{{Short description|Newspaper in Indianapolis, Indiana, US}} {{Distinguish|Star of Indiana}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = The Indianapolis Star | logo = IndyStar logo.svg | logo_size = 300px | image = The Indianapolis Star front page.jpg | image_size = 220px | caption = | type = Daily newspaper | format = Broadsheet | founded = {{start date and age|1903|6|6}} | ceased_publication = | owners = USA Today Co. | editor = Eric Larsen | circulation = 24,053 average print circulation<ref name="Christensen">{{cite news |last1=Christensen |first1=Dan |title=The long goodbye of Florida's newspapers – read all about it |url=https://www.floridabulldog.org/2024/12/long-goodbye-floridas-newspapers-read-all-about-it/|access-date=November 30, 2025 |publisher=Florida Bulldog |date=December 18, 2024}}</ref><br />3,889 digital subscribers<ref name="Christensen" /> | headquarters = 130 South Meridian Street<br />Indianapolis, Indiana 46225<br />U.S. | ISSN = 1930-2533 | website = {{official URL}} }} '''''The Indianapolis Star''''' (also known as '''''IndyStar''''') is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It has been the only major daily paper in the city since 1999, when the ''Indianapolis News'' ceased publication. It won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2021 and the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting twice, in 1975 and 1991. It is currently owned by Gannett.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Verderame |first=Jyoti A. |date=July 5, 2021 |title=Indianapolis Star |url=https://indyencyclopedia.org/indianapolis-star/ |access-date=January 17, 2023 |website=Encyclopedia of Indianapolis |language=en-US}}</ref>
==History== ===20th century=== thumb|The ''Star'' marquee on the headquarters in downtown Indianapolis [[File:Indianapolis Star headquarters in 2017.jpg|thumb|Headquarters of ''The Indianapolis Star'' in Downtown Indianapolis]] ''The Indianapolis Star'' was founded on June 6, 1903,<ref name=gannett/> by Muncie industrialist George F. McCulloch as competition to two other Indianapolis dailies, the ''Indianapolis Journal'' and the ''Indianapolis Sentinel''. It acquired the ''Journal'' a year and two days later, and bought the ''Sentinel'' in 1906. Daniel G. Reid purchased the ''Star'' in 1904 and hired John Shaffer as publisher, later replacing him. In the ensuing court proceedings, Shaffer emerged as the majority owner of the paper in 1911 and served as publisher and editor until his death in 1943.<ref name=StarHistory>{{cite web|title=A History of The Indianapolis Star|url=http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/star/history/history.html|work=Library Fact File|publisher=The Indianapolis Star|access-date=October 26, 2011|date=July 1, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011211040243/http://www.indystar.com/library/factfiles/star/history/history.html|archive-date=December 11, 2001}}</ref>
Central Newspapers, Inc. and its owner, Eugene C. Pulliam, the maternal grandfather of future Vice President Dan Quayle, purchased the ''Star'' from Shaffer's estate on April 25, 1944, and adopted initiatives to increase the paper's circulation. In 1944, the ''Star'' had trailed the evening ''Indianapolis News'' but by 1948 had become Indiana's largest newspaper.<ref name=StarHistory/>
In 1948, Pulliam purchased the ''News'' and combined the business, mechanical, advertising, and circulation operations of the two papers, with the ''News'' moving into the ''Star's'' building in 1950. The editorial and news operations remained separate. Eugene S. Pulliam took over as publisher upon the death of his father in 1975, a role he retained until his own death in 1999.<ref name=StarHistory/>
In September 1995, the newsroom staffs of the ''Star'' and the ''News'' merged.<ref name=gannett/> In 1999, the ''News'' ceased publication, leaving the ''Star'' as the only major daily paper in Indianapolis. Soon thereafter the trustees of Central Newspapers, Inc., the owner of the ''Star'' and other newspapers in Indiana and Arizona, began investigating the sale of the small chain to a larger entity.<ref name=StarHistory/>
===21st century=== In 2000, the Gannett Company acquired the paper, amongst others when it purchased Central Newspapers for $2.6 billion,<ref name=gannett>{{cite web | title=About Gannett: The Indianapolis Star |publisher=Gannett Co., Inc. |url=http://www.gannett.com/about/map/ataglance/indianapolis.htm |access-date=May 29, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613025214/http://www.gannett.com/about/map/ataglance/indianapolis.htm|archive-date=June 13, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Star joins Gannett chain |url=http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/star/history/2000/star_sold.html |work=The Indianapolis Star |date=August 1, 2000 |access-date=May 29, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010620022958/http://www.indystar.com/library/factfiles/star/history/2000/star_sold.html|archive-date=June 20, 2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Henriques |first=Diana B. |date=June 29, 2000 |title=Gannett to Acquire Chain Tied to the Pulliam Family |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/29/business/gannett-to-acquire-chain-tied-to-the-pulliam-family.html |access-date=January 25, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> leaving Indianapolis with no locally owned newspaper other than the ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly mainly circulated in the African-American community.
