# Arizona Daily Star

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Newspaper in Tucson

For other newspapers called Daily Star, see [Daily Star](/source/Daily_Star_(disambiguation)).

Arizona Daily Star Front page Type Daily newspaper Format Broadsheet Owner Lee Enterprises Founder L. C. Hughes Founded March 29, 1877; 149 years ago (1877-03-29) Headquarters 4061 W Costco Drive Tucson, Arizona 85741 Country United States Circulation 10,000 Digital Subscribers [1] 39,500 Daily 45,848 Sunday (as of 2023)[2] ISSN 0888-546X OCLC number 2949521 Website tucson.com Media of the United States List of newspapers

The ***Arizona Daily Star*** is an American [daily newspaper](/source/Daily_newspaper) based in [Tucson, Arizona](/source/Tucson%2C_Arizona), and owned by [Lee Enterprises](/source/Lee_Enterprises). It serves Tucson and surrounding districts of [Southern Arizona](/source/Southern_Arizona) in the United States.

## History

### 1877–1923

On March 1, 1877, [L. C. Hughes](/source/L._C._Hughes), who went on to serve as [Arizona Territory governor](/source/List_of_governors_of_Arizona), and Charles H. Tully published the first edition of *The Daily Bulletin* in Tucson, Arizona. It was published six days a week.[3][4] After a month, print production was scaled back to three days a week and the paper was renamed to *The Arizona Star*.[5] On June 28, 1877, the *Star* became a once weekly and Tully exited the business.[6] A.E. Fay soon became co-owner and bought Hughes out that August.[7]

Hughes returned to *The Star* in December 1878,[4] first as co-publisher with Fay and a few months later as sole owner.[8] On June 26, 1879, Hughes launched a daily edition of the paper called *The Arizona Daily Star*.[9] The first edition had the wrong date at the top of the page.[4] *The Star* moved its quarters from Maiden Lane to Church and Congress streets in Downtown Tucson July 28, 1881. *The* *Daily Star* and *The Weekly Star* were placed in the control of The Star Publishing company on Aug. 28, 1885. Hughes continued as editor and manager.[4]

In 1907, Hughes sold *The Star* to William B. Kelly and his father George H. Kelly, owners of a newspaper chain called the State Consolidated Publishing Company.[10][11] W.B. Kelly disposed of his interests in the business three years later to his father, who continued to published *The Star*, *Bisbee Daily Review* and *Douglas International*.[12] In 1915, Hughes, who founded the *Star*, died at age 73.[13]

### 1924–1971

At some point the [Phelps Dodge Corporation](/source/Phelps_Dodge_Corporation) became the majority stock owner in the business. In 1924, the company sold *The Star* to William R. Mathews and Ralph E. Ellinwood.[14][15] Less than a year later, the paper added a Monday edition, thus printing seven days a week.[4] In 1929, former owner G.H. Kelly died.[16] In 1930, editor Ellinwood died.[17] Mathews then succeeded him as editor.[4]

On Dec. 18, 1933, *The Star'*s building was almost totally destroyed by a fire beginning at 8 o'clock in the morning, causing a $60,000 loss. Offers of aid came from newspapers in Phoenix, Bisbee and Nogales while the blaze still burned. By 4 o'clock in the afternoon temporary headquarters established at Jackson and Stone avenue in the Old Pueblo club building, and arrangements were completed for using *The Citizen*'s mechanical department and press. The following day, *The Star* issued as usual despite the fire. Pictures of the burning building were engraved and rushed by airplane from Phoenix and used in this issue—less than 24 hours after the fire. The paper carried 10 pages.[4][18]

On Jan. 25, 1934, *The Star* moved its entire mechanical department back to the remodeled and rebuilt building that had burned. The one time in the history of the paper when it could not put out an extra, the [Dillinger gang](/source/Dillinger_Gang) was captured in Tucson. *The Star* was commended by the [Associated Press](/source/Associated_Press) for "beating" all other services by over an hour in filing this national news on the Dillinger's capture.[4] *Star* editor Mathews predicted the Japanese military could attack the U.S. Navy at [Pearl Harbor](/source/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor) in an editorial Nov. 28, 1941.[19] Mathews attended the signing of [Japan's surrender](/source/Japan's_surrender) on Sept. 2, 1945, aboard the [USS *Missouri*](/source/USS_Missouri_(BB-63)). His report ran over two weeks later.[20]

