{{short description|American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana}} {{Correct title|The Times-Picayune {{!}} The New Orleans Advocate|reason=vbar}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2017}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = The Times-Picayune {{!}} The New Orleans Advocate | logo = frameless|class=skin-invert | image = border | caption = Front page of ''The Times-Picayune'', September 2, 2005 | type = Daily newspaper | format = Broadsheet | founded = {{start date and age|1837|01|25}} | owners = Georges Media Group | circulation_date = 77,565 Daily<br/> 81,398 Sunday as of (2019 | circulation_ref = <ref>{{Cite web |title=The Times-Picayune {{!}} The New Orleans Advocate |url=https://www.lapress.com/marketplace/business_2936923461.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Louisiana Press Association |date=October 7, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> | headquarters = 840 St. Charles Ave.<br>New Orleans, Louisiana 70130<br>United States | editor = Rene Sanchez | publisher = Judi Terzotis | ISSN = 1055-3053 | website = [https://www.nola.com/ nola.com] }}
'''''The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate''''' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ancestral publications of other names date back to January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (which was the result of the 1914 union of ''The Picayune'' with the ''Times-Democrat'') by the New Orleans edition of ''The Advocate'' in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
''The Times-Picayune'' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1997 for its coverage of threats to the world’s fisheries <ref>{{cite web | title=The Pulitzer Prizes | website=The Pulitzer Prizes | url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/times-picayune-0 | access-date=2025-05-10}}</ref> and in 2006 for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Four of ''The Times-Picayune''<nowiki/>'s staff reporters also received Pulitzers for breaking news reporting for their storm coverage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_b42ef31f-6598-590d-9da1-bdb71051723a.html |title=Levee inspections only scratch the surface |last=Russell |first=Gordon |website=NOLA.com |orig-date=First published November 25, 2005 |date=June 25, 2019}}</ref> The paper funded the Edgar A. Poe Award for journalistic excellence, which was presented annually by the White House Correspondents' Association from 1990 to 2019.<ref name=NOLAmag>{{cite magazine|title=Julia Street with Poydras the Parrot|date=August 1, 2010|author=Site Staff|magazine=New Orleans Magazine|url=https://www.myneworleans.com/julia-street-with-poydras-the-parrot-10/|quote=In 1989, the Times-Picayune and Newshouse Newspapers established the Edgar A. Poe Award for journalistic excellence. Named in honor of the Picayune's longtime Washington correspondent, who died in 1998 at the age of 92. The award is presented at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=What's With The Edgar A. Poe Award At The WHCD?|first=Chris |last=Tognotti|date=April 25, 2015|work=Bustle|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/78792-what-is-the-edgar-a-poe-award-the-white-house-correspondents-dinner-award-isnt-what-you}}</ref>
==History== thumb|upright=1.1|''The New Orleans Item'' newsroom, circa 1900 Established as '''''The Picayune''''' in 1837 by Francis Lumsden and George Wilkins Kendall, the paper's initial price was one picayune, a Spanish coin equivalent to 6¼¢ (half a bit, or one-sixteenth of a dollar).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McLeary|first=Paul|title=The Times-Picayune: How They Did It|journal=Columbia Journalism Review|date=September 12, 2005|url=https://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_timespicayune_how_they_did.php|access-date=May 27, 2008}}</ref> Under Eliza Jane Nicholson, who inherited the struggling paper when her husband died in 1876, the ''Picayune'' introduced innovations such as society reporting (known as the "Society Bee" columns), children's pages, and the first women's advice column, which was written by Dorothy Dix. Between 1880 and 1890, the paper more than tripled its circulation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.lsu.edu/soc/women/lawomen/nicholson.html|title=Louisiana Leaders: Notable Women in History: Eliza Nicholson (Pearl Rivers)|publisher=Louisiana State University|access-date=September 22, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112040106/http://www.lib.lsu.edu/soc/women/lawomen/nicholson.html|archive-date=January 12, 2010}}</ref> The paper became ''The Times-Picayune'' after merging in 1914 with its rival, the New Orleans ''Times-Democrat''.<ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/04/03/101719865.pdf "Old Newspapers to Merge,"] NY Times, April 3, 1914.</ref>
