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The ''Chicago American'',〔(''Chicago American'' on March 4, 1935 published a huge article about Holodomor. ) 〕 an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois under various names until 1974, was the last full flowering of the aggressive journalistic tradition depicted in the play and movie ''The Front Page''. ==History== Its first edition came out on the Fourth of July, 1900 as Hearst’s ''Chicago American''. Its companion ''Morning American'' made its debut in 1902 (''Examiner'' as the Sunday edition) and was replaced by the ''Examiner'' in 1907. James Keeley bought the ''Chicago Record-Herald'' and ''Chicago Inter-Ocean'' in 1914, merging them into a single newspaper known as the ''Herald''. William Randolph Hearst purchased the paper from Keeley in 1918. 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 the ''Herald-Examiner''. This "selling" consisted of pressuring stores and news dealers. In 1939, Annenberg was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud and died behind bars. 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 the ''Chicago American''. The ''American'' was bought by the ''Chicago Tribune'' in 1956, and was renamed as '' As with many other afternoon dailies, the paper 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 ''Chicago Tribune'' inherited many of the ''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 to news sources and its bravado, the small staff of the ''American'' regularly scooped its larger, more respectable afternoon competition, the ''Chicago Daily News''. When 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, "Romy," who could create news stories almost at will with only a telephone. Running the city room at night with the help of two rewrite men (including Mike McGovern, noted below), one night photo editor, a sports desk editor (Brent Musburger's first job out of journalism school) and one night copy boy who "cut and pasted AP and UPI wires for Harry's review). Since the afternoon paper was put together the previous evening, the night city editor was the key news editor. Moreover, "Romy" a stout, cigar-chomping, suspendered, order-barking commander of the city desk enjoyed the fearful but absolute regard of pressmen, the composing room and the entire night staff of the Tribune Tower which owned and housed the Chicago's American operations in its final decades. One night floods threatened Southern Illinois, and 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 usually first with police news. One notable headline: :''Mother of 14 kids kills father of 9 in police station'' Headquarters for the paper was the Hearst Building, located at 326 West Madison Street in Chicago. In 1961, the offices of ''Chicago's American'' were moved adjacent to the Tribune Tower at 435 North Michigan Avenue, where they would remain until the ultimate demise of ''Chicago Today'' in 1974. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chicago American」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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