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{{Short description|Newspaper based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2019}}
{{use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{use American English|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name             = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
| logo             = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel logo.svg
| image            = [[File:Milwaukee Journal Sentinel front page.png|225px|border]]
| caption          = Front page of the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel''
| type             = [[Daily newspaper]]
| format           = [[Broadsheet]]
| founded          = {{ubl|1837 (''Sentinel'')|1882 (''Journal'')|1995 (''Journal Sentinel'')}}
| owners           = [[USA Today Co.]]
| publisher        = Andy Fisher
| circulation      = {{ublist|48,158&nbsp;Daily|75,061&nbsp;Sunday}}
| circulation_ref  = <ref name="Gannet's 10-K annual filing">{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1579684/000157968423000014/gci-20221231.htm |title=Form 10-K|author=Gannett |website=Securities & Exchange Commission |access-date=March 10, 2023}}</ref><ref name="NL2023">{{cite news |last1=Benton |first1=Joshua |title=The scale of local news destruction in Gannett's markets is astonishing |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/03/the-scale-of-local-news-destruction-in-gannetts-markets-is-astonishing/ |work=Nieman Lab |date=9 March 2023}}</ref>
| circulation_date = Q3 2022
| ISSN             = 1082-8850
| oclc             = 55506548
| website          = {{URL|http://www.jsonline.com/|jsonline.com}}
}}

[[File:Milwaukee Journal Sentinel building.jpg|thumb|Milwaukee Journal Sentinel building]]
The '''''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel''''' is a daily morning [[broadsheet]] printed in [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]], where it is the primary [[newspaper]] and also the largest newspaper in the state of [[Wisconsin]], where it is widely read. It was purchased by the [[Gannett|Gannett Company]] in 2016.<ref name="usatoday.com">"[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pr/2016/04/11/gannett-completes-acquisition-journal-media-group/82887440/ Gannett Completes Acquisition of Journal Media Group]". ''USA Today'', April 11, 2016.</ref>

In early 2003, the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' began printing at a new facility in [[West Milwaukee, Wisconsin|West Milwaukee]]. In September 2006, the ''Journal Sentinel'' announced it had "signed a five-year agreement to print the national edition of ''[[USA Today]]'' for distribution in the northern and western suburbs of Chicago and the eastern half of Wisconsin".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_Sept_13/ai_n26985012 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713201020/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_Sept_13/ai_n26985012 | url-status=dead | archive-date=2012-07-13 | work=Business Wire | title=Journal Sentinel Inc. Signs Five-Year Contract to Print USA TODAY | year=2006 | access-date=2013-11-05}}</ref>

==History==
===''Milwaukee Sentinel''===
The ''Milwaukee Sentinel'' was founded on June 27, 1837, in response to disparaging statements made about the east side of town by [[Byron Kilbourn]]'s westside partisan newspaper, the ''Milwaukee Advertiser'', during the city's "[[Milwaukee Bridge War|bridge wars]]", a period when the two sides of town fought for dominance. A co-founder of Milwaukee, [[Solomon Juneau]], provided the starting funds for editor John O'Rourke, a former office assistant at the ''Advertiser'', to start the paper.<ref name="TheStory">"The Story of the Sentinel," ''Milwaukee Sentinel'', December 3, 1893.</ref>

On Juneau's request, O'Rourke's associate, [[Harrison Reed (politician)|Harrison Reed]], remained to take over the ''Sentinel''{{'}}s operations on behalf of Democratic Party politician [[James Duane Doty]].<ref name="Lorenz 1976">{{cite conference|last=Lorenz|first=Alfred Lawrence|title=Out of Sorts and Out of Cash: Problems of Newspaper Publishing in Wisconsin Territory, 1833-1848|url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED158298.pdf|place=College Park, Maryland|conference=Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism|date=1976|pages=6–7|via=Education Resources Information Center|access-date=June 5, 2021}}</ref>  Reed continued the struggle to keep the paper ahead of its debts, often printing pleas to his advertisers and subscribers to pay their bills any way they could. Meanwhile, the establishment of the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig party]] in the territory thrust the ''Sentinel'' into partisan politics. In 1840 Reed was assaulted by individuals whom the ''Sentinel'' charged were hired by Democratic Governor [[Henry Dodge]].<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=4630366|title=Wisconsin's Saddest Tragedy|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_wisconsin-magazine-of-history_1922-03_5_3/page/282|last=Quaife|first=M.M.|journal=The Wisconsin Magazine of History|date=March 1922|volume=5|issue=3|page=282}}</ref> When Doty backed [[William Henry Harrison]], the ''Sentinel'' endorsed Harrison for president in the [[1840 United States presidential election|1840 election]].<ref name="Lorenz 1976"/>

