, being discharged from the military follows a chain of command all the way to the Pentagon, Beach said. He might have gotten the boot had it not been for the support of his commander, and the decision of a judge advocate through the Idaho National Guard Office of the Judge Advocate General. “My commander was actually the guy who fought for me,” Beach said. “I was an individual that he saw as useful to his unit. He even told me to my face that he didn’t
Largest group of freshmen brings lower SAT scores to Washington State School officials say results reflect national trend dropped in an effort to attract more students. Daily News staff writer John Fraire, WSU’s vice presiThere is more than one differ- dent of Enrollment Management ence between this and last year’s and Student Affairs, said that is entering class at Washington not the case. State University. “Our standards have The 2011 freshmen are remained the same for the past more plentiful, with 4,473 stu- four years,” Fraire said this dents outnumbering the pre- month. “The variance (in scores) vious year’s 3,283 people by is to be expected, and it’s not 27 percent. But WSU’s newest something we’re concerned with crop of students also came in at all.” with test scores 20 to 40 points lower than in 2010, prompt- Numbers ing some to wonder whether Last year’s freshmen recorded admissions standards were By Katie Roenigk
“Across the country SAT scores have dropped this year, and they have dropped in previous years,” Fraire said. His observations were confirmed by the online publication Inside Higher Ed, which released statistics showing a three-point decline in national critical reading scores this year compared to last year. The 2011 average in that category (497) also was down six points from the total five years ago. There was a one-point decline in mathematics this year, when students scored an average of 514 National trend points — four marks lower than Fraire said the lower test five years ago. In writing, results came in two scores reflect a national trend. a higher mid-range of scores on their SAT exams than this year’s group according to Sol Jensen, WSU’s director of recruitment. In 2010, those in the 75th percentile earned a score of 1,180, while that benchmark was set at 1,160 for the 2011 freshmen. The results were similar for those reaching the 25th percentile, which meant a score of 1,000 in 2010 but only 960 this year. Specific math and verbal scores have not yet been compiled for the fall 2011 freshman class.
points lower than last year and eight points lower than in 2006 for a total of 489. The lower results still could have something to do with population increases, but on a national scale according to the College Board nonprofit group, which this month announced that more college-bound students in the class of 2011 — nearly 1.65 million people — took the SAT this year than in any other high school graduating class in history. Given the larger, more diverse pool of students who took the exam, College Board See SCORES, Page 8A
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“Butch” Alford Jr., son of Bud Alford and the editor and publisher of the Tribune for the past 16 years. He owned a one-sixth share. Alford, acknowledging “no one should own a newspaper who doesn’t want to — you don’t make enough money on it,” requested that the other family members sell to the then family-owned Kearns-Tribune Co., publishers of the Salt Lake Tribune, rather than put the Lewiston Tribune and the Idahonian on the open market. Kearns-Tribune bought an 80 percent interest in Tribune Publishing Co. with the other 20 percent owned by Alford, who then joined the Kearns-Tribune board of directors.
Palouse Empire News, later Palouse Empire Daily News (in Pullman), 1981-1991
Shelledy, Idahonian editor and publisher, believed that Pullman was not served adequately by Hagadone’s then twice-weekly Pullman Herald. Along with Alford, he was convinced that Moscow and Pullman would benefit by civic measures to bring the two communities together and that the region would be best served by one paper. In March 1981, the Idahonian opened an office in Pullman with two reporters and began putting out a second “zoned edition,” which emphasized — both in placement and content — articles featuring Pullman and Whitman County more than Moscow and Latah County. This zoned edition was put out under two different names, first The Palouse Empire News and then the Palouse Empire Daily News. The twice-weekly Pullman Herald folded in February 1989, three months after observing the 100th anniversary of its founding. The Moscow-Pullman
Daily News, 1991-present Randy Frisch became publisher of the Idahonian in 1991 and decided to put out only one edition of the paper for both Moscow and Pullman. Kenton Bird, who worked at the Idahonian and Daily News from 1975 to 1992, said the two editions were becoming “too complicated to produce” and people got
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TIME LINE the impression they weren’t getting all the news of the two towns. Believing Pullman readers would not go for the Idahonian name and that Moscow readers would be reluctant to give it up, Frisch solicited reader names for one paper to serve the Palouse. The result was the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, which first issue appeared Dec. 7, 1991. The Daily News launched its first online edition in 1997. About that time in 1997, for estatetax purposes, the family that owned the Kearns-Tribune Co. sold the papers to a third party, which was then bought by Tele-Communications Inc., the world’s largest cable network, which was owned by AT&T. Suddenly, any semblance of family ownership of the Daily News had been lost. By 1998, attorneys for Butch Alford had convinced TCI to sell back four of its small “non-strategic” papers: the Daily News, the Lewiston Tribune, the weekly Colfax Gazette and the Sparks Tribune in Nevada. But TCI offered the papers on the open market rather than selling them directly to Alford. The subsequent bidding war drove the price of the papers to $38 million, up from their valued $14 million. To re-purchase them, Alford formed TPC Holdings Inc. and went into debt. On Sept. 4, 2001, Nathan Alford, Butch Alford’s son and the fourth generation of Alfords involved in the newspapers, became editor and publisher of the Daily News. On Oct. 1, 2008, he also became editor and publisher of the Lewiston Tribune. Butch Alford is now semi-retired but remains president of TPC Holdings and keeps an office at the Tribune in Lewiston. Butch Alford says he still goes to work seven days a week. “That’s what I enjoy doing,” he said, even if he sometimes “cuts out for golf.” In 2006, the company decided that maintaining a production facility in Moscow was too expensive, so printing of the Daily News was moved Lewiston. In 2008, the company bought a new press and opened a new production facility in Lewiston that put the company $13 million in debt. In 2009, the Daily News became a morning paper six days a week, ending 98 years of weekday afternoon publication.