On July 27, 2012, the ''Star'' announced that it would relocate from its headquarters at 307 North Pennsylvania Street, and later that the new location would be the former Nordstrom department store in Circle Centre Mall. The move took place from the summer to fall of 2014. The old location had been used since 1907.<ref>{{cite news |title=Karen Ferguson: New IndyStar home, same news values |url=http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2014/09/27/karen-ferguson-new-indystar-home-news-values/16343379/ |work=The Indianapolis Star |date=September 17, 2014 |access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>
After Larry Nassar, USA Gymnastics national team osteopathic physician, was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison in January 2018 for sexually abusing female athletes, the prosecutor in the case specifically praised the ''Star'' for uncovering Nassar's decades-long history of abuse.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/25/us/larry-nassar-indy-star/index.html|title=How the Indy Star and Rachael Denhollander took down Larry Nassar|publisher=CNN|author=Eric Levenson|access-date=January 27, 2018}}</ref> The ''Star'' began its investigative reporting into Nassar and USA Gymnastics in 2016 and published its first related article in August 2016 when it shed light on USA Gymnastics' failure to properly investigate credible complaints of sexual abuse or pass the complaints on to police. After the August 2016 story, one of Nassar's victims, Rachael Denhollander, approached the Star about Nassar and USA Gymnastics' failure to investigate her complaint about him, resulting in a September 2016 story on Nassar specifically. After the Nassar story, the ''Star'' was approached by many of Nassar's victims who shared similar stories of abuse. Nassar was charged with criminal sexual conduct in November 2016.<ref name=":0" /> ''Athlete A'', a documentary released in 2020, follows the journalists as they investigate the Nassar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Athlete A |url=https://www.netflix.com/title/81034185 |access-date=September 5, 2025 |website=Netflix}}</ref>
==Pulitzer Prizes== The ''Star'' has won the Pulitzer Prize once for national reporting and twice for investigative reporting. In 1975, the ''Star'' was honored for its 1974 series on corruption within the Indianapolis Police Department. It was cited again in 1991 for its 1990 series on medical malpractice.<ref>[http://static.indystar.com/en/aboutus/ Indianapolis Star - About Us] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307023248/http://static.indystar.com/en/aboutus/ |date=March 7, 2018 }} Retrieved September 20, 2016.</ref> In 2021, the ''Star'' was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for an investigation into attacks by police K-9 units.<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 11, 2021|title=Pulitzer Prize: 2021 Winners List|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/11/business/pulitzer-prize-winners.html|access-date=June 11, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Production facilities== ''The Indianapolis Star'' at one time had the largest and most advanced printing presses in the nation.<ref>"World's Biggest Machines", Modern Marvels, History Channel</ref> The Pulliam Production Center at 8278 N. Georgetown Road on the northwest side of Indianapolis cost $72 million and covers {{convert|200000|sqft}}.<ref name=":2" /> It opened in November 1995 as a packaging center and started printing numerous newspapers including ''The Indianapolis Star'' in 2001.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=January 31, 2024 |title=IndyStar's Pulliam Production Center printing plant in Indianapolis to close in April |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2024/01/31/indystar-newspapers-printing-plant-in-indianapolis-to-close-in-april/72422512007/ |access-date=January 31, 2024 |website=The Indianapolis Star |language=en-US}}</ref> The press hall that houses the four MAN Roland Geoman presses has {{convert|30672|sqft|0}} on two levels. Each of the presses weighs {{convert|2100|ST}}, stands seven stories tall, and can print 75,000 papers an hour.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=Indianapolis Star Starts Production with First of Four Geoman Presses|url=http://whattheythink.com/news/9974-indianapolis-star-starts-production-with-first-four/|publisher=What They Think|access-date=October 26, 2011|date=April 19, 2002}}</ref>
In January 2023, Gannett laid off 50 employees at the Pulliam Production Center. At the time the facility employed 145 people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Huang |first=Binghui |date=January 4, 2023 |title=Gannett laying off more than 50 employees at Indianapolis printing plant |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/money/2023/01/04/gannett-lays-off-50-employees-indianapolis-printing-plant/69777935007/ |access-date=January 31, 2024 |website=The Indianapolis Star |language=en-US}}</ref> A year later Gannett announced the center would close April 9 and printing of ''The Indianapolis Star'' would move to the company's press site in Peoria, Illinois.<ref name=":3" />
==Sections== thumb|Former headquarters at 307 North Pennsylvania Street Part of the newspaper's masthead displays the text of 2 Corinthians 3:17: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
'''Monday through Saturday''' *Section A – National and world news, business, editorial *Section B – USA TODAY *Section C – Metro+State - metro and state news, obituaries, classified ads (except on Wednesdays), weather *Section D – Sports (with 1 sports columnist Gregg Doyel) *Section E – (Wednesday) Classified ads, with none in section C; (Friday) Taste, which also includes movie listings *Section F – Extra (puzzles, advice, comics, television) *Local Living – (Thursdays only) things to do, community content
'''''The Sunday Star''''' *Section A – National and world news, job classifieds *Section B – USA TODAY *Section C – Metro+State - metro and state news, obituaries, editorial, weather *Section D – Sports *Section E – Business, classified ads *Section F – Home+Garden powered by Home Finder *Section G – Indy Living (arts and entertainment, health, puzzles, etc.) *Section U – USA TODAY Life Sunday *Comics – Sunday comics
==See also== {{Portal|Indiana|Journalism}} *"Fix This Now" *Media in Indianapolis
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{Official website }}
{{Gannett}} {{PulitzerPrize Investigative Reporting}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indianapolis Star, The}} Category:1903 establishments in Indiana Category:The Indianapolis Star Category:USA Today Co. publications Category:Mass media in Indianapolis Category:Newspapers published in Indiana Category:Daily newspapers published in the United States Category:Newspapers established in 1903 Category:Pulitzer Prize–winning newspapers