Starr guarded the ''Sentinel''{{'s}} position as the sole Whig organ in Milwaukee. Heavily in debt, he secured the partnership of David M. Keeler, who paid off the paper's creditors. Keeler took on partner John S. Fillmore (nephew of U.S. president [[Millard Fillmore]]) and succeeded in ousting Starr, who kept publishing his own version of the ''Sentinel''. Keeler and Fillmore trumped his efforts by turning their ''Sentinel'' into a daily on December 9, 1844, while still publishing a weekly edition. The paper finally began to prosper and establish itself as a major political force in the nascent state of Wisconsin. Having accomplished his goal of establishing the first daily paper in the territory, Keeler retired two months later, but not before opening a public reading room of the nation's newspapers, the origin of [[Milwaukee Public Library|Milwaukee's public library]] system. Fillmore employed a succession of editors, including [[Jason Downer]], later a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, and [[Increase A. Lapham]], a Midwestern naturalist who later helped establish the [[National Weather Service]].<ref name="TheStory" />

After running through six editors in eight years, Fillmore sought a more stable editorial foundation and went east to confer with [[Thurlow Weed]], editor of the ''Albany Evening Journal'' and powerful Whig political boss of New York. Weed recommended his associate editor and protégé, Rufus King. King was a native of New York City, a graduate of [[West Point]], a brevet lieutenant, the son of the president of [[Columbia University|Columbia College]] and the grandson of [[U.S. Constitution]] signer [[Rufus King]]. In June 1845 King came to Milwaukee and became the ''Sentinel''{{'}}s editor three months later.<ref>Perry C. Hill. "[http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wmh/id/17986 Rufus King and the Wisconsin Constitution]". ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 32, no. 4(June 1949):416-432.</ref>

The paper provided thorough coverage of Wisconsin's constitutional convention, held in [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] in 1846. When the adopted constitution fell short of Whig expectations, the ''Sentinel'' was instrumental in encouraging its rejection by territorial voters on April 6, 1847. The ''Sentinel'' launched a German-language paper, ''Der Volksfreund'', to bring the city's large population of German immigrants to the Whig cause. Gen. King himself was a delegate to Wisconsin's second constitutional convention. He was also appointed head of the Milwaukee militia and sat on the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin]]'s board of regents, as well as being the first superintendent of [[Milwaukee Public Schools|Milwaukee public schools]]. In the wake of the [[Panic of 1857]] King sold the paper to T.D. Jermain and H.H. Brightman, but remained editor, covering the state legislative sessions of 1859–1861 himself.<ref name="TheStory" />

In 1848, the ''Sentinel'' praised the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]], a treaty that ended the [[Mexican–American War]], commenting: "Peace upon almost any terms will be joyfully welcomed by the American People. They have long since tired of the war."<ref>{{cite book|last=Beschloss|first=Michael|authorlink=Michael Beschloss|title=Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times|pages=149, 653|place=New York|publisher=Crown|year=2018|isbn=978-0-307-40960-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSxyDwAAQBAJ|via=Google Books}}</ref>

