Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1994

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Communication

Major Professor

Dorothy Bowels

Committee Members

Edward Caudill, George Everett, Bruce Wheeler

Abstract

This study, relying largely on personal, in-depth interviews with people who worked there, examines the history of the Knoxville Journal from its founding in 1885 to its death in 1991, with special emphasis on the years from 1936, when the morning newspaper was bought by businessman Roy N. Lotspeich, to 1957, when Lotspeich's widow, then serving as publisher, entered into a joint operating agreement with the afternoon Knoxville News-Sentinel. The Journal had been Knoxville's leading newspaper for many years. It fell on hard times during the Great Depression and lost its lead in advertising linage. In 1936, it still held a small lead in circulation, but although the Journal grew under Lotspeich's ownership, it was quickly outpaced by its afternoon competitor.

This study attempted to look at some of the reasons this home-owned newspaper, in what was generally considered the more advantageous morning field, was unable to regain its lead in advertising and lost its dominant position in circulation.

While a lack of documentary financial evidence precluded any firm conclusion, court records and anecdotal evidence suggest that the Journal's principal problem throughout the period was a chronic lack of operating capital.

The study also looks at the personalities involved with the Journal, and to a lesser degree the News-Sentinel, during these years.

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