The Philadelphia Inquirer

History

19th century

The Philadelphia Inquirer was founded June 1, 1829, by printer John R. Walker and John Norvell, former editor of Philadelphia's largest newspaper, the Aurora & Gazette. An editorial in the first issue of The Pennsylvania Inquirer promised that the paper would be devoted to the right of a minority to voice their opinion and "the maintenance of the rights and liberties of the people, equally against the abuses as the usurpation of power." They pledged support to then-President Andrew Jackson and "home industries, American manufactures, and internal improvements that so materially contribute to the agricultural, commercial and national prosperity."

The Philadelphia Inquirer is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the United States. In 1962, an Inquirer-commissioned historian traced The Inquirer to John Dunlap's The Pennsylvania Packet, which was founded on October 28, 1771.

In 1850, The Packet was merged with another newspaper, The North American, which later merged with the Philadelphia Public Ledger. The Public Ledger, in turn, merged with The Philadelphia Inquirer in the 1930s.

Between 1962 and 1975, a line on The Inquirer's front page claimed that the newspaper is the United States' oldest surviving daily newspaper. If the lineage of The Packet and The North American is counted in the newspaper's history, The Inquirer would currently be the longest continuously published newspaper in the nation.

Six months after The Inquirer was founded, with competition from eight established daily newspapers, lack of funds forced Norvell and Walker to sell the newspaper to publisher and United States Gazette associate editor Jesper Harding. In 1829, The Inquirer moved from its original location between Front and 2nd streets to between 2nd and 3rd streets. After Harding acquired The Pennsylvania Inquirer, it was briefly published as an afternoon paper before returning to its original morning format in January 1830.

When Harding bought and merged the Morning Journal in January 1830, the newspaper was moved to South Second Street. Ten years later, The Inquirer moved again, this time to its own building at the corner of Third Street and Carter's Alley.

20th century

After Elverson's death in 1911, his son by his wife Sallie Duvall, James Elverson Jr. took charge. Under Elverson Jr., the newspaper continued to grow, eventually needing to move again. Elverson Jr. bought land at Broad and Callowhill Streets and built the 18-story Elverson Building, now known as the Inquirer Building. The first issue of The Inquirer was printed at the new building on July 13, 1925. Four years later, in 1929, Elverson Jr. died, and his sister, Eleanor Elverson Patenôtre, widow of Jules Patenôtre, assumed leadership of The Inquirer.

Patenôtre ordered cuts throughout the paper, but was not really interested in managing it, and ownership of the newspaper was put up for sale. Cyrus Curtis and Curtis-Martin Newspapers Inc. bought the newspaper on March 5, 1930.

Curtis died a year later and his stepson-in-law, John Charles Martin, took charge. Martin merged The Inquirer with another paper, the Public Ledger, but the Great Depression hurt Curtis-Martin Newspapers and the company defaulted in payments of maturity notes. Ownership of The Inquirer then returned to the Patenôtre family and Elverson Corp.

Charles A. Taylor was elected president of The Inquirer Co. and ran the paper until it was sold to Moses L. Annenberg in 1936. During the period between Elverson Jr. and Annenberg The Inquirer stagnated, its editors ignoring most of the poor economic news of the Depression. The lack of growth allowed J. David Stern's newspaper, The Philadelphia Record, to surpass The Inquirer in circulation and become the largest newspaper in Pennsylvania.

Under Moses Annenberg, The Inquirer turned around. Annenberg added new features, increased staff and held promotions to increase circulation. By November 1938 Inquirer's weekday circulation increased to 345,422 from 280,093 in 1936. During that same period the Record's circulation had dropped to 204,000 from 328,322.

In 1939, Annenberg was charged with income tax evasion. Annenberg pleaded guilty before his trial and was sentenced to three years in prison. While incarcerated, he fell ill and died from a brain tumor six weeks after his release from prison in June 1942. Upon Moses Annenberg's death, his son, Walter Annenberg, took over.

Corporate ownership

In 1969, Samuel Newhouse offered Annenberg $55 million to acquire The Inquirer. But having earlier promised John S. Knight the right of first refusal to any sale, Annenberg instead sold the newspaper to Knight, and The Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News became part of Knight Newspapers and its new subsidiary, Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. (PNI). Five years later, in 1974, Knight Newspapers merged with Ridder Publications to form Knight Ridder.

When The Inquirer was acquired, it was understaffed, its equipment was largely outdated, many of its employees were underskilled, and the newspaper trailed its chief competitor, the Evening Bulletin, in weekday circulation. In 1972, however, Eugene L. Roberts Jr. became The Inquirer's executive editor, and once again turned the newspaper around.

Between 1975 and 1990, The Inquirer won seventeen Pulitzers, six of which were won in consecutive years between 1975 and 1980, and the newspaper won more journalism awards than any other newspaper in the United States. Time magazine named The Inquirer one of the ten best daily newspapers in the United States, calling Roberts' changes to the paper, "one of the most remarkable turnarounds, in quality and profitability, in the history of American journalism."

In 1980, The Inquirer had emerged as the most circulated paper in Philadelphia, forcing the Evening Bulletin to shut down two years later. Between 1970 and 1985, however, The Inquirer experienced eleven strikes, the longest of which, in 1985, lasted 46 days. The Inquirer also faced criticism for its expanded international coverage, which led Time magazine to report that it was covering "Karachi better than Kensington".

Throughout the 1980s, however, the newspaper continued to grow. When the Evening Bulletin shut down in 1982, The Inquirer hired 17 Bulletin reporters and doubled its bureaus to attract former Bulletin readers. By 1989, Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.'s editorial staff reached a peak of 721 employees.

In the 1990s, The Inquirer again confronted challenges with diminishing circulation and advertisement revenue. While part of a nationwide trend, the impact was exacerbated by, according to dissatisfied Inquirer employees, the newspaper resisting changes that many other daily newspapers implemented to keep readers and pressure from Knight Ridder to cut operating costs.

21st century

In the early 21st century, The Philadelphia Inquirer launched an online news desk to compete with local Philadelphia radio stations in the coverage of breaking news.

In June 2006, Knight Ridder was acquired by its rival, The McClatchy Company. The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News were among the 12 least profitable Knight Ridder newspapers that McClatchy put up for sale in March 2006. On June 29, 2006, The Inquirer and Daily News were sold to Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC (PMH), a group of Philadelphia-area business people, including Brian Tierney, PMH's chief executive. The new owners announced plans to spend US$5 million on advertisements and promotions to increase The Inquirer's profile and readership.

Following PMH's acquisition, The Inquirer advertising and other revenue, especially its national advertising revenue, fell considerably, and the newspaper's circulation also continued to fall. As a result, the newspaper's management cut 400 jobs at The Inquirer and Daily News between 2006 and 2009. On February 21, 2009, despite cutting its operating costs, however, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the company holding approximately US$390 million in debt, much of which was borrowed to acquire The Inquirer and Daily News.

The bankruptcy filing kicked off a year-long dispute between Philadelphia Media Holdings and its creditors. Creditors, including banks and hedge funds, sought to take control of Philadelphia Newspapers LLC themselves and opposed efforts by Philadelphia Media Holdings to maintain control of the newspaper's operations. Philadelphia Media Holdings was supported by most of the newspaper's unions. It also launched a public relations campaign to promote its continued control of the newspaper, highlighting the value of local ownership of media.

On April 28, 2010, at a bankruptcy auction, the group of lending creditors and a group of local investors allied with Tierney both bid for The Inquirer and Daily News. The lenders emerged with the winning bid for the newspapers, but the deal collapsed after the lenders, operating under the name of Philadelphia Media Network (PMN), were unable to reach a contract agreement with the union representing the company's newspaper delivery drivers.

Philadelphia Newspapers, represented by Lawrence G. McMichael of Dilworth Paxson LLP, challenged the right of creditors to credit bid at a bankruptcy auction. Their claim was ultimately heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which agreed that credit bidding was not permitted.

Politics

Since its founding in 1829, The Philadelphia Inquirer has asserted itself editorially on political issues of the day. In its earliest days, John Norvell left as editor of what was then the Aurora & Gazette because he disagreed with what he felt was the newspaper's editorial approval of a movement towards a European class system.

When Norvell and John Walker founded The Inquirer, they wanted the newspaper to represent all people and not just its upper classes. The newly launched newspaper supported the ideology of Jeffersonian democracy and the political leadership of then U.S. president Andrew Jackson, declaring support for the right of the minority's opinion to be heard. In founding of The Inquirer, according to legend, Norvell said, "There could be no better name than The Inquirer. In a free state, there should always be an inquirer asking on behalf of the people: 'Why was this done? Why is that necessary work not done? Why is that man put forward? Why is that law proposed? Why? Why? Why?"

When Norvell and Walker sold their newspaper to Jesper Harding, Harding kept the newspaper close to the founder's politics and supported the Democratic Party. However, Harding disagreed with Andrew Jackson's handling of the Second Bank of the United States, and he began supporting the anti-Jackson wing of the Democrats. During the 1836 Presidential election, Harding supported the Whig party candidate over the Democratic candidate, which led The Inquirer to become known as a pro-Whig newspaper.

Before the American Civil War commenced in 1861 The Inquirer supported the preservation of the Union, and was critical of the abolitionist movement, which some felt was responsible for secession of Confederate states.

Once the Civil War began, The Inquirer reported neutrally and independently on the war, but firmly supported the Union. At first, editors of The Inquirer opposed emancipation. Following military setbacks of the Union Army, however, The Inquirer began editorializing in support of a more pro-Union and pro-Republican stance. In a July 1862 article, The Inquirer wrote, "in this war there can be but two parties, patriots and traitors."

When James Elverson assumed leadership of The Inquirer, he declared, "the new Inquirer shall be in all respects a complete, enterprising, progressive newspaper, moved by all the wide-awake spirit of the time and behind in nothing of interest to people who want to know what is going on every day and everywhere...steadily and vigorously Republican in its political policy, but just and fair in its treatment of all questions..."

Independent

In 1947, The Record, the primary Philadelphia competitor of The Inquirer, ceased operations, and The Inquirer announced that it would be an independent newspaper.

Frustrated with corruption in Philadelphia, The Inquirer supported Democratic candidates in the 1951 election.

While Walter Annenberg promised that The Inquirer would be politically independent, he still used the newspaper to attack people he disliked, sometimes including a person or group with whom he was angered. Annenberg then blacklisted the person or group, insisting that they not be mentioned in The Inquirer. People on the blacklist were even airbrushed out of images. Annenberg's blacklist included Nicholas Katzenbach, Ralph Nader, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and the Philadelphia Warriors, the city's professional basketball team at the time, who Annenberg insisted not be mentioned for an entire season.

In 1966, Walter Annenberg used The Inquirer to attack Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Milton Shapp. During a press conference, an Inquirer reporter asked Shapp if he had ever been a patient in a mental hospital; having never been a patient, Shapp said no. The following day, The Inquirer's headline read, "Shapp Denies Rumors He Had Psychiatric Treatment in 1965." Shapp attributed his loss of the election to Annenberg's attack campaign.

Annenberg was a backer and friend of Richard Nixon. In the 1952 presidential election, critics later claimed Annenberg and the newspaper looked the other way when covering allegations related to Nixon's purported misappropriation of funds. Later, to avoid accusations of political bias, Annenberg had The Inquirer use only the Associated Press and other news wire services in covering the 1960 and 1968 presidential elections in which Nixon was a candidate, losing in 1960 to John F. Kennedy and winning in 1968 in a three-way race against Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace.

After Nixon's election as president in 1968, he appointed Annenberg U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. A year later, in 1969, Annenberg sold The Inquirer to Knight Newspapers in a transaction that stipulated that Annenberg's name would appear as "Editor and Publisher Emeritus" on The Inquirer's masthead. In 1970, Annenberg, unhappy with the direction of The Inquirer under the new ownership, had his name removed from the newspaper's masthead following its publication of an editorial critical of Richard Nixon.

Board of directors

The members of board of directors as of May 2026

Elizabeth H. Hughes

Lisa Kabnick, Chair

S. Mitra Kalita

Josh Kopelman, Chair Emeritus

Keith Leaphart, Vice Chair

Neil Vogel

Gillian B. White

Mary Stengel Austen

Rebecca Campbell

Workforce

In March 2020, The NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia and Philadelphia Inquirer LLC reached an agreement on a three-year contract agreement that would include a workforce diversity provision and raises for the entire newsroom, which had not seen across the board salary increases since August 2009. NewsGuild membership ratified the three-year contract agreement on March 17, 2020. Three years later, in August 2023, the NewsGuild and Inquirer agreed on a new three-year contract that the guild said was its best contract in 20 years.

Demographics

As of February 2021The Inquirer has 225 newsroom employees. 54.7% of whom are male and 45.3% of whom are female. Critics have alleged that the racial demographics of the newsroom, which is 75 percent White, does not match the city it covers, which is only 34% White. However, these allegations appear to exclude the broader circulation of the newspaper, which stretches beyond the city of Philadelphia, which is approximately 60% White and approximately 20% Black.

As of 2021, three quarters of the editors of The Inquirer were White. As of 2026, two desks – Health and Investigations – have no Black journalists.

Production

The Philadelphia Inquirer is headquartered at 100 S. Independence Mall West in the Market East section of Center City Philadelphia, where its tabloid sister publication, the Philadelphia Daily News is also headquartered.

In September 1994, The Inquirer and WPHL-TV began co-producing a 10 p.m. newscast, Inquirer News Tonight, which lasted a year before WPHL-TV took complete control over the program and renamed it WB17 News at Ten.

Since 1995, The Inquirer has been available on the Internet, most recently at Inquirer.com, which, along with the Philadelphia Daily News, is part of The Philadelphia Inquirer LLC.

In August 1999, The Inquirer and Daily News formed a partnership with WPVI-TV.

In 2004, The Inquirer formed a partnership with Philadelphia's NBC station, WCAU, giving the paper access to WCAU's weather forecasts while also contributing to news segments throughout the day.

In 2020, The Inquirer closed its Schuylkill Printing Plant in Upper Merion Township, laying off about 500 employees. Printing of The Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News was outsourced to a printing plant in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, which is owned by Gannett, until 2024, when Gannett closed the Cherry Hill plant. Since then, The Inquirer and Daily News have been printed at a Gannett printing plant in Wilmington, Delaware.

As of May 2026, The Inquirer's publisher is Elizabeth H. Hughes, and its editor and senior vice president is Gabriel Escobar. Managing editors are Charlotte Sutton, Patrick Kerkstra, Richard G. Jones, Michael Huang, Kate Dailey, Danese Kenon, and Matthew Doig. Deputy managing editors are Brian Leighton, Ross Maghielse, Molly Eichel, and Ariella Cohen.

The Inquirer provides coverage of Philadelphia and its surrounding suburban communities in northern Delaware, South Jersey, and southeastern Pennsylvania.