The Journal News is a newspaper in New York State serving the New York counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam, a region known as the Lower Hudson Valley. It is owned by Gannett. The Journal News was created through a merger of several daily community newspapers serving the three counties. Although the current newspaper's name comes from the Rockland Journal-News, which was based in West Nyack, N.Y., and served Rockland County, the Rockland Journal-News was actually the third-largest newspaper that Gannett merged to create the larger newspaper. The Reporter Dispatch from White Plains, N.Y., and the Herald Statesman in Yonkers, N.Y. were larger and served Westchester County. For years prior to the October 12, 1998, merger that created The Journal News, ten of the newspapers shared some content and printing presses, although the Rockland Journal-News, formerly The Journal-News, the Rockland County Evening Journal and the Nyack Evening Journal, operated its own full composing room and printing press until fall 1996. The Rockland Journal-News had an independent staff of editors, writers, photographers, an artist, etc., from the time of the 1964 purchase by Gannett until the 1996-1998 consolidation period. In that, there was a fierce independence that led to exceptional reporting and photography on both sides of the Hudson River. Gannett acquired nine of the newspapers in 1964 from the Macy family and added The Star in Peekskill, N.Y., in 1985. These newspapers previously appeared on newsstands in the evening. In 1989, Gannett created a morning edition for Putnam County, Westchester, and the Bronx called The Sunrise, but it folded after a year. Today, The Journal News appears in the morning like other New York dailies.
History
Newspapers that merged in 1998 to create The Journal News:
*The Patent Trader was subsequently acquired by Gannett and folded in 2007.
The Reporter Dispatch
The Standard-Star
The Star
The Journal News successfully launched Putnam Magazine and Rockland Magazine in 2005, and Scarsdale Magazine in early 2006. In 2005, The Journal News expanded its Custom Publishing division and began publishing a series of suburban lifestyle magazines about the Lower Hudson Valley region. The first of these publications was InTown, which covered the Westchester market with hyper-local editions targeting different regions of the county: In late 2006, these numerous editions were all consolidated into one county-wide publication, InTown Westchester, which publishes 10 times a year.
Bronxville/Tuckahoe/Eastchester
Larchmont/Mamaroneck
Northern Westchester
River Towns
Rye/Harrison/Purchase
Scarsdale
White Plains
The Journal News also publishes five ultra-local community weekly Express newspapers serving Northern Westchester, Putnam, Yorktown/Cortlandt, Sound Shore, and White Plains as well as the Review Press, a weekly newspaper covering Bronxville, Eastchester, and Tuckahoe. The Journal News' website, LoHud.com, features daily news updates, more than 40 blogs, as well as Varsity Insider, an online source for varsity sports, featuring rosters, schedules, and statistic for high school teams throughout the Lower Hudson Valley region. On March 7, 2010 The Journal News closed its press and outsourced printing.
Pistol permit map controversy
On December 22, 2012, The Journal News published an interactive map showing the names, addresses and home locations of all pistol permit holders licensed in Westchester and Rockland Counties. The newspaper was sharply criticized by both residents of Westchester and Rockland Counties as well as by major, national news organizations. Despite this, the newspaper's editor and vice president, CynDee Royle, said that they had sought to publish even more detailed information to which the counties had denied them access, and the paper sued neighboring Putnam County, which refused to provide similar information. The following day, blogger Christopher Fountain published the names and addresses of the staffers of The Journal News. The newspaper and some of its staff responded by hiring armed security, a move that critics called hypocritical considering the paper's anti-gun stance. Rockland County law enforcement officers condemned the map, saying that it endangered lives, including those of corrections officers. Several newspapers also published reports of victims of domestic violence, rape, or other violent crimes who reported that their attackers now had possession of their addresses as their names were published online. As a result of the publication, protests were held at the State Capitol in Albany, and the New York State Legislature passed a law allowing gun owners in the state to opt out of having their identifying information be available to the public. This catalyzed other states across the country to pass similar privacy measures. Newsday has reported that police are investigating if the Journal News pistol permit map played a role in a burglary in White Plains, New York. According to police, at least two burglars broke into a home on January 12, 2013 but were unsuccessful in an attempt to open a gun safe, which contained legally owned weapons. Police are investigating what role, if any, the Journal News database played in the burglars' decision to target the home. The Daily Mail has reported that a burglary has occurred in a similarly mapped home in New City, New York, on January 16, 2013. Burglars stole two handguns, two pistol permits, cash, savings bonds and jewelry. The firearms were in a safe stolen from the residence. On January 19, 2013, the newspaper removed the interactive map, although the information it contained was subsequently leaked on the Internet. On August 7, 2013, the newspaper laid off 26 staff members, including 17 journalists.