From 1947 to 1958, the paper operated a radio station, WTPS, launching first on FM at {{frequency|94.7|MHz}} on January 3, 1947,<ref>{{cite news |title=Station WTPS FM Begins Broadcasts Officially Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-picayune-station-wtps-fm-begin/183440623/ |access-date=October 21, 2025 |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |date=January 3, 1947 |location=New Orleans, Louisiana |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-picayune/183440660/ 3] |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and adding an AM station at {{frequency|1450|kHz}} a year later. WTPS-AM later moved to {{frequency|940|kHz}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Bob |title=New Orleans Radio Thru the Years |url=http://neworleansradioshrine.com/mem-thru-the-years.html |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=New Orleans Radio Shrine |language=en}}</ref> The stations primarily aired music, but also included newscasts drawn from the paper's staff and live broadcasts of local high school, college, and professional sports. Both stations went off the air on November 30, 1958 and was sold to Rounsaville.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pontchartrain |first=Blake |date=2019-10-28 |title=Where were the studios for WTPS-FM, the radio station owned by The Times-Picayune? |language=en |work=Gambit |url=https://www.nola.com/gambit/news/blake_pontchartrain/blake-pontchartrain-where-were-the-studios-for-wtps-fm-the-radio-station-owned-by-the/article_f1afb7d7-e065-54ba-9ce8-6e634bd9c328.html |access-date=2023-01-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Myers |first=Sim |title=On The Square: Radio Changes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-picayune-on-the-square-radio/183459403/ |access-date=October 22, 2025 |newspaper=The Times-Picayune |date=December 1, 1948 |location=New Orleans, Louisiana |page=55 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
In 1962, Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr., bought ''The Times-Picayune'' and the other remaining New Orleans daily, the afternoon ''States-Item''. The papers were merged on June 2, 1980<ref name="t648">{{cite web | title=New Orleans's 2 Newspapers Merging Operations | website=The New York Times | date=1980-05-06 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/05/06/archives/new-orleanss-2-newspapers-merging-operations.html | access-date=2025-02-21}}</ref> and were known as ''The Times-Picayune/States-Item'' (except on Sundays; the ''States-Item'' did not publish a Sunday edition) until September 30, 1986.<ref>{{cite web|title=Times-Picayune|work=Library of Congress Online Catalog|format=search listing|url=http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=10&ti=1,10&Search%5FArg=Times%2DPicayune&Search%5FCode=TALL&CNT=25&PID=22795&SEQ=20060503035925&SID=1| access-date=May 3, 2006}}</ref>
In addition to the flagship paper, specific community editions of the newspaper are also circulated and retain the ''Picayune'' name, such as the ''Gretna Picayune'' for nearby Gretna, Louisiana.
In 2019, ''The Times-Picayune'' was purchased by Georges Media, whose chair is John Georges, a New Orleans business owner. Georges Media also publishes The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Boone |first=Timothy |date=2019-11-13 |title=John Georges gives inside story on purchase of The Times-Picayune |url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/john-georges-gives-inside-story-on-purchase-of-the-times-picayune/article_3e67e7a4-0659-11ea-a20a-776915eff7d5.html |access-date=2025-07-21 |work=The Advocate |language=en}}</ref> In the vernacular of its circulation area, the newspaper is often called the ''T-P''.
===Hurricane Katrina=== Hurricane Katrina became a significant part of ''The Times-Picayune''{{'}}s history,<ref name="w498">{{cite web | last=Guernsey | first=Lisa | title=Hurricane Forces New Orleans Newspaper to Face a Daunting Set of Obstacles | website=The New York Times | date=2005-09-05 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/business/media/hurricane-forces-new-orleans-newspaper-to-face-a-daunting.html | access-date=2025-03-09}}</ref> not only during the storm and its immediate aftermath but for years afterward in repercussions and editorials. As Hurricane Katrina approached on Sunday, August 28, 2005, dozens of the newspaper's staffers who opted not to evacuate rode out the storm in their office building, sleeping in sleeping bags and on air mattresses. Holed up in a small, sweltering interior office space—the photography department—outfitted as a "hurricane bunker," the newspaper staffers and staffers from the paper's affiliated website, NOLA.com, posted continual updates on the internet until the building was evacuated on August 30. With electrical outages leaving the presses out of commission after the storm, newspaper and web staffers produced a "newspaper" in electronic PDF format.
On NOLA.com, meanwhile, tens of thousands of evacuated New Orleans and Gulf Coast residents began using the site's forums and blogs, posting pleas for help, offering aid, and directing rescuers. NOLA's nurturing of so-called citizen journalism on a massive scale was hailed by many journalism experts as a watershed, while several agencies credited the site with leading to life-saving rescues and reunions of scattered victims after the storm.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}
After deciding to evacuate on Tuesday, August 30, because of rising floodwaters and possible security threats, the newspaper and web staff set up operations at ''The Houma Courier'' and in Baton Rouge, on the Louisiana State University campus. A small team of reporters and photographers volunteered to stay behind in New Orleans to report from the inside on the city's struggle, looting, and desperation. They armed themselves for security and worked out of a private residence.
