Арканзасский Демократ-Газет: История старейшей газеты Запада

Daily newspaper in Little Rock, Arkansas

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette is the newspaper of record in the U. S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas' counties. By virtue of one of its predecessors, the Arkansas Gazette (founded in 1819), it claims to be the oldest continuously published newspaper west of the Mississippi River. The original print shop of the Gazette is preserved at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock.

The history of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette goes back to the earliest days of territorial Arkansas. William E. Woodruff arrived at the territorial capital at Arkansas Post in late 1819 on a dugout canoe with a second hand wooden press. He cranked out the first edition of the Arkansas Gazette on November 20, 1819, 17 years before Arkansas became a state. The Gazette scrupulously avoided political involvement or endorsement early in its history. In 1821, the territorial capital was moved to Little Rock, and Woodruff moved his Gazette along with it. The Gazette led the campaign for Arkansas statehood, accomplished in 1836, and constantly promoted new immigration. The Gazette supported Texas independence and called for volunteers from Arkansas to assist the Texans and supported the Mexican–American War. In the 1840s, Woodruff lost control of the paper and established a competing paper, the Arkansas Democrat (unrelated to the later Democrat). In 1850, after the Gazette had briefly failed under its new owners, Woodruff regained control and combined it with his Democrat as the Arkansas State Gazette and Democrat. Later, in the 1850s, under another owner, the name was shortened to the Arkansas State Gazette.

The Gazette struggled through the early American Civil War, facing financial problems and shortages of supplies. The Gazette had initially been pro United States but altered its position after U. S. President Abraham Lincoln called for a 75,000 man militia, much like Arkansas. In 1863, U. S. troops recaptured Little Rock, and the Gazette suspended publication until May 1865, while U. S. authorities used the presses for publications.

During Reconstruction, a competitor arose by various names, under various editors, and with several different owners. In 1878, J. N. Smithee bought the newspaper, changed its name to the Arkansas Democrat, and went after lucrative state printing contracts held by the Gazette. The Gazette and the Democrat exchanged words that soon escalated into an exchange of gunfire between the owner of the Democrat and a part owner of the Gazette. Over the years, the Gazette and the Democrat supported opposing candidates and took opposite editorial positions. The Gazette remained the dominant state newspaper throughout the simmering battle. The Gazette was owned and edited by John Netherland Heiskell, who guided it with a firm hand through most of the 20th century. In 1926, August Engel acquired a significant interest in the Democrat. He became the newspaper's president and general manager, leading it through substantial growth over the next 43 years. Engel gained a reputation as a hard working, shrewd businessman who actively participated in the editorial process.

The Gazette took a strong editorial stance against Governor Orval Faubus when he tried to prevent the Little Rock Nine from integrating Little Rock Central High School in 1957. In 1958 the Gazette was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its stand; executive editor Harry Ashmore won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. This was the first time in history that a newspaper won two Pulitzer Prizes within the same year. Despite its honors, the circulation of the Gazette dropped during the crisis due to boycotts, which ended when Ashmore left the paper. The Democrat charted a generally neutral editorial stand. Its photographer Will Counts took several important pictures of the crisis, including a famous photo of Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Nine, being shouted at by an angry white girl, later identified as Hazel Massery; the Associated Press declared it to be one of the top 100 photos of the 20th century. Counts also helped arrange the public reconciliation of Eckford and Massery in 1997. Counts' work submitted by the Arkansas Democrat for the 1958 Pulitzer Prize received the unanimous recommendation of the Pulitzer jurors for Best Spot News Photography. However, Counts was denied the award when the Pulitzer board overruled its jurors and gave the award to another entrant which portrayed a different local police force as friendly to its citizens. In 2005, the Democrat Gazette editorial cartoonist John Deering and his wife Cathy created a bronze sculpture of the Nine, entitled Testament, on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol.