Detroit Media Partnership: From Joint Agreements to Competition

The Detroit Media Partnership was a joint venture between The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press.

In 2014, the partnership was formed to share resources and reduce costs.

The partnership allowed the two newspapers to share a single website, freep.com, and a single app.

This collaboration was a significant shift for the two newspapers, which had previously been competitors.

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The Detroit Media Partnership has a rich history that dates back to 1989, when it entered into a 100-year joint operating agreement with its rival. This agreement combined business operations while maintaining separate editorial staffs.

The partnership was originally called the Detroit Newspaper Agency, but was later reorganized and renamed after Gannett sold The Detroit News to MediaNews Group, and purchased the Detroit Free Press from Knight Ridder. This change in ownership led to the Detroit Free Press publishing its own Sunday edition, starting May 7, 2006.

In 2014, the Partnership announced plans to move into the former Detroit Branch Building of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, anticipating completion before September. The company was later rebranded as Michigan.com in 2016.

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Detroit Media Partnership has its roots in the early 19th century. The partnership's history began in 1831, when the Detroit Free Press was first published.

The Detroit Free Press was founded by a group of Detroit businessmen who saw a need for a newspaper in the city. The newspaper quickly gained popularity and became a leading source of news and information in Detroit.

In the late 19th century, the Detroit News was founded in 1873. The Detroit News was started by James E. Scripps, who had a vision for a newspaper that would provide in-depth coverage of local news and events.

The Detroit News quickly gained a reputation for its high-quality journalism and became a major competitor to the Detroit Free Press.

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In 1989, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News entered into a one hundred-year joint operating agreement, combining their business operations while maintaining separate editorial staffs.

The combined company is called the Detroit Media Partnership, and the two papers began to publish joint Saturday and Sunday editions, though the editorial content of each remained separate.

At the time, the Detroit Free Press was the tenth-highest circulation paper in the United States, and the combined Detroit News and Free Press was the country's fourth-largest Sunday paper.

Newspaper Guild-represented employees of the Free Press and News went on strike on July 13, 1995, which lasted for two and a half years and was eventually resolved in court.

Gannett Company sold the Free Press to, and later sold The News to MediaNews Group, while continuing to be the managing partner in the papers' joint operating agreement.

The Free Press resumed publication of its own Sunday edition on May 7, 2006, without any content from The News, other than that The News would print its editorial page in the Sunday Free Press.

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The Competitive Newspaper Era was a significant time for the Detroit Free Press, marking its transformation from a small publication to a leading Democratic Party-aligned newspaper. It all started in 1831 when the Free Press was launched by John R. Williams and his uncle, Joseph Campau, as the Democratic Free Press and Michigan Intelligencer.

The first issues were printed on a Washington press, which was quite impressive for its time, producing 250 pages per hour with the help of two men. The first issues were 14 by 20 inches in size, with five columns of type.

In the 1850s, the paper was developed into a leading Democratic Party-aligned publication under the ownership of Wilbur F. Storey. Storey left for the Chicago Times in 1861, taking much of the staff with him.

The Free Press continued to grow and was later owned by William E. Quinby, who established a London, England edition in the 1870s. Quinby maintained its Democratic leanings, which was a defining characteristic of the newspaper during this era.

The Free Press competed in the southeastern Michigan market with The Detroit News and the Detroit Times until the Times was purchased and closed by The Detroit News in 1960.

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