In 1965, William A. Small Sr. and his family, owners of the *[Tucson Citizen](/source/Tucson_Citizen)*, bought *The* *Star.* He and operated both paper separately. The *Citizen* was published daily except for Sunday, in the afternoon.[21]

### 1971–present

*The Star* was sold to the [Pulitzer Publishing Company](/source/Pulitzer_Publishing_Company) on April 8, 1971.[22] *The Star* completed its move, along with the *Tucson Citizen*, which was not owned by the Pulitzer company, to a new building on South Park Avenue in August 1973. The two papers were in a joint operating agreement, in which they shared a press and building and some operations, while the newsrooms were entirely separate. The joint company was called Tucson Newspapers Inc.[23]

On July 22, 1982, seven people were injured in three explosions at the paper's printing plant. Executive managing editor Frank E. Johnson, business manager Frank C. Delehanty, production manager Wayne Bean and chief photographer Jack Sheaffer were critically injured.[24] A month later Delehanty died of infections resulting from his injuries.[25]

On May 5, 1995, the *Star* launched its own website, azstarnet.com, which, in its early years, also functioned as an [internet service provider](/source/Internet_service_provider).[26] The website was later changed to tucson.com. It was announced on Jan. 30, 2005, that [Lee Enterprises Inc.](/source/Lee_Enterprises_Inc.) would buy the newspapers owned by Pulitzer Inc. The sale included the *Star*.[27]

The *Tucson Citizen*, a [Gannett](/source/Gannett) newspaper, ceased print publication, with the last edition published on May 16, 2009.[28] Press operations for the *Star* moved to Phoenix on May 21, 2019.[29] Owners of the *Star* sold the building at 4850 S. Park Ave. for more than $2 million at auction in September 2020.[30]

## Awards

In [1981](/source/1981_Pulitzer_Prize), *Star* reporters Clark Hallas and Robert B. Lowe won the [Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting](/source/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Local_Investigative_Specialized_Reporting) for their stories about recruiting violations by [University of Arizona](/source/University_of_Arizona) [football](/source/College_football) coach, [Tony Mason](/source/Tony_Mason_(American_football)).[31][32]

## Court cases

In 1940, the *Tucson Citizen* and *Arizona Daily Star* entered into a [Joint operating agreement](/source/Joint_operating_agreement) (JOA) that was later extended to 1990. The joint company owned equally by the two newspapers was Tucson Newspapers Inc. (TNI) The JOA helped bolster the *Tucson Citizen* by increasing advertising revenue since ads could now be sold by TNI for both papers.[33]