The August 30, August 31, and September 1 editions were not printed, but were available online,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/katrina/pages/index.ssf/083005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717150657/http://www.nola.com/katrina/pages/index.ssf/083005|url-status=dead|title=''Katrina''|archive-date=July 17, 2015}}</ref> as was the paper's breaking news blog:
{{blockquote|Hurricane Katrina struck metropolitan New Orleans on Monday with a staggering blow, far surpassing Hurricane Betsy, the landmark disaster of an earlier generation. The storm flooded huge swaths of the city, as well as Slidell on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, in a process that appeared to be spreading even as night fell.<ref>{{cite news|first=Bruce|last=Nolan|url=http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08_30.html#075002|title=The overview: 'Look, look man: It's gone'|work=The Times-Picayune|date=August 31, 2005|access-date=May 3, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930191350/http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?%2Fmtlogs%2Fnola_Times-Picayune%2Farchives%2F2005_08_30.html#075002|archive-date=September 30, 2007|df=mdy-all}}</ref>|Bruce Nolan|August 31, 2005 for ''The Times-Picayune''}}
After three days of online-only publication, the paper began printing again, first in Houma, La., and beginning September 15, 2005, in Mobile, Ala.; it resumed publication in New Orleans on October 10, 2005. The paper was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2006 for its storm coverage. Several of its staff reporters also received the award for breaking news reporting for their coverage of Hurricane Katrina––Gordon Russell, Jed Horne and Bob Marshall––marking the first time a Pulitzer had been awarded for online journalism.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2006|title=2006 Pulitzer Prizes |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.pulitzer.org |access-date=July 22, 2020 |quote=For its heroic, multi-faceted coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, making exceptional use of the newspaper's resources to serve an inundated city even after evacuation of the newspaper plant.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/page/history-pulitzer-prizes |title=History of The Pulitzer Prizes |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.pulitzer.org |access-date= July 22, 2020|quote=Thus, with the 2006 competition, the Board allowed online content in all 14 of its journalism categories.}}</ref>
In a January 14, 2006 address to the American Bar Association Communications Lawyers Forum, ''Times-Picayune'' editor Jim Amoss commented on perhaps the most significant challenge that the staff faced then and continued to face as the future of New Orleans is contemplated:
{{blockquote|For us, Katrina is and will be a defining moment of our lives, a story we'll be telling ‘til the day we die. Being a part of the plot is both riveting and deeply unsettling. We don't yet know the end of this story ... It's the story of our lives, and we must both live and chronicle it.<ref>{{cite news|first=Linda| last=Deutsch |author-link=Linda Deutsch |url=http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001844353 |title=New Orleans 'Times-Picayune' Trying to Report, Survive |work=Editor & Publisher |date=January 16, 2006 |access-date=May 3, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524040257/http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001844353 |archive-date=May 24, 2007}}</ref>|Jim Amoss|January 14, 2006 at the American Bar Association Communications Lawyers Forum}}
===Limited publication dates, launch of ''The New Orleans Advocate''=== [[File:Save the Picayune Allen Toussaint Rock Bowl Lot June 2012.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Allen Toussaint playing at one of the ultimately unsuccessful rallies in 2012 to "Save the ''Picayune''" as a daily newspaper]] On May 24, 2012, the paper's owner, Advance Publications, announced that the print edition of the ''Times-Picayune'' would be published three days a week (Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday) beginning at the end of September.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hagey|first=Keach|title=Times-Picayune of New Orleans No Longer a Daily|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304840904577424352986964904|access-date=May 24, 2012|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=May 24, 2012}}</ref> News of the change was first revealed the night before in a blog post by ''New York Times'' media writer David Carr.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/new-orleans-paper-said-to-face-deep-cuts-and-may-cut-back-on-publication/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1|title=New Orleans Paper Said to Face Deep Cuts and May Cut Back Publication|first=David|last=Carr|date=May 24, 2012 }}</ref> A new company, NOLA Media Group, was created to oversee both the paper and its website, NOLA.com. Along with the change in its printing schedule, Advance also announced that significant cuts would be coming to the newsroom and staff of the ''Picayune''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/24/new-orleans-times-picayune-cuts_n_1541991.html |title=New Orleans Times-Picayune Faces Deep Cuts, Will End Daily Publication|last=Mirkinson|first=Jack|date=May 24, 2012|work=Huffington Post|access-date=May 24, 2012}}</ref> A second new company, Advance Central Services Louisiana, was created to print and deliver the newspaper.
The decision to end daily circulation led to protests calling for continued publication for the common good; fifty local businesses wrote an open letter to the Newhouse family, urging them to sell the paper instead since they had stated it was still profitable. An {{lang|la|ad hoc}} group of community institutions and civic leaders, The Times-Picayune Citizens Group,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gnoinc.org/news/publications/press-release/times-picayune-citizens-group-speaks-out-on-proposed-changes-to-the-times-picayune/|title=Times-Picayune Citizens' Group Speaks out on Proposed Changes to The Times-Picayune - Greater New Orleans, Inc. - Regional Economic Development|website=gnoinc.org}}</ref> was formed to seek alternatives for the continued daily publication of the newspaper.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303444204577460742141160020] Cameron McWhirter, "New Orleans Clamors for Its Paper: Civic Leaders Explore Media Alternatives, but Urge Publisher to Keep the Times-Picayune as a Daily", ''The Wall Street Journal'', June 12, 2012</ref>
In October 2012, ''The Times-Picayune'' began publishing its broadsheet paper on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Along with the change, the paper began publishing a special tabloid-sized edition following Sunday and Monday New Orleans Saints football games and an "early" Sunday broadsheet edition, available on Saturdays. The thrice-weekly publication schedule made New Orleans the largest American city not to have a daily newspaper,<ref>[http://blogs.aljazeera.net/blog/americas/times-picayune-reduce-its-print-run Times-Picayune to reduce its print run] - Al Jazeera Blogs</ref> until ''The Advocate'' of Baton Rouge began publishing a New Orleans edition each day to fill the perceived gap on August 18, 2013. On June 12, 2012, Advance followed through with its layoff plans, as about 200 ''Times-Picayune'' employees (including almost half of the newsroom staff) were notified that they would lose their jobs.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/times-picayune-cuts-half-of-newsroom-staff/ |title=Times-Picayune cuts half of newsroom staff |agency=Associated Press |work=CBS News |date=June 12, 2012 }}</ref>
In January 2013, NOLA Media Group moved its news-gathering operation, along with sales, marketing, and other administrative functions, from its building at 3800 Howard Avenue, New Orleans, to offices on the 32nd and 31st floors of the One Canal Place office tower at 365 Canal Street, New Orleans. Advance Central Services Louisiana employees remained at Howard Avenue.