MOSCOWPULLMAN DAILY NEWS
Family from Page 10 shingle and be a lawyer,” Butch said he told Nathan. “(But) only a chosen few can do journalism. You can’t spend two summers, particularly at non-metropolitan papers where you get to write a whole bunch of things, and not fall in love with it, it’s impossible.” Butch spoke from experience. Life goes faster when you do what you love, he said. On Sept. 4, 2001, Nathan Alford became the editor and publisher of the Daily News, the fourth generation of the Alford clan to newspaper in the region. And the fifth? Nathan has twin five-year-old daughters and a two-year-old son. A picture on his desk shows the girls, whom Butch nicknamed the Turnips, at a parade, both with signs around their necks. One says ‘Future Publisher’ and the other ‘Future Editor.’ “I sure hope one of them will,” grampa Butch says. “Can you imagine anyone working away in the newspaper business and not enjoying it?”
Losing control But the Alford’s nearly lost control of their mini media empire. In 1981, the Tribune Publishing Company, was owned by three branches of the Alford family: Butch and Amy Alford, the widow of Bud’s other son, Chuck; and Bud’s two sisters, Alice Matlock and Eugenia Hamblin. All of them wanted to sell at that point, except Butch, who owned one-sixth of the family corporation. “No one should own a newspaper that doesn’t want to,” Butch said. “You don’t make enough money on it.” He had one favor to ask: That they sell to a family-owned newspaper company, the Kearns-Tribune Co., owners of the Salt Lake Tribune, instead of a large chain. Butch sold his one-sixth ownership in 1991 and joined the board of directors of the Salt Lake
“
Too many in the idustry see pitfalls. Mostly I see challenges and good opportunities” Nathan Alford Editor and publisher Tribune in 1992. In 1997, Kearns-Tribune Co. sold its holdings to TCI, the world’s largest cable network, with what Butch considered to be an “ironclad buyback” provision. But TCI owner AT&T didn’t honor the provision, Butch said. Instead, the company put the papers for sale on the open market, nearly tripling the asking price from $14 million to $38 million. But Butch was determined and reinvested the millions his family had made from the sale of the Kearns-Tribune Co. back into the community newspapers they had once owned. “If they had not been so dedicated to their communities, the newspapers would have been sold to a chain and there probably wouldn’t be more than a handful of people in a combined newsroom,” said Randy Frisch, publisher of the Daily News from 1991-1996. “They put their money where their mouth is. They’ve invested everything in those newspapers to make sure they’re still around and viable.”
Optimism with pushups With the industry now in flux, the Alfords are optimistic for the future of print. “We’re positioning our paper to remain indispensable to people in Moscow,” Nathan Alford said. “The appetite for information has changed. People now consume local information on a growing number of platforms: print, web, mobile, and text.” “I’m willing to do 100 pushups
| Saturday, September 24, 2011 | 11
right now for the future of the print product,” said the 39-yearold. “We are in the middle of a rapidly evolving world. Too many in the industry see pitfalls. Mostly I see challenges and good opportunities.” Alford said efficiency improved by combining Daily News and Tribune departments such as human resources, accounting and budgeting, information systems, pre-press, press and circulation. A major change in the paper’s history came in May 2009, when it went from an afternoon paper to morning publication. The Daily News had a “good niche” as an afternoon paper, given that both the Spokane Spokesman-Review and the Tribune are morning papers But the change to morning publication allowed the same press crews and the same newspaper carriers to print and deliver the Daily News and the Tribune, Alford says. Today, the same carriers also deliver the SpokesmanReview. Although a cost-saving move, the Alfords were careful that it not sacrifice quality of the product. “In our company, we recognize that we make money to publish a newspaper, that we don’t publish a newspaper just to make money,” said Butch Alford at his commencement speech at the University of Idaho in December 2005. Even if it’s possible to make more money, Nathan said he’s not interested. “We believe in maintaining these newspapers for the benefit of the residents of the Palouse. Dad didn’t buy it to close it down. We’re committed,” he said. “It’s important to the health of the local government and universities to have more than one person knocking on [Moscow mayor Nancy] Chaney’s and [University of Idaho President Duane] Nellis’s doors. You need checks and balances in place. We’re here to improve watchdog journalism, not dilute it. People don’t realize how important a good, healthy press is to honest government.”
12 | Saturday, September 24, 2011 |
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