In 1965, the U.S. government filed a complaint that the new company violated the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Act. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed, saying the First Amendment does not exempt newspapers from laws aimed at preserving competition. In response to the decision, Congress passed the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 to allow joint operating agreements.[33]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Pallack, Becky (November 9, 2023). ["A new fund will help support the future of Tucson local news. Here's why it's urgent"](https://azluminaria.org/2023/11/09/a-new-fund-will-help-support-the-future-of-tucson-local-news-heres-why-its-urgent/). Arizona Luminaria. Retrieved December 6, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Lee_Enterprises'_10-K_annual_filing_2-0)** Lee Enterprises. ["Form 10-K"](https://investors.lee.net/static-files/d97194ec-e9c5-4e1c-8c74-a05e37542331). *investors.lee.net*. Retrieved February 29, 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** "Notice". *Arizona Weekly Citizen*. Tucson, Arizona. March 3, 1877. p. 3.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:1_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:1_4-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:1_4-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:1_4-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-:1_4-7) ["Star's History Is Half Century Of Tucson"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/164016781/). *Arizona Daily Star*. February 22, 1934. p. 51 – via Newspapers.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** "Notice". *Arizona Weekly Citizen*. Tucson, Arizona. March 31, 1877. p. 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** "Our Weekly". *Arizona Weekly Star*. Tucson, Arizona. June 28, 1877. p. 2.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** "Newspaper Changes". *Weekly Journal-Miner*. Prescott, Arizona. August 31, 1877. p. 2.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** "Local Intelligence". *Weekly Journal-Miner*. Prescott, Arizona. March 28, 1879. p. 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** "Our Daily". *Arizona Weekly Star*. Tuscon, Arizona. June 26, 1879. p. 2.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** "To Our Friends And Patrons". *Arizona Daily Star*. Tucson, Arizona. June 30, 1907. p. 2.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** "Another Kelly Newspaper."". *Bisbee Daily Review*. Bisbee, Arizona. July 18, 1907. p. 4.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** "Editorial Announcement". *Bisbee Daily Review*. Bisbee, Arizona. November 8, 1910. p. 4.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** "Two Generations Gather To Pay Tribute Of Honor To Dead Pioneer". *Arizona Daily Star*. Tucson, Arizona. November 28, 1915. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** "Ownership Of Star Changes On November 1". *Arizona Daily Star*. Tucson, Arizona. October 31, 1924. p. 2.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** "Oldest Paper In Arizona Is Sold". *The Houston Post*. Houston, Texas. Associated Press. November 1, 1924. p. 5.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** "Geo. H. Kelly, Press Veteran Of State, Dies". *Arizona Daily Star*. Tucson, Arizona. November 11, 1929. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** "Ralph E. Ellinwood Has Passed Away". *Arizona Daily Star*. Tucson, Arizona. September 1, 1930. p. 6.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** "Star Carries On After Serious Blaze". *Arizona Daily Star*. Tucson, Arizona. December 19, 1933. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** "Editorial | The Meaning of Mr. Kurusu's Mission". *Arizona Daily Star*. November 28, 1941. p. 12.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Mathews, William R. (September 18, 1945). "Nipponese Fall Fulfills Word Of Shigemitsu | Jap Foreign Minister, Who Signed Surrender, Had Forecast It in '37". *Arizona Daily Star*. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** "Sale Of Star To Citizen Completed | Property, Leases Go For $10 Million". *Arizona Daily Star*. January 6, 1965. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** "Daily Star Purchased By Pulitzer". *Arizona Daily Star*. April 9, 1971. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Parham, Maria (August 20, 1973). "Today's Star Marks New Era In Production Of Newspapers". *Arizona Daily Star*. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** Lawler, Edmund; Garcia, Felipe; Watt, Joe (July 23, 1982). "Explosion rocks Star's plant, leaving 7 injured, 4 critically | Power loses halts presses, news rooms". *Arizona Daily Star*. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** "Star's business manager dies from blast injuries". *Arizona Daily Star*. August 30, 1982. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** Cauthorn, Robert S. (May 5, 1995). "StarNet rooted in new vision | To link citizenry in on-line forum". *Arizona Daily Star*. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Wichner, David (January 31, 2005). "Lee buys Star, Pulitzer for $1.46 billion". *Arizona Daily Star*. p. 1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Quinn, Dale; Fischer, Howard (May 16, 2009). "AG sues to block closing of Citizen | Star's owners denies it conspired with Gannett on paper's shutdown". *Arizona Daily Star*. pp. A001.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** "Star to move printing, packaging operations to Phoenix in late May". *Arizona Daily Star*. March 22, 2019. pp. A1.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Rico, Gabriela (September 17, 2020). "Arizona Daily Star building sells for more than $3M at auction". *Arizona Daily Star*. pp. A11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** "Two Arizona Daily Star Reporters Win Pulitzer Award for Story on UA Coach". *Arizona Daily Sun*. Flagstaff, Arizona. United Press International. April 14, 1981. p. 11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** ["The Pulitzer Prizes"](https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/clark-hallas-and-robert-b-lowe). Retrieved September 5, 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_33-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_33-1) Bowman, Meredith; Huber, Walter (January 1, 2009). ["Citizen Publishing Co. v. United States (1969)"](https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/46/citizen-publishing-co-v-united-states). *Free Speech Center*. [Middle Tennessee State University](/source/Middle_Tennessee_State_University). Retrieved April 12, 2026.