In April 2018, NOLA Media Group moved from the offices at One Canal Place to a newly renovated location at 201 St. Joseph Street, New Orleans. Its news staff, sales and sales support staff, marketing, and other administrative staff now work from the Warehouse District offices, offices in St. Tammany Parish at 500 River Highlands Blvd., Covington, and the existing East Jefferson Times-Picayune Bureau at 4013 N Interstate 10 Service Road W, Metairie.
===''The Times-Picayune''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s resumption of daily publication=== On April 30, 2013, the paper's publisher announced plans to print a tabloid version of ''The Times-Picayune'', called ''Times-Picayune Street'', on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, sold only through newsstands and retail locations. The move returned the paper to a daily printing schedule (including the "early" Sunday edition offered at newsstands on Saturdays).<ref>{{cite news|title=Times-Picayune plans new 'street' tabloid for previous non-print days|url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/212092/times-picayune-plans-new-street-tabloid-for-previous-non-print-days/|access-date=June 5, 2013|newspaper=The Poynter Institute|date=April 30, 2013|first=Andrew |last=Beaujon|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605133602/http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/212092/times-picayune-plans-new-street-tabloid-for-previous-non-print-days/|archive-date=June 5, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The ''TP Street'' edition first went on sale Monday, June 24, 2013.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2013/06/tp_street_to_land_on_newstands.html|newspaper=The Times-Picayune|last=Amoss|first=Jim|date=June 24, 2013|title=TP Street to land on newsstands Monday}}</ref>
The new edition removed from New Orleans the designation as the largest city in the United States without its own daily newspaper; with ''The Times-Picayune'' and the New Orleans edition of ''The Advocate'', the city now has two. However, in reporting its print circulation figures to the Alliance for Audited Media, ''The Times-Picayune'' still provides data only for the home-delivery days of Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.
The paper returned to a full broadsheet format for all editions on September 6, 2014, and ceased using the "TP Street" name. On the same date, NOLA Media Group began publishing "bonus" editions of ''The Times-Picayune'' on Saturdays and Mondays to be home-delivered to all three-day subscribers at no additional cost.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/the_times-picayune_will_home-d.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803205554/http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/08/the_times-picayune_will_home-d.html |archive-date=2014-08-03 |date=August 1, 2014 |title=The Times-Picayune will home-deliver bonus Saturday and Monday newspapers to three-day subscribers during the fall |work=nola.com |access-date=December 2, 2019 }}</ref> The bonus editions were delivered for 17 weeks, the duration of the 2014 football season. On January 3, 2015, NOLA Media Group returned the paper to its previous three-day home delivery, printing two-section papers for street sales only on the other four days. On Saturday, February 13, 2016, NOLA Media Group debuted a street-sales-only "Early Sunday" edition, a hybrid of features from the former Saturday street-sales-only paper and sections from the Sunday paper, offered at the Sunday price.
===Additional cuts=== On October 21, 2014, the paper announced it would begin printing and packaging ''The Times-Picayune'' in Mobile, Alabama, sometime in late 2015 or early 2016, closing the plant on Howard Avenue in New Orleans and eliminating more than 100 jobs at Advance Central Services Louisiana. The Howard Avenue building, which housed all aspects of the newspaper operation, opened in 1968. The building's lobby is lined with custom panels by sculptor Enrique Alferez, showing symbols used in communication throughout history. Although NOLA Media Group said in 2014 that it hoped to donate the building to a nonprofit institution in the community, it ultimately sold the building on September 2, 2016, to a local investor group for $3.5 million.<ref>{{cite web | last=Thompson | first=Richard | title=Former landmark Times-Picayune building sold to local group for $3.5 million | website=The Advocate | date=January 27, 2015| url=https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/business/article_8ce3539e-747d-11e6-8cd7-2b3140fd7a78.html | access-date=November 28, 2018}}</ref> The newspaper of Sunday, January 17, 2016, was the last ''Times-Picayune'' to be printed in New Orleans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/local/orleans/2016/01/16/stop-presses-times-picayune-ends-local-printing/78874174/|title=''T-P Ends Local Printing''|access-date=January 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121163704/http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/local/orleans/2016/01/16/stop-presses-times-picayune-ends-local-printing/78874174/|archive-date=January 21, 2016|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The street-sales-only newspaper of Monday, January 18, 2016, was the first to be printed in Mobile. The New Orleans presses were to be decommissioned.