The ''Sentinel'' prospered during the Civil War, sometimes printing five editions of the paper in a day. Though much of the war news was copied from Chicago papers, the ''Sentinel'' did dispatch a war correspondent for over half a year. The war also resulted in a shortage of skilled printers, so in 1863 the ''Sentinel'' began hiring and training "female compositors" to typeset the paper, albeit in another building away from the men. This resulted in members of the Milwaukee Typographical Union leaving their jobs, but the war had already depleted their ranks to such a degree that the union later temporarily disbanded.<ref>Richard M. Current. ''The History of Wisconsin, Volume II: The Civil War Era 1848–1873''. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976, p. 338.</ref> Frustrated by the lack of skilled help, editor [[C. Latham Sholes]] tried building a typesetting machine, but failed. After becoming comptroller for the city a few years later, he invented the modern typewriter. After the war ended circulation fell off and the number of editions was kept to a minimum.<ref name="TheStory" />

A supporter of the [[Liberal Republican Party (United States)|Liberal Republicans]], who opposed President [[Ulysses S. Grant]], Thomson was ousted from the paper after Carpenter's former law partner Newton S. Murphey bought the ''Sentinel'' in 1874 with other pro-Grant Republicans, including Carpenter, who had failed to be re-elected.<ref>Robert C. Nesbit. ''The History of Wisconsin, Volume III: Urbanization and Industrialization 1873-1893''. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1985.{{page needed|date=April 2016}}</ref> After Murphey loaned Carpenter $20,000 to also become a stakeholder in the paper, Carpenter hired A. C. Botkin as editor, formerly of the ''[[Chicago Times]]'', to replace Thomson. The ''Sentinel'' was soon perceived as Carpenter's "personal mouthpiece" and an organ of the state Republican central committee.<ref>E. Bruce Thompson. ''Matthew Hale Carpenter, Webster of the West''. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1954, pp. 206-207.</ref> After committee chairman [[Elisha W. Keyes]] blocked Carpenter from becoming a delegate to the national Republican convention in 1876, the paper began running fierce editorials denouncing Keyes. The ''Sentinel'' later endorsed Carpenter over Keyes as senator in the 1878 election.<ref>E. Bruce Thompson. ''Matthew Hale Carpenter, Webster of the West''. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1954, pp. 259-261.</ref>

Disappointed in the paper's weak defense of unregulated [[corporations]], a new group of stalwart Republicans purchased the old Democratic ''Milwaukee News'' in 1880 and resurrected it as the ''Republican and News''. [[Horace Rublee]], a former editor of the ''[[Wisconsin State Journal]]'' and who had been the chairman of the [[Wisconsin Republican Party|state Republican party]], was hired as editor-in-chief. Failing to put the ''Sentinel'' out of business, the Republicans bought the paper outright and issued it as the ''Republican-Sentinel''. The next year the word Republican was dropped, but the paper remained a major force in the state's Republican party.<ref name="TheStory" /> This troubled managing editor [[Lucius W. Nieman]], who had covered the state capitol for the ''Sentinel'' and had seen the control the powerful monied interests had over state government. When a Democrat was elected to Congress from a die-hard Republican county, the ''Sentinel''{{'}}s editor refused to print the fact. This led Nieman to resign and join the fledgling ''Milwaukee Journal''. The ''Journal'' first received acclaim when Nieman's coverage of a deadly hotel fire revealed it to be a firetrap, but the ''Sentinel'' defended the hotel's management, which included a ''Sentinel'' stockholder.<ref>Will C. Conrad, Kathleen F. Wilson and Dale Wilson. ''The Milwaukee Journal''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1964, pp.7-8.</ref>

Historian [[Frederick Jackson Turner]] was the ''Sentinel''{{'s}} Madison correspondent for a year, beginning in April 1884, while he finished his senior year at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin]]. He covered various aspects of life in Madison, from campus news to the state legislature. He delivered the scoop that university regent and state political boss [[Elisha W. Keyes]] wished to remove university president [[John Bascom]] for political reasons and it was Turner's reports that resulted in a backlash of support for the president. Bascom had earlier offered Turner a position teaching elocution at the university that he turned down in favor of working for the ''Sentinel'' for nine more months. He left the paper after Republicans appointed him as the transcribing clerk to Wisconsin's state senate before later going on to teach history.<ref>Fulmer Mood. "[http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/wmh/id/19240 Frederick Jackson Turner and the Milwaukee Sentinel 1884]". ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 34, no. 1 (Autumn 1950):21-27.</ref>

