The Wichita Eagle is a newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Originating in the early 1870s, shortly after the city's founding, it is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surrounding area.

In September, 1960, The Wichita Eagle purchased the assets of its longtime chief rival, the Wichita Beacon, it became The Wichita Eagle and Beacon or The Wichita Eagle-Beacon, until the Beacon moniker was dropped in 1989.

History

Origins

In 1870, The Vidette was the first newspaper established in Wichita by Fred A. Sowers and W. B. Hutchinson. It operated briefly.

On April 12, 1872, The Wichita Eagle was founded and edited by Marshall M. Murdock, and it became a daily paper in May 1884.

In October 1872, The Wichita Daily Beacon was founded by Fred A. Sowers and David Millison.<!-- NOTE from User:Sbmeirow - The 1914 books said Floyd and Sowers started Beacon, the 2016 Eagle article said F.A. Sowers and David Millison started the Beacon. I left out the 2nd name because of conflict. We need more sources to determine the 2nd person. --> In 1926, the Levand brothers, Max, Leonard, John and Louis purchased the Wichita Beacon from Senator Henry Allen. The Levand brothers had grown up in Denver selling the Denver Post on the street-corners of Denver. Max Levand remained editor, publisher until his death in March 1960.

Mergers

The Eagle and Beacon competed for 88 years, then in 1960 the Eagle purchased the Beacon. Both newspapers continued to be published, the Eagle in the morning, the Beacon in the evening, the Eagle and Beacon on Sunday. In fall 2016, Cargill announced that it would move its "Protein Group" headquarters from downtown Wichita into a new $60 Million building on the site of the former Eagle building at 825 East Douglas Avenue in Old Town.

In January 2017, the paper announced it had signed a deal for office space in the Old Town area of downtown Wichita. It plans to move newsroom and advertising employees to 330 North Mead (from 825 East Douglas) in the spring of 2017. The new site is located southeast of the Warren Old Town Theater.

Effective October 23, 2023, the paper's daily print edition will be delivered via the U.S. Mail instead of delivery by a local carrier.

In April 2024, The Eagle announced it was moving to the Epic Center in downtown Wichita at 301 N. Main St. The new site is one block from The Eagle's first home in 1872, in a wood building at Third and Main streets.

In September 2024, the Eagle moved to a three day printing schedule, printing a Wednesday, Friday and Sunday edition.

See also

  • List of newspapers in Kansas

References

  • Michael Hoyt, (July, 1992) "The Wichita Experiment", (Columbia Journalism Review)
  • The McClatchy Company, Newspaper Profiles: The Wichita Eagle, accessed October 17, 2006.

Further reading

  • History of Wichita and Sedgwick County Kansas : Past and present, including an account of the cities, towns, and villages of the county (two volumes); O.H. Bentley; 454 and 479 pages; 1910. (Online Book Vol 1, Vol 2)
  • Wichita: Illustrated History 1868 to 1880; Eunice S. Chapter; 52 pages; 1914. (Online Book)
  • Wichita: The Early Years, 1865-80; H. Craig Miner; 201 page; 1982; .
  • Knightfall: Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism is Putting Democracy at Risk; Davis Merritt; 242 pages; 2005; .