The circulation numbers for the printed ''Times-Picayune'' were the largest newspaper in Louisiana until the end of 2014. By then, declines in its sales, combined with circulation gains by ''The Advocate'', dropped ''The Times-Picayune'' to second place behind ''The Advocate''.<ref>{{cite web | first=Ted |last=Griggs| title=The Advocate overtakes The Times-Picayune as Louisiana's largest newspaper | website=The Advocate | date=January 27, 2015 | url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/article_4c9e155e-4694-5281-a479-3312ff28ab28.html | access-date=November 28, 2018}}</ref>
NOLA Media Group announced on June 15, 2015, that it would join with Alabama Media Group in a new regional media company across Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, to be called Southeast Regional Media Group.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.nola.com/updates/2015/06/mathews_to_lead_new_company_ov.html|title=Mathews to lead new company overseeing NOLA Media Group and Alabama Media Group; Francis named NOLA - TP publisher|work=NOLA.com }}</ref> Additional job losses were expected in Louisiana;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bestofneworleans.com/blogofneworleans/archives/2015/06/17/more-staff-cuts-ahead-for-nolacom-the-times-picayune|title=More staff cuts ahead for NOLA.com - The Times-Picayune|first=Kevin|last=Allman}}</ref> those cuts came September 17, 2015, when NOLA Media Group fired 37 journalists, 28 of them full-time employees and nine part-timers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bestofneworleans.com/blogofneworleans/archives/2015/09/17/more-layoffs-at-nolacom-the-times-picayune|title=More layoffs at NOLA.com - The Times-Picayune|first=Kevin|last=Allman}}</ref> Hardest-hit were the Baton Rouge bureau, which had been expanded in the 2012 makeover,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_abdc5c8f-c27e-5fb5-87ef-9e7cf9250d12.html|title=NOLA Media Group will open Baton Rouge office, expand reporting and sales staffs|website=NOLA.com|date=September 21, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Times-Picayune lays off 37 journalists in latest shakeup; New Orleans Advocate says it's expanding its staff |first=Richard |last=Thompson| website=The Advocate | date=September 26, 2015 | url=https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/business/article_d67f8f53-b683-5396-a99b-d6c507815fcf.html | access-date=November 28, 2018}}</ref> as well as ''The Times-Picayune'''s high school prep sports staff and its music reporting staff.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.offbeat.com/news/times-picayune-abandons-music-journalism/|title=Times-Picayune Abandons Music Journalism|first=Jan|last=Ramsey|website=OffBeat Magazine|date=September 21, 2015 }}</ref>
The merged company was named Advance Media Southeast, registered in New Orleans. A facility to design and produce the pages of ''The Times-Picayune'' and four newspapers in Alabama and Mississippi—''The Birmingham News'', the ''Mobile Press-Register'', ''The Huntsville Times'', and ''The Mississippi Press'' in Pascagoula—was opened in January 2016 in a former suburban bureau of ''The Times-Picayune'' in Metairie, emptying the Howard Avenue building of the remaining staff. The Metairie building also houses Advance Central Services Southeast, formed from the combined Advance Central Services units in Louisiana and Alabama.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.nola.com/updates/2015/08/new_orleans_print_lab.html|title=State of the art print lab in New Orleans to produce 5 regional newspapers including The Times-Picayune|work=NOLA.com }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_ac135ab4-10df-51e3-ab10-5d53651d897f.html |title=Times-Picayune design and production move into new Print Lab |website=NOLA.com|date=January 7, 2016 }}</ref> Production of another Advance newspaper, ''The Oregonian'', was moved to the Metairie location in late 2016.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wweek.com/news/2016/07/07/the-oregonian-will-outsource-some-copy-editing-and-production-work-to-new-orleans/ |title=The Oregonian Will Outsource Some Copy Editing and Production Work to New Orleans |last=Jaquiss |first=Nigel |website=Willamette Week |date=July 7, 2016}}</ref>
===2019 acquisition=== On May 2, 2019, Advance Publications announced that ''The Times-Picayune'' had been sold to Georges Media, owner of ''The Advocate''. The new owners stated that both papers would be folded into a single operation by June 2019 and that the NOLA.com brand would be maintained for the combined newspaper's digital operations. A filing required under the WARN Act stated that the entire staff of the ''Times-Picayune'' had been laid off, resulting in a loss of 161 jobs,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2019/05/03/entire-new-orleans-times-picayune-staff-axed-after-sale-to-competitor/|title=Entire New Orleans Times-Picayune staff axed after sale to competitor|last=Kelly|first=Keith J.|date=2019-05-04|website=New York Post|language=en|access-date=2019-05-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/12/us/new-orleans-advocate-times-picayune.html|title=How a Newspaper War in New Orleans Ended: With a Baked Alaska and Layoffs|last=Robertson|first=Campbell|date=2019-05-12|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-17|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2019/upstart-new-orleans-advocate-has-bought-the-rival-times-picayune/|title=Upstart New Orleans Advocate has bought the rival Times-Picayune|first=Rick|last=Edmonds|date=2019-05-02|website=Poynter|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-17}}</ref> including 65 journalists.<ref name="Staff">{{cite web|url=https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2019/the-times-picayune-was-absorbed-by-the-advocate-in-new-orleans-yesterday-heres-what-happened-to-its-staff/|title=The Times-Picayune was absorbed by the Advocate in New Orleans yesterday. Here's what happened to its staff.|last=Sunne|first=Samantha|website=Poynter|date=2019-07-01|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-13}}</ref> The merged paper initially re-hired 10 of those journalists, and about 12 other employees.<ref name="Staff" />
