Jackson Clarion-Ledger
The Clarion Ledger traces its roots to The Eastern Clarion, founded in Jasper County, Mississippi, in 1837. Later that year, it was sold and moved to Meridian, Mississippi. After the American Civil War, it was moved to Jackson and merged with The Standard. It soon became known as The Clarion. Several employees displaced by the merger started their own newspaper, The Jackson Evening Post, in 1882. In 1888, The Clarion merged with the State Ledger and became known as the Daily Clarion-Ledger. In 1907, Fred Sullens purchased an interest in the competing The Jackson Evening Post, and shortly after changed the name to the Jackson Daily News, where it continues as an evening newspaper. In 1920, Thomas and Robert Hederman bought the Daily Clarion-Ledger and renamed it The Clarion-Ledger. On August 24, 1937, The Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News incorporated under a charter issued to Mississippi Publishers Corporation for the purpose of selling joint advertising. The Jackson Daily News sold out to its rival on August 7, 1954, The Clarion-Ledger, for $2,250,000 even though there was a recent court ruling that blocked The Clarion-Ledger owners from controlling both papers. Both papers were consolidated into the two newspaper plants. In 1982, Gannett Company purchased the two daily newspapers and then consolidated them into one newspaper by combining the best features of both into The Clarion-Ledger. The purchase of both papers by Gannett basically created a daily newspaper monopoly in Central Mississippi, which still exists. Gannett was well known for aggressively hiring black people and covering events in communities of racial and ethnic minorities. By 1991, the Clarion-Ledger's number of newsroom black professionals was three times the national average and the paper had one of the few black managing editors in the U.S.