The Indianapolis News

The Indianapolis News was an evening newspaper published for 130 years, beginning December 7, 1869, and ending on October 1, 1999. The "Great Hoosier Daily," as it was known, at one time held the largest circulation in the state of Indiana. It was also the oldest Indianapolis newspaper until it closed and was housed in the Indianapolis News Building from 1910 to 1949. After Eugene C. Pulliam, the founder and president of Central Newspapers acquired the News in 1948, he became its publisher, while his son, Eugene S. Pulliam, served as the newspaper's managing editor. Eugene S. Pulliam succeeded his father as publisher of the News in 1975. The Indianapolis News was an evening paper, and its decline matched a growing circulation of the morning newspaper, the Indianapolis Star. Prior to the closing, there had been a partial merging of the newspaper staff with the Star. Notable staff members Medford Stanton Evans (1934–2015) was an award-winning journalist, educator, and author who became the head editorial writer for the News in 1959. He was promoted to editor of the News in 1960, at the age twenty-six, and became the youngest editor of a metropolitan daily newspaper at that time. Because of his editorial at the News, Evans was selected in 1960 to draft the Sharon Statement, which outlined the founding principles for the Young Americans for Freedom. The conservative writer remained as editor of the News through 1974, when he left the city and became a nationally syndicated columnist for The Los Angeles Times. Evans also taught journalism as Troy University in Troy, Alabama, for more than thirty years. Among his many other activities, Evans lead the American Conservative Union from 1971 to 1977, authored several books, and founded the National Journalism Center in 1977 in Washington, D.C. Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868–1930) was a nationally known American cartoonist, humorist, and journalist whose most famous work was the Abe Martin cartoon series. Hubbard introduced his Abe Martin character to Indianapolis News readers on December 17, 1904, and it appeared six days a week on the back page of the newspaper for twenty-six years. Hubbard also originated and illustrated a once-a-week humor essay for the "Short Furrows" column in the Sunday edition. The Abe Martin cartoon series went into national print syndication in 1910 and the "Short Furrows" column went into syndication the following year.