The paper, carrying the nameplates of both ''The Times-Picayune'' and ''The New Orleans Advocate'', began publication on July{{nbsp}}1.<ref name="New Day">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nola.com/news/article_c58cb56c-9b7d-11e9-b548-2772e48cbc39.html|first=Peter|last=Kovacs|title=A new day for The Times-Picayune and New Orleans Advocate: A letter from the editor to our readers|date=June 30, 2019|access-date=2019-07-12|website=NOLA.com}}</ref>
==''The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate'' online== thumb|Headquarters ''The Times-Picayune''{{'}}s first foray onto the internet came in 1995, with the www.NewOrleans.net website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://neworleans.net/indexmain.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961112083305/http://neworleans.net/indexmain.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 12, 1996|title=A New Orleans.net: Destination New Orleans|date=November 12, 1996}}</ref><ref>Gray, Chris (January 7, 1996). [http://thelensnola.org/2012/06/08/inside-the-newsroom-tp-photo-essay/ "TP ushers in New N.O. Web page"].</ref> Among the website's features was the "Bourbocam", placed in the window of a French Quarter bar to broadcast images of Bourbon Street. During the 1996 Mardi Gras, it was one of the first internet webcams to carry a live news event.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/mardi_gras/article_304a387e-01e9-521d-97c2-cbc923408e65.html |author=RayK|title=Cats Meow reopening a sign of Mardi Gras |website=NOLA.com |date=February 16, 2006 }}</ref>
In early 1998, that site was superseded by www.nolalive.com, launched by Advance Publications. The site's format was similar to other websites launched in connection with Advance newspapers in New Jersey; Cleveland, Ohio; Michigan; Oregon; and Alabama.<ref>{{Cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nola-live-and-love-new-orleans-web-sites-launched-in-alliance-with-the-times-picayune-76600897.html|title=NOLA Sites Launched}}</ref> Although nolalive.com was affiliated with ''The Times-Picayune'' and posted content created by the ''T-P'' newsroom, it was operated independently, and it also hosted blogs and forums. In early 2001, the site was renamed NOLA.com.
After a management change at NOLA.com in February 2009, content on the website more closely reflected that of ''The Times-Picayune''. Articles written for the newspaper were posted to the website using the Movable Type content management system. In October 2018, the paper switched from Movable Type to Arc, the content management system created by developers at the Washington Post.
Led by Advance, the site underwent several redesigns over the years. On May 8, 2012, the site debuted its most dramatic redesign by Mule Design Studio of San Francisco. With bright yellow accents, the design echoed that of Advance's bellwether site in Michigan, mlive.com.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.nola.com/updates/2012/05/coming_soon_a_major_redesign_o.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511054522/http://blog.nola.com/updates/2012/05/coming_soon_a_major_redesign_o.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 11, 2012|title=About the new NOLA.com homepage - NOLA.com|date=May 11, 2012}}</ref> Following complaints from the public,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wadekwon.com/2012/07/13/its-official-america-hates-advances-news-sites/|title=It's official: America hates Advance's news sites|date=July 13, 2012}}</ref> NOLA.com developed a toned-down palette and new typography.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.nola.com/updates/2012/07/read_about_the_new_look_of_the.html|title=Read about the new look of the NOLA.com home page}}</ref> However, the concept – a continually updated "river" of combined news, sports, and entertainment content – remained the same.
After the October 1, 2012, launch of NOLA Media Group, the publication workflow of the newspaper and website was reversed. All staff-produced content is published first to NOLA.com; content was harvested from the website for publication in the printed ''Times-Picayune''.
NOLA.com also offers apps for mobile and tablet users;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nolamediagroup.com/apps/ |title=NOLA: Apps |access-date=July 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905091758/http://www.nolamediagroup.com/apps/ |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> ''The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate'' offers subscribers an e-edition only.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://neworleanstimespicayune.la.newsmemory.com|title=neworleanstimespicayune|website=neworleanstimespicayune.la.newsmemory.com}}</ref>
==Notable people== The writers William Faulkner and O. Henry worked for ''The Times-Picayune''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://64parishes.org/entry/william-faulkner|title=William Faulkner|website=64 Parishes|language=en|access-date=2019-10-03}}</ref> The Louisiana historian Sue Eakin was formerly a ''Times-Picayune'' columnist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theadvocate/obituary.aspx?n=sue-lyles-eakins&pid=133129023|title=Obituary of Sue Lyles Eakin|publisher=Baton Rouge Morning Advocate, September 19, 2009|access-date=September 21, 2009}}</ref> Bill Minor headed the paper's news bureau in Jackson, Mississippi from 1946 until it closed in 1976.<ref name= barnes>{{Cite news|last=Barnes|first=Bart|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/wilson-bill-minor-conscience-of-mississippi-journalism-during-civil-rights-era-dies-at-94/2017/03/28/870cd774-13c4-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html|title=Wilson 'Bill' Minor, 'conscience' of Mississippi journalism during civil rights era, dies at 94|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=September 5, 2022|date=March 28, 2017}}</ref> A weekly political column is penned by Robert "Bob" Mann, a Democrat who holds the Douglas Manship Chair of Journalism at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bobmannblog.com/about/|title=About Bob Mann|publisher=bobmannblog.com|access-date=October 18, 2013}}</ref>
''The Times-Picayune'' was the longtime journalistic home of British-American satiric columnist James Gill, although he moved to ''The Advocate'' in 2013, along with many former ''Times-Picayune'' editorial staffers. For more than a decade, ''The Times-Picayune'' was also the newspaper home of Lolis Eric Elie, who wrote a thrice-weekly metro column before he went on to write for television, most notably HBO's ''Treme'' and AMC's ''Hell on Wheels''.
