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The Times Leader
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Times Leader | |
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Broadsheet |
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| Owner | Richard L. Connor; HM Capital Partners, Frank Henry and Charles Parente, and other local investors |
| Publisher | Richard L. Connor |
| Founded | 1879 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 15 N. Main Street Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711 United States |
| ISSN | 0199-0519 |
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| Website: timesleader.com | |
The Times Leader is a privately owned newspaper in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1879, it was locally owned until being purchased by Capital Cities in 1978. The TL, a morning broadsheet, is currently in a circulation battle with another Wilkes-Barre daily newspaper, the Citizens' Voice.
The TL, in the heart of coal country, was subject to a very bitter strike that began Oct. 6, 1978. Over 200 union employees walked off the job in defiance of what they viewed as union-busting tactics by the TLs new corporate owner, Capital Cities. The four striking newspaper unions began to publish the Citizens' Voice as a strike paper.
Eventually the four unions were decertified. The Voice continued publication. This in turn prompted competition and created the unusual environment where Wilkes-Barre, with its population of a little more than 43,000, now has two competing dailies.
Capital Cities and the Times Leader were purchased by The Walt Disney Company in 1996. Disney in turn sold the TL to Knight Ridder in 1997.
The newspaper at first prospered under Knight Ridder ownership. It started publishing a half-dozen zoned weekly sections for different parts of metro Wilkes-Barre, affectionately called the "Baby Leaders." It also actively battled the Hazleton Standard-Speaker in southern Luzerne County with a heavily-staffed bureau and daily zoned metro section.
The good times came to an end in the spring of 2001, with several layoffs. The "Baby Leaders" were shuttered, and staffers who weren't fired were absorbed into the main newsroom.
Another round of layoffs came in the summer of 2002, with a dozen reporters, photographers and editors shown the door -- many the day the layoffs were announced. The Hazleton bureau was closed and the building sold. The Hazleton staff, which once numbered nine, was whittled down to one man working out of his home.
The McClatchy Company acquired 32 Knight Ridder newspapers, including the Times Leader, in March 2006. However, McClatchy quickly announced that it would resell a number of papers, including the Times Leader.
On June 26, 2006, McClatchy announced its sale of the Times Leader to Richard L. Connor, representing HM Capital, a Texas equity fund that seeks "investment opportunities in middle-market, cash generative businesses that have strong competitive positions with significant value creation opportunities." A handful of unidentified local business owners reportedly also acquired ownership stakes.
The newsroom underwent a good deal of upheaval under present ownership, with several staff leaving, including managing editor Dave Iseman. The newsroom staff is about 50, as of June of 2007, half of the high point of 95 in December 2000.
The latest TL circulation numbers as of September 2006 are 39,332 daily and 52,458 on Sunday.