Kansas City Times
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Kansas City Times was a morning newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri, from 1867 to 1990.
While the morning Kansas City Times under ownership of afternoon The Kansas City Star won 2 Pulitzer Prizes and was actually bigger than its parent when its name was changed to the Star, it is probably best remembered in history for its turning Jesse James into the anti-hero we know today.
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[edit] History
[edit] John Newman Edwards and the Creation of the Jesse James Anti-Hero Myth 1867-1901
John Newman Edwards founded the Times in 1867 to support Democratic anti-Reconstruction policies.
Edwards, who rode with Confederate General Joseph O. Shelby, during several Missouri Civil War battles was fond of the tall tale. He claimed to have had the most horses shot out from under him of anybody in Shelby's army.
Edwards glorified the exploits of Jesse James saying they were a response to the Reconstruction policies during the Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. The James gang contacted Edwards and he extolled them in the best light possible.
As Edwards slipped into alcoholism he refused later calls for support for James after reconstruction ended in 1880. Although he did write a legendary column supporting Frank James after his arrest.
[edit] The Kansas City Star Ownership 1901-1977
William Rockhill Nelson bought The Times on Oct. 19, 1901, mainly because he wanted The Times Associated Press wire. Nelson then applied a subheading to the newspaper "The Morning Kansas City Star" and proclaimed that the Kansas City Star empire was a 24-hour a day newspaper. Per Nelson's will, employees took over the newspaper in 1926 upon the death of Nelson's daughter.
[edit] Capital Cities Ownership 1977-1990
The Star and Times were locally owned by employees until 1977 when they were sold to Capital Cities. Under the corporate ownership, The Times actually had higher circulation than its evening brother. Capital Cities made attempts to make the newsrooms appear to compete (even though Kansas City did not have competing dailies since The Kansas City Journal folded in 1942). The Times won its only Pulitzer Prizes in 1982.
Rick Atkinson won an award for "National Reporting." The Times shared an award with The Star "Local General or Spot New Reporting" for its coverage of the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse.
Demographics across the country showed throughout the 1980s that morning newspapers were consistently stronger than afternoon papers. On March 1, 1990, the Star (which was then under ownership of Capital Cities) applied its name to the morning paper and The Times name disappeared and Kansas City no longer has an afternoon daily.
[edit] External links
PBS American Experience Article on John Newman Edwards [1]
Kansas City Star History Timeline (in cache) [2]