Already widely known, the journalist and television commentator Iris Kelso joined ''The Times-Picayune'' in 1979. She had been particularly known for her coverage of the civil rights movement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://beta.wpcf.org/oralhistory/kelsoint.html|title=Iris Turner Kelso: Introduction|publisher=beta.wpcf.org|access-date=October 13, 2013}}</ref>
==Editorial stance== ''The Times-Picayune'' endorsed George W. Bush for President in 2000, but endorsed no Presidential candidate in 2004. In 2008 and 2012, the paper endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for President.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blog.nola.com/editorials/2008/10/barack_obama_for_president.html|title=Barack Obama for president|access-date=November 15, 2008|newspaper=The Times-Picayune}}</ref> It endorsed Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/|title=Politics | News from The Advocate|first=The|last=Advocate|website=The Advocate}}</ref> In gubernatorial contests it endorsed Mike Foster, Bobby Jindal, and David Vitter. In the mayoral race of 2006, ''The Times-Picayune'' endorsed right-leaning Democrat Ron Forman in the primary election and Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu in the runoff.
The Picayune endorsed Governor candidate Edwin Washington Edwards in 1971 and 1975. Still, it went against him in 1983 (endorsing incumbent David C. Treen), 1987 (endorsing challenger and eventual winner Buddy Roemer), and 1991 (endorsed Roemer in the primary, but switched to Edwards in the general election due to Edwards' opponent being former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke). The T-P also stung Edwards in 1979 even though he was barred from running for a third term, refusing to endorse Edwards' hand-picked candidate, Louis Lambert, in favor of Treen in the primary and general elections.
===Journalism prizes and awards=== [[File:Lee Zurik and the crew of Louisana Purchased at the 73rd Annual Peabody Awards.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Lee Zurik, joined by WVUE-DT and ''The Times-Picayune <nowiki>|</nowiki> The New Orleans Advocate'', accepts a Peabody Award]] ''The Times-Picayune'' was awarded a 1997 Pulitzer Prize for a series analyzing the threatened global fish supply; that same year, staff cartoonist Walt Handelsman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.
''The Times-Picayune'' shared the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for public service coverage of Hurricane Katrina with ''The Sun Herald'' in similarly affected Biloxi, Mississippi. In addition, staff reporters Doug MacCash, Manuel Torres, Trymaine Lee, and Mark Schleifstein were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners Breaking News Reporting|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2006-Breaking-News-Reporting|publisher=The Pulitzer Prizes|access-date=June 28, 2012}}</ref> This award marked the first Pulitzer given for exclusively online journalism.<ref>{{cite web|last=Schute|first=Michael|title=The eyes of a hurricane|url=http://www.rowanmagazine.com/classnotes/alumniprofiles/profiles/lee/|publisher=rowanmagazine.com|access-date=June 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109023337/http://www.rowanmagazine.com/classnotes/alumniprofiles/profiles/lee/|archive-date=November 9, 2013|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
For its coverage of Hurricane Katrina, ''The Times-Picayune'' also received the 2005 George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklyn.liu.edu/polk/press/2005.html|title=George Polk Awards for Journalism press release|access-date=November 15, 2006|publisher=Long Island University}}</ref>
Former ''Times-Picayune'' editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich won the Pulitzer for his cartoons in ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', some of which were also featured in ''New Orleans Magazine''.<ref>{{cite web | title=Mike Luckovich of The Atlanta Constitution | website=The Pulitzer Prizes | url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/mike-luckovich-0 | access-date=2023-11-20}}</ref>
===Loving Cup Award=== Since 1901, ''The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate'' has annually awarded a Loving cup to individuals who have contributed to improving life in the New Orleans area through civic, cultural, social, or religious activities. Representative awardees include: Eleanor McMain, Albert W. Dent, Edgar B. Stern Sr, Scott Cowen, Gary Solomon Sr., Millie Charles, Mark Surprenant, Leah Chase, Norman Francis, Tommy Cvitanovich, Edith Rosenwald Stern, and Bill Goldring.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Times-Picayune Loving Cup Nominations|url=http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2016/01/loving_cup_nominations_are_due.html|access-date=October 2, 2016|newspaper=The New Orleans Times-Picayune|date=January 15, 2016}}</ref>
===Ongoing criticism of FEMA=== Soon after ''The Times-Picayune'' was able to restart publication following Hurricane Katrina, the newspaper printed a strongly worded open letter to President George W. Bush in its September 4, 2005, edition, criticizing him for the federal government's response to the disaster, and calling for the firing of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chief Michael D. Brown. Brown tendered his resignation eight days later.
