Newark Evening News

The Newark Evening News was an American newspaper published in Newark, New Jersey. As New Jersey's largest city, Newark played a major role in New Jersey's journalistic history. At its apex, The News was widely regarded as the newspaper of record in New Jersey.^[1] It had bureaus in Montclair, Elizabeth, Metuchen, Morristown, Plainfield, Kearny, and Belmar. There were also bureaus in the New Jersey State House in Trenton and in Washington, DC.

History

The News was founded in 1873 by Wallace Scudder.^[2] The newspaper was operated by the Scudder family for 96 of its 98 years. The grandson of Wallace Scudder, Richard Scudder, worked as the newspaper's publisher from 1952 until 1972.^[2]

For years, the paper thrived as a daily and Sunday paper. It had five editorial writers, an editorial cartoonist, a military writer, and an aviation writer. The paper even had a Sunday magazine. However, a great deal of the paper's focus was on politics.^[3]

In 1970, the paper was sold to Media General. In February 1971, the newsroom voted to go out on strike and walked out in May 1971. The strike lasted almost a full year — not settling until April 1972. It faced increasing competition from the Newark Star-Ledger, and for its final four months, the daily editions of the Newark Evening News were printed on Star-Ledger presses.

The paper folded on August 31, 1972.

Historic research

Since its demise, the Newark Public Library acquired the paper's records, including ancillary materials (reporters’ notes, etc.), and has undertaken a major preservation project.

Some distinguished Newark Evening News alumni

• John T. Cunningham, prolific and wide-ranging writer on the history of New Jersey.
• Lloyd M. Felmly, Editor of the Newark Evening News and a friend of public health. There is an award set up in his honor. Lloyd M. Felmly Award: Established in 1976 and named after Lloyd M. Felmly, the annual award is presented to an individual for outstanding contribution in the media to the cause of public health in New Jersey.
• Howard Roger Garis, reporter, who created the Uncle Wiggily character as a News reporter. His Uncle Wiggily books later sold in the millions, and the Wiggily character appeared daily in the News for nearly four decades. He also wrote the first 32 volumes in the Tom Swift, series, written under the pen name Victor Appleton.
• Lilian McNamara (Garis). The first female reporter on the News, she later married fellow News reporter, Howard Garis. She helped launch the Bobbsey Twins series and wrote some of the early volumes.
• George P. Oslin, leading reporter. He later became Public Relations head of Western Union, and in 1933 invented the singing telegram.
• Lute Pease, News editorial cartoonist and winner of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.
• Richard Reeves, writer for the News from 1963 to 1965. Later he spent one year at the New York Herald Tribune and then The New York Times as Chief Political Correspondent. His best-selling books included President Kennedy: Profile of Power (1993), and President Nixon: Alone in the White House (2001). He is currently a syndicated columnist and lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication in Los Angeles.
• Andrew E. Svenson worked for the News from 1932 until 1948. After leaving the newspaper, he joined the Stratemeyer Syndicate, where he became a partner in 1961. Svenson shared the major writing chores with Harriet Adams. Under a variety of pseudonyms, many shared with other authors, Svenson wrote books for the Hardy Boys, Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, and Honey Bunch series.
• Arthur Sylvester headed the News bureau in Washington, D.C.. In 1960, he joined the Kennedy administration as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs.

References

• Bodian, Nat. "http://www.virtualnewarknj.com/memories/newspapers/bodiannnews.htm The Once Great Newark Evening News: A Remembrance & Obituary]".
• Mackin, Tom (August 30, 1981). "The Newark News: In Memoriam". The New York Times.