The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873 when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on Februbary 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922 and November 7, 1960, it bought out and closed the Detroit Times. The square in downtown Detroit where the Times building once stood is still called "Times Square." The Evening News Association, owner of the News, merged with Gannett in 1985.

The News claims to have been the first newspaper in the world to operate a radio station, station 8MK, which went on the air August 20, 1920. 8MK is now WWJ. In 1947, it birthed Michigan's first television station, WWJ-TV, now WDIV-TV.

History

The Detroit News was founded by James E. Scripps who, in turn, was the older half-brother and one-time partner of Edward W. Scripps. The paper's eventual success, however, is largely credited to Scripps' son-in-law, George Gough Booth, who came aboard at the request of his wife's father. Booth went on to construct Michigan's largest newspaper empire, founding the independent Booth Newspapers chain (now owned by S.I. Newhouse's Advance Publications) with his two brothers.

The Detroit News building was erected in 1917. It was designed by architect Albert Kahn, who included a faux-stone concrete building with large street level arches to admit light. The arches along the east and south side of the building were bricked in for protection after the 12th Street Riot in 1967. The bricked-in arches on the east and south ends of the building were reopened during renovations required when the Free Press moved in 20 years later.

On July 13, 1995, Newspaper Guild represented employees of the Detroit Free Press and News and the pressmen, printers and Teamsters working for the "Detroit Newspapers" distribution arm went on strike. About half of the staffers crossed the picket line before the unions ended their strike in February of 1997. The strike was resolved in court three years later, with the journalists' union losing its unfair labor practices case on appeal. Still, the weakened unions remain active at the paper, representing a majority of the employees under their jurisdiction.

On August 3, 2005, Gannett announced that it was selling the News to MediaNews Group and purchasing the Free Press from the Knight Ridder company. Gannett became the managing partner in the papers' joint operating agreement. On May 7, 2006, the combined Sunday Detroit News and Free Press were replaced by a standalone Sunday Free Press.

The News has significantly lower print circulation than the Free Press (more than 100,000 less, according the Knight Ridder 2004 Annual Report) though the News website is the 10th most read newspaper website in the United States.