## External links

- [Official website](https://tucson.com/)

- [LCCN](/source/LCCN_(identifier)) [sn84020668](https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84020668)

- [*Arizona Daily Star* Archives (1879 to present)](https://tucson.newspapers.com/)

- [Today's *Arizona Daily Star* front page](https://www.freedomforum.org/todaysfrontpages/#AZ_ADS) at the [Freedom Forum](/source/Freedom_Forum) website

- [The *Arizona Daily Star*'s 2014 project on SB1070, "State of Confusion", Arizona Daily Star, March, 2014](https://tucson.com/sb1070/)

- [The *Arizona Daily Star*'s 2013 series on poverty, "Losing Ground", *Arizona Daily Star*, August, 2013](https://tucson.com/poverty/)

v t e Lee Enterprises Inc. Newspapers Albany Democrat-Herald Arizona Daily Star Ashland Gazette Baraboo News Republic Beatrice Daily Sun Billings Gazette The Bismarck Tribune Bristol Herald Courier The Buffalo News The Capital Times Casper Star-Tribune The Chippewa Herald The Citizen Clarinda Herald-Journal Columbus Telegram Corvallis Gazette-Times The Philomath Express Culpeper Star-Exponent The Daily News (Wash.) The Daily Nonpareil The Daily Progress Danville Register & Bee Denison Bulletin & Review The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus Dothan Eagle The Eagle Elko Daily Free Press The Franklin News-Post The Free Lance–Star Fremont Tribune Globe Gazette The Grand Island Independent Herald & Review Hickory Daily Record Independent Record Independent Tribune Iowa Farmer Today Journal Gazette / Times-Courier Kearney Hub Kenosha News La Crosse Tribune Lake Geneva Regional News Lebanon Express Lexington Clipper-Herald Lincoln Journal Star Martinsville Bulletin The McDowell News Missoulian The Montana Standard Mooresville Tribune The Morning News Muscatine Journal Napa Valley Register The News & Advance News & Record The News Herald The News Virginian The North Platte Telegraph Omaha World-Herald Opelika-Auburn News The Pantagraph The Plattsmouth Journal Portage Daily Register The Post-Star The Press of Atlantic City Quad-City Times Racine Journal Times Rapid City Journal Ravalli Republic The Reidsville Review Richmond Times-Dispatch The Roanoke Times Laker Weekly The Sentinel Sioux City Journal Star-Herald Statesville Record & Landmark St. Helena Star St. Louis Post-Dispatch SWVA Today The Times and Democrat Times-News The Times of Northwest Indiana Tulsa World Twiner-Herald The Valley News Waco Tribune-Herald The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier Winona Daily News Winston-Salem Journal Wisconsin State Journal Woodford County Journal / Woodford Star York News-Times Acquisitions Howard Publications Pulitzer Scripps League Newspapers BH Media Group Former assets Divested Newspapers Arizona Daily Sun Daily Chronicle Daily Herald Daily Journal Edwardsville Intelligencer The Garden Island Huron Daily Tribune The Ledger Independent Lompoc Record Midland Daily News Napa Valley Register North County Times Ottumwa Courier Rhinelander Daily News Santa Maria Times Santa Ynez Valley News Shawano Leader The Southern Illinoisan Radio stations KEEZ-FM KFAB KGLO KGOR WCOY WTAD WXLP TV stations KEYC-TV KGMB KHQA-TV KIMT KGUN-TV KMTV-TV KOIN-TV KRQE KBIM-TV KREZ-TV KSNT KSNW KSNC KSNG KSNK KTDO WSAZ-TV Defunct Newspapers Lebanon Express Metro-East Journal South Idaho Press

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Arizona Daily Star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Daily_Star) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_Daily_Star?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.