About The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939
Chattanooga, Tenn. (1891-1939)

The Chattanooga News

Jerome Balaam Pound and William M. Bearden published the first issue of the Chattanooga Evening News on July 2, 1888. Pound gained his initial experience in newspaper publishing at the age of 16 when he established the Macon [Georgia] Daily News in1884. After four years, he sold the paper and moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he entered into a partnership with Bearden and began publishing the Chattanooga Evening News (the word "evening" was dropped from the title in 1891). During his three-decade-long tenure in the newspaper industry, Poundalso revived the Knoxville Sentinel (1891), purchased the Knoxville Tribune (1894), and established the Memphis Morning News (1902). Pound later ventured into the hotel business and also owned several radio stations throughout the American South in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1909, Pound sold the Chattanooga News to George Fort Milton, who incorporated the holding as the Chattanooga News Co. and became its president and editor.

Under Milton's leadership, the daily newspaper thrived through the World War I years. Despite paper shortages that crippled some newspapers in the United States, theChattanooga News averaged a healthy wartime length of 15 to 20 pages per edition at a cost of five to six cents for single-issue sales and $5 to $6 for an annual subscription. Troops located at nearby training camps such as Camp Warden McLean could purchase single copies of the newspaper for a discounted three cents per issue.

Upon purchasing a copy of the daily, readers encountered typical news fare of the early 20th century. Borrowing from the New Journalism features of Hearst and Pulitzer, Milton exposed readers to bold front-page headlines of wartime news such as President Woodrow Wilson's triumphant arrival in Rome on January 3, 1919 amid cheers from throngs of admirers. "No Caesar Ever Given So Great An Ovation," Milton's headline informed readers. As well as war news of national importance, the paper also supplied news of local heroes at the front. Rolls of honor listed the names of soldiers who had been wounded or killed, and articles featured tales of individuals' heroics, and sometimes soldiers' photographs.

Under Milton, the Chattanooga News provided everything from editorial cartoons and comic strips to syndicated news and columns from the Associated Press and even a sports page. To ring in the New Year in 1919, Milton's sports desk editor saw fit to tell readers that Chicago baseball owner Charles A. Comiskey had tapped William "Kid" Gleason to manage the soon-to-be infamous White Sox squad during the 1919 season. National sports and entertainment fare such as this was reported alongside coverage of the war and politics such as the upcoming 1920 presidential election and local news such as obituaries and the society page.

Milton served as the president and editor of the Chattanooga News until his death in April 1924. At that time his son, George Fort Milton, Jr., became president and editor, and Walter C. Johnson became vice president and general manager. After several shifts in leadership in the late 1930s, the Chattanooga News merged with the Chattanooga Free Press in 1940 to create the Chattanooga News-Free Press, a precursor to today's Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Provided by: University of Tennessee