The_Sacramento_Bee

The Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspapers in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S. It is distributed in the upper Sacramento Valley, with a total circulation area that spans about : south to Stockton, California, north to the Oregon border, east to Reno, Nevada and west to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Bee is the flagship of the nationwide McClatchy Company. Its "Scoopy Bee" mascot, created by Walt Disney in 1943, has been used by all three Bee newspapers (Sacramento's, Modesto's, and Fresno's).

History

Under the name The Daily Bee, the first issue of the newspaper was published on February 3, 1857, proudly boasting that "the object of [the Sacramento Bee] is not only independence, but permanence." At this time, the Bee was in competition with The Sacramento Union, a newspaper founded in 1851. Although the Bee soon surpassed the Union in popularity, the Union survived until its closing in 1994, leaving the Sacramento Bee to be the longest running newspaper in Sacramento's history.

Although the first editor of The Sacramento Bee was Rollin Ridge, James McClatchy took over the position by the end of the first week.

Also within a week of its creation, the Bee uncovered a state scandal which led to the impeachment of Republican California State Treasurer Henry Bates.

21st century

On March 13, 2006, The McClatchy Company announced their agreement to purchase Knight Ridder, the United States' second largest chain of daily newspapers. The purchase price of $4.5 billion in cash and stock will give McClatchy thirty-two daily newspapers in 29 markets, with a total circulation of 3.3 million.

On February 3, 2007 the paper celebrated its 150th anniversary. In every newspaper they included a copy of the original paper. On February 4, 2007 they included a 120-page section about their history from their founding to today.

On July 29 2008, the paper changed its format. However, the Bee and other McClatchy-owned papers continued to hemorrhage money, going into a tailspin of layoffs; by late August, it cut its workforce by over 55% for the second time.

Recognition

The Sacramento Bee has won five Pulitzer Prizes in its history. It has won numerous other awards, including many for its progressive public service campaigns promoting free speech (the Bee often criticized government policy, and uncovered many scandals hurting Californians), anti-racism (the Bee supported the Union during the American Civil War and publicly denounced the Ku Klux Klan), worker's rights (the Bee has a strong history of supporting unionization), and environmental protection (leading numerous tree-planting campaigns and fighting against environmental destruction in the Sierra Nevada). A full list of recent major awards won by the Bee can be found here