In 1892–1893 the ''Sentinel'' moved temporarily from its home on Mason Street so that the old building could be torn down and a new, state-of-the-art structure could be erected in its place.<ref name="TheStory" />

With the dawning of the [[Progressive Era]] during the 1890s the ''Sentinel'' began to moderate its views, often echoing calls for political reform. After the [[Panic of 1893]] a private utility monopoly run by stalwart Republican party bosses [[Charles F. Pfister]] and [[Henry C. Payne]], [[The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company]] (TMER&L), revoked commuter passes and raised utility rates during the depression. The ''Sentinel'' joined in the chorus of indignation that resounded from Milwaukee and beyond, particularly during 1899 when Pfister and Payne succeeded, by means of bribery, to push through a 35-year contract with the city. On December 29 Pfister and Payne sued the ''Sentinel'' for libel, to which the paper replied that it had fallen prey to "probably the most formidable and influential combination of selfish interests ever found in the city of Milwaukee."<ref>David P. Thelen. ''The New Citizenship''. University of Missouri Press, 1972, pp. 278-280.</ref>

Rather than going to trial and having his business practices revealed, Pfister bought the ''Sentinel'' outright on February 18, 1901, paying an immense sum to buy up a majority of its stock. After the death of his publisher, Lansing Warren, that summer Pfister assumed publishing duties, immersing himself in the paper's operations and directing political coverage. Owning the ''Sentinel'' expanded his conservative influence from the convention backrooms to the pages of the largest daily paper in Wisconsin. The ''Sentinel'' immediately opposed the newly elected Governor La Follette. During La Follete's successful re-election campaign in 1902, Pfister's political power was diminished after it had been revealed that he had secretly purchased the editorial pages of some 300 of the state's newspapers.<ref>Herbert F. Margulies. ''The Decline of the Progressive Movement in Wisconsin''. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1968, p. 62.</ref>

A majority stake was purchased by the [[Hearst Corporation]] in 1924. Operations of the ''Sentinel'' were joined to Hearst's papers, the afternoon ''Wisconsin News'' and the morning ''Milwaukee Telegram''; the latter being merged with the ''Sentinel'' as the ''Milwaukee Sentinel & Telegram''. The ''Wisconsin News'' entered into a lease arrangement with the School of Engineering for radio station WSOE on November 15, 1927. The lease was for a minimum of three years. To reflect the new arrangement, the ''Wisconsin News'' changed the call letters of WSOE to [[WISN (AM)|WISN]] on January 23, 1928. The station was sold to the ''Wisconsin News'' in November 1930.<ref>This is based upon the fact that the initial lease was for three years, as well as that according to Frost, S.E., Jr., PhD, ''Education's Own Stations: The History of Broadcast Licenses Issued to Educational Institutions''. The University of Chicago Press, 1937, p. 213, in its license application of December 30, 1930 WISN stated that the newspaper was the owner.</ref> Hearst's associate Paul Block acquired Pfister's remaining stake of the ''Sentinel'' in 1929. The ''News'' closed in 1939, being consolidated with the ''Sentinel'' as a single morning paper. In 1955 Hearst purchased television station WTVW and changed the call letters to [[WISN-TV]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Milwaukee Television (the Analog Years) |url=https://milwaukeehorrorhosts.com/MilwTV.html |access-date=August 27, 2021 |date=April 29, 2008 }}</ref>

===''The Milwaukee Journal''===
''The Milwaukee Journal'' began as ''The Daily Journal'' in 1882. [[Edna Ferber]], later a famed writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, was a ''Milwaukee Journal'' reporter for nearly four years, from approximately 1903 to 1907.

