Edward W. Scripps

Notable work and positions

The E.W. Scripps Company - Founder
United Press (later United Press International) - Founder
Newspaper Enterprise Association - Founder

Biography

Edward Willis Scripps (1854-1926) was an American newspaper publisher who organized the first major newspaper chain in the United States. Employed from 1872 by his half-brother James E. Scripps at newspapers in Detroit, he published his first paper, the Cleveland Penny Press (later the Cleveland Press), on November 2, 1878. By 1887 he also controlled papers in St. Louis, Detroit, and Cincinnati. In 1894, with his half-brother George H. Scripps and Milton A. McRae, he organized the Scripps-McRae League of Newspapers, and in 1902 he founded the Newspaper Enterprise Association, the first syndicate to supply feature stories, illustrations, and cartoons to newspapers. In 1907 he combined the Scripps-McRae Press Association with another news service to form United Press, created in part because he opposed the Associated Press's membership-based structure; United Press later became United Press International following a 1958 merger with the Hearst organization's International News Service. Scripps eventually owned 34 newspapers in 15 states, priced low and aimed at working-class readers. In 1903, he and his half-sister Ellen Browning Scripps founded the Marine Biological Association of San Diego, later the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In 1922 he transferred his newspaper interests to his son, Robert Paine Scripps, who with Roy W. Howard reorganized the company into Scripps-Howard Newspapers.

Career highlights

• Founded United Press 1907 · Created as an alternative to the Associated Press, later becoming United Press International (UPI).
• Newspaper Enterprise Association Founded 1902 · The first syndicate to supply feature stories, illustrations, and cartoons to client newspapers.
• Scripps-McRae League of Newspapers Organized 1894 with George H. Scripps and Milton A. McRae, forming the first major U.S. newspaper chain; reorganized as Scripps-Howard Newspapers in 1922.
• Scripps Institution of Oceanography Co-founded 1903 with Ellen Browning Scripps.