''The Times-Picayune'' long continued to editorialize on FEMA.<ref>[http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-5/123968652344620.xml&coll=1 A new start at FEMA], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604185441/http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews-5%2F123968652344620.xml&coll=1 |date=June 4, 2011 }} ''Times-Picayune'', April 14, 2009, Saint Tammany Edition, p. B4.</ref> A searing editorial on April 18, 2009, lambasted FEMA and labeled "insulting" the alleged "attitude" of its spokesman Andrew Thomas<ref>[http://www.homeland1.com/business-continuity/articles/482769-FEMA-unlikely-to-pay-for-hotels-during-Gustav FEMA unlikely to pay for hotels during Gustav] on Homeland1.com.</ref> toward people who were cash-strapped after the evacuation from Hurricane Gustav, which, in the meantime, had become part of the melange of problems associated with hurricanes and governmental agencies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/editorials/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1240032819264560.xml&coll=1 |title=Let them eat MREs |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=April 18, 2009 |website=www.nola.com |publisher=The Times-Picayune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090420052344/http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/editorials/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews-5%2F1240032819264560.xml&coll=1 |archive-date=April 20, 2009}}</ref> A second editorial on the same day blasted the State of Louisiana's Road Home program and its contractor ICF.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sisco |first=Annette |date=April 18, 2009 |title=Gov. Jindal's administration must fix the other Road Home mess|url=http://blog.nola.com/editorials/2009/04/gov_bobby_jindals_administrati.html|work=The Times-Picayune |edition=Saint Tammany|location=New Orleans, LA |publisher=nola.com|page=B4 (editorials)|access-date=March 5, 2018}}</ref>
The post-Katrina experience affected the paper's staff. On August 8, 2006, staff photographer John McCusker was arrested and hospitalized after he led police on a high-speed chase and then used his vehicle as a weapon, apparently hoping that they would kill him.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lang |first=Daryl |date=August 9, 2006 |title=Suicidal New Orleans Times-Picayune Photographer Arrested |url=http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002984556 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522093346/http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002984556 |archive-date=May 22, 2008 |access-date=October 22, 2006 |publisher=Photo District News}}</ref> McCusker was released from the hospital by mid-August, saying he could not recall the incident at all, which was apparently sparked by the failure to receive an insurance settlement for his damaged house. On December 13, 2007, Judge Camille Buras reduced the charges against McCusker to misdemeanors. The episode led to establishing a support fund for McCusker and other ''Times-Picayune'' staff, which collected some $200,000 in a few days.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003019216|title=Times-Picayune Photographer John McCusker Out Of Hospital|first=Daryl |last=Lang|publisher=Photo District News|date=August 17, 2006|access-date=October 22, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107110630/http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003019216|archive-date=November 7, 2007}}</ref> In October 2006, columnist Chris Rose admitted to seeking treatment for clinical depression after a year of "crying jags" and other emotionally isolating behavior.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index2.ssf?/base/living-0/116149796856910.xml&coll=1|title=Hell and Back|newspaper=New Orleans Times-Picayune|first=Chris|last=Rose|date=October 22, 2006|access-date=October 22, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070106160531/http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index2.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fliving-0%2F116149796856910.xml&coll=1|archive-date=January 6, 2007}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Louisiana|Journalism}} * List of newspapers in Louisiana {{Clear}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * Copeland, Fayette. ''Kendall of the Picayune'' (1943, reprint 1997) ** [https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8893&context=gradschool_disstheses PhD dissertation version] * Dabney, Thomas Ewing. ''One Hundred Great Years-The Story of the Times Picayune from Its Founding to 1940'' (Read Books Ltd, 2013), [https://archive.org/details/onehundredgreaty013128mbp online]. * Gilley, B. H. "A Woman for Women: Eliza Nicholson, Publisher of the New Orleans Daily Picayune". ''Louisiana History'' 30.3 (1989): 233–248. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4232737 online] * Reilly, Tom. ""The War Press of New Orleans": 1846–1848". ''Journalism History'' 13.3-4 (1986): 86-95. * Robinson, Sue. "A chronicle of chaos: Tracking the news story of Hurricane Katrina from The Times-Picayune to its website". ''Journalism'' 10.4 (2009): 431-450. * Theim, Rebecca. ''Hell and High Water: The Battle to Save the Daily New Orleans Times-Picayune'' (Pelican Publishing Company, 2013). * Usher, Nikki. "Recovery from disaster: How journalists at the New Orleans Times-Picayune understand the role of a post-Katrina newspaper". ''Journalism Practice'' 3.2 (2009): 216-232.
===Primary sources=== * Corcoran, Dennis. ''Pickings from the Portfolio of the Reporter of the New Orleans 'Picayune' ''(Carey and Hart, 1846) [https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=lang_en&id=z7GJL9M6P9gC&oi=fnd&pg=IA1&dq=New+Orleans+Picayune online].
==External links== *{{commons category-inline|The Times-Picayune}} *{{official website|http://nola.com/ }} {{New Orleans}} {{PulitzerPrize BreakingNews 2001–2025}} {{Pulitzer Prize for Public Service}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Times-Picayune, The}} Category:1837 establishments in Louisiana Category:George Polk Award recipients Category:Newspapers established in 1837 Category:Newspapers published in New Orleans Category:Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners Category:Pulitzer Prize–winning newspapers