The ''Journal'' followed the ''Sentinel'' into broadcasting. The ''Journal'' purchased radio station WKAF in 1927, changing its call letters to [[WTMJ (AM)|WTMJ]].<ref>{{cite court|url=https://archive.org/details/dc_circ_1930_5163_journal_co_v_fed_radio_commn/page/n158/mode/1up|litigants=The Journal Company vs. Federal Radio Commission|court=D.C. Cir.|date=1930|opinion=5163|pinpoint=151-155}}</ref> It launched an experimental FM station, W9XAO, in 1940,<ref name=history>[https://archive.org/details/broadcasting292unse/page/n976/mode/1up "WMFM Changes Its Call Letters For Fourth Time"],''Broadcasting'', December 3, 1945, page 83.</ref> which was licensed as a commercial station in 1941,<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/broadcasting19unse#page/n1074/mode/1up "New FM Call Letters Proposed"], ''Broadcasting'', November 15, 1940, page 77.</ref> originally as W55M, and later becoming WMFM<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mwwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT6 "Standard Broadcast Station Call Letters for All Outlets Starting Nov. 1, FCC Rule"], ''The Billboard'', September 4, 1943, page 7.</ref> and [[WTMJ-FM]].<ref name=history/> This station was shut down in 1950.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/broadcastingtele51unse_0/page/n463/mode/1up "The Highlights and Sidelights of Radio-TV's Past 25 Years"] (April 3), ''Broadcasting'', October 15, 1956, page 232.</ref> In 1959 a new WTMJ-FM was licensed, which later became WKTI-FM, WLWK-FM, and [[WKTI]]. [[WTMJ-TV]], Wisconsin's first television station, went on the air in 1947.<ref>[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1947/1947-12-08-BC.pdf#page=89 Milwaukee's Video Outlet Goes On Air"], ''Broadcasting'', December 8, 1947, page 85.</ref>

===Merger===
In January 1995, faced with rising costs of newsprint and a declining ''Journal'' circulation, Journal Communications decided to merge the two publications.<ref name="MJ_merge_announcement">{{cite news|author=<!-- not stated --> |title=New paper to debut April 2—Sentinel, Journal set to merge on April 2 |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal |date=1995-01-18 |location=Milwaukee |url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/new-paper-debut-april-2-sentinel-journal-set/docview/333670706/se-2 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-08-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Ringer |first=Richard |title=Milwaukee Papers to Merge and Publish in the Morning |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=1995-01-18 |location=New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/18/business/the-media-business-milwaukee-papers-to-merge-and-publish-in-the.html |access-date=2025-08-22}}</ref> The company announced that they expected to cut the equivalent of between 500 and 550 full-time jobs.<ref name="MJ_merge_announcement"/> The final issue of the ''Journal'' was published on the evening of March 31, 1995,<ref>{{cite news|last=Aukofer |first=Frank A |title=This is the last breath |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal |date=1995-03-31 |location=Milwaukee |url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/this-is-last-breath/docview/333666145/se-2 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-08-22 |quote=After today, after 112 years and 136 days, The Journal will exist no more.}}</ref> and the final issue of the ''Sentinel'' was published on the morning of April 1, 1995.<ref>{{cite news|last=Spore |first=Keith |title=And then there was one—Gone today, here tomorrow |newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel |date=1995-04-01 |location=Milwaukee |url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/then-there-was-one-gone-today-here-tomorrow/docview/260267756/se-2 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-08-22 |quote=the next time you see us, we'll have yet another nameplate: the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel}}</ref> The first issue of the merged publication was published on April 2, 1995.<ref>{{cite news|last=Meisner |first=Mary Jo |title=Read all about it: A new, yet familiar paper |newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |date=1995-04-02 |location=Milwaukee |url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/read-all-about-new-yet-familiar-paper/docview/260279363/se-2 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-08-22 |quote=Welcome to the first Sunday edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Today and tomorrow, when our first weekday edition hits the streets, you'll get your first look at the newest paper in the United States}}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Journal Communications Building Milwaukee Wisconsin.jpg|thumb|The former Journal Communications building]]
As of mid-2012, the ''Journal Sentinel'' had the 31st-largest circulation among all major U.S. newspapers, with circulation of 207,000 for the daily edition and just under 338,000 for the Sunday edition.<ref>{{cite web |title=Top Media Outlets, January 2013; U.S. Daily Newspapers |publisher=[[Burrelles]] |url=http://www.burrellesluce.com/sites/default/files/Top_Media_2013_January2013_Final.pdf |access-date=July 31, 2016 |date=January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207053415/http://www.burrellesluce.com/sites/default/files/Top_Media_2013_January2013_Final.pdf |archive-date=December 7, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On April 8, 2016, decades of local ownership for both papers ended when [[Journal Media Group]] was acquired by the Gannett Company for $280 million.<ref name="usatoday.com"/> Gannett owns most of the daily newspapers in the central and eastern parts of Wisconsin (eleven in all),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2015/10/13/murphys-law-how-gannett-will-shrink-the-journal-sentinel/|title=How Gannett Will Shrink the Journal Sentinel|last=Murphy|first=Bruce|date=13 October 2015|publisher=UrbanMilwaukee.com|access-date=8 May 2016}}</ref> including the ''[[Green Bay Press-Gazette]]'' and Appleton's ''[[The Post-Crescent]]''. The ''Journal Sentinel'' has been integrated into the company's "''USA Today'' Network Wisconsin".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jsonline.com/business/gannett-purchase-of-journal-media-group-approved-b99702350z1-374946801.html|title=Gannett purchase of Journal Media Group approved|last=Gores|first=Paul|date=7 April 2016|newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|access-date=17 April 2016}}</ref> The ''Journal Sentinel'' also collaborates with the ''Press-Gazette'' for Packers coverage, and adapted to Gannett standards, including newspaper layout, website and apps, in August 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/print-and-digital-updates-coming-b99766646z1-388042522.html|title=Editor's Note - Print and digital updates coming|last=Stanley|first=George|date=23 July 2016|work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|access-date=30 July 2016}}</ref>

In the spring of 2018, the ''Journal Sentinel'' press facility began to print all of Gannett's state papers (it already printed ''[[The Sheboygan Press]]'' and ''USA Today'') replacing the company's Appleton facility.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.postcrescent.com/story/money/2018/01/17/gannett-move-printing-appleton-facility/1039467001/ |title=Gannett to move printing from Appleton facility |work=[[The Post Crescent]] |date=2018-01-17 |access-date=2018-01-18 }}</ref> By 2021, it was reported that about 90% of ''Journal Sentinel'' subscriptions were for its print edition despite a years-long push to increase the number of digital subscribers.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Murphy|first=Bruce|title=Murphy's Law: The Journal Sentinel's Drastic Decline|url=https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2021/11/16/murphys-law-the-journal-sentinels-drastic-decline/|date=16 November 2021|access-date=2021-11-16|website=Urban Milwaukee|language=en}}</ref>

In April 2024, the newspaper launched a redesigned Sunday edition.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Borowski |first=Greg |date=April 26, 2024 |title=We're bringing you a bigger, bolder and better Sunday print edition |url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/columnists/2024/04/26/milwaukee-journal-sentinel-redesigns-sunday-print-edition/73386228007/ |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Awards==
''The Milwaukee Journal'' and the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' have received [[Pulitzer Prize]]s:

In 1934, cartoonist [[Ross A. Lewis]] won for his cartoon on labor-industry violence, "[[:File:Sure, I'll Work for Both Sides.jpg|Sure, I'll Work for Both Sides]]".<ref>{{Cite news|date=1977-08-09|title=ROSS LEWIS|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/09/archives/ross-lewis.html|access-date=2021-10-25|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1966, the series "Pollution: The Spreading Menace" garnered the award for public service.<ref>Bednarek, David J. "Journal won esteemed Pulitzer Prize 5 times," ''The Milwaukee Journal'', 31 March 1995: SS14.</ref>

In 1977, [[Margo Huston]] became the first female staff member of ''The Milwaukee Journal'' to win a Pulitzer Prize. She won the award in the category of best general reporting for a series of articles on the elderly and the process of aging.<ref>Sandin, Jo, "Last in the newsroom, women scored many firsts," ''The Milwaukee Journal'', 31 March 1995: B1, Final Metro.</ref>

In 2008, local government reporter [[Dave Umhoefer|David Umhoefer]] was awarded the 2008 [[Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting]] for his investigation of the [[Milwaukee County]] pension system.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS218929+07-Apr-2008+BW20080407|title=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Wins 2008 Pulitzer Prize|work=Reuters|access-date=2009-04