Chicago's American

Its first edition came out on the 4th Of July , 1900 as '' Hearst ’s Chicago American''. Its companion ''Morning American'' came out in 1902 (''Examiner'' as the Sunday Edition) and was replaced by the ''Examiner'' in 1907.

Distribution of the ''Herald Examiner'' after 1918 was controlled by Gangsters . Dion O'Banion , Vincent Drucci , Hymie Weiss and Bugs Moran first sold the ''Tribune''. They were then recruited by Moses Annenberg who offered more money to sell the ''Examiner'', later ''Herald-Examiner''. This "selling" consisted of pressuring stores and news dealers.

Under pressure from his lenders, Hearst consolidated the ''American'' and the ''Herald-Examiner'' in 1939. It continued as the ''Chicago Herald-American'' until 1953 when it became ''Chicago American''. The ''American'' was bought by the '' Chicago Tribune '' in 1956, and was slightly re-named as ''Chicago's American''. As with many other afternoon dailies, the suffered in postwar years from declining circulation figures caused in part by Television news and in part by population shifts from city to suburbs. The paper continued as an afternoon broadsheet until 1969 when the Tribune converted the paper to the tabloid-format ''Chicago Today''. Measures to bolster the paper were unsuccessful, and ''Chicago Today'' published its final issue on September 13 , 1974 . The morning ''Chicago Tribune'' inherited many of ''Today'''s writers and staff and became a 24-hour operation with the folding of ''Today''.

The ''American'' was the product of the merger or acquisition of 14 predecessor newspapers and inherited the tradition, and the files, of all of them.

As an afternoon paper, the ''American'' was dependent on street sales rather than subscriptions, and it was breaking news that brought street sales. The ''American'' was noted for its aggressive reporting. Its editors, writers, and photographers went hard after every story. It was not uncommon for them to pretend to be police officers or public officials to get a story, although many of them could simply talk their way into any place.

These techniques were usually used legitimately. Reporters would demand information as if they had a right to it and would often get it. With its connections with news sources and its bravado, the small staff of the ''American'' regularly scooped its larger and more respectable afternoon competition, the '' Chicago Daily News ''.

Frank Lloyd Wright announced plans to build a mile-high building in Chicago. The ''American'' stole the drawings and printed them.

The tradition was exemplified by the longtime night city editor of the ''American'', Harry Romanoff , who could create news stories almost at will with only a telephone. Since the afternoon paper was put together the previous evening, the night city editor was the key news editor.

One night floods threatened southern Illinois , and, even worse, the ''American'' did not have a big story for the front page. Romanoff called fire departments and police stations throughout the region, posing as "Captain Parmenter of the state police" (a nonexistent individual) urging them to take action. One fire department, bemused by the call, asked what they should do. "Ring those fire bells! Call out the people!"

Romanoff then turned to his Rewrite Man to dictate the lead story:
:Fire bells rang over southern Illinois as police and fire departments called out the people to warn them of impending floods.

It never did flood, but the ''American'' had its banner headline. These headlines were necessary for sales of the early editions. Later in the day, breaking news would generally replace them or reduce their importance. Of course, many stories developed in this way were genuine scoops that would be expanded in later editions.

The ''American'' gave the same attention to smaller stories as to large ones. It was always first with police news. One notable headline:
:Mother of 14 kids kills father of 9 in police station

In addition to Romanoff, notable ''American'' staff members included:

Wendell Smith , the African American sports reporter requested by Branch Rickey to travel with Jackie Robinson when he was breaking into baseball.

Brent Musburger , night sports editor of the ''American'' who became a prominent Television sports personality.

Buddy McHugh , thinly disguised as "McCue" in ''The Front Page''

George Murray , who was once sent to Central America and told to "find a lost city", which he promptly did. Murray wrote a memoir about the paper calledf ''The Madhouse on Madison Street''.

Jack Mabley , investigative columnist, whose most famous article measured water pressure during commercial breaks on national tv broadcasts and determined that viewers were using the toilet during the breaks.

Michael McGovern , '' New York Daily News '' investigative reporter. McGovern once went door-to-door through Evanston, Illinois asking each woman in one neighborhood if she was the illegitimate daughter of Warren G. Harding .

In the end, TV news brought an end to most afternoon papers, but up until the 1970s , Chicago had a competitive journalistic scene unmatched by most other American cities, five daily papers and four wire services in competition, and none more competitive than ''Chicago's American''.

THE ''AMERICAN'S'' PREDECESSOR NEWSPAPERS

#''Morning Record'', March 13, 1893-March 27, 1901 (originally News Record aka Morning News aka Chicago Daily News (Morning Edition) beginning July 24, 1881)
#''Chicago Times'', June 1, 1861-March 4, 1895
#''Chicago Republican'', May 30, 1865-March 22, 1872
#''Inter Ocean'', March 25, 1872-May 10, 1914
#''Chicago Daily Telegraph'',March 21,1878-May 9,1881
#''Morning Herald'', May 10, 1893-March 3, 1895
#''Times-Herald'', March 4, 1895-March 26, 1901
#''Chicago American'' July 4, 1900-August 27, 1939
#''Record-Herald'', March 28, 1901-May 10,1914
#''Chicago Examiner'', Mar 3,1907-May 1, 1918
#''Chicago Herald'', June 14, 1914-May 1,1918
#''Herald-Examiner'' May 2, 1918-August 26, 1939
#''Herald American'' August 26, 1939-April 5,1953
#''The Chicago American'' April 6, 1953-September 23, 1959
#''Chicago Record Herald & Interocean'' May 11, 1914- June 1,1914
#''Chicago Today'' May 24, 1970-September 13, 1974
#''Chicago's New American'' Sep 23, 1959-October 24, 1959
#''Chicago's American'' October 25, 1959-April 27, 1969
#''Chicago Today American'' April 28, 1969-May 23, 1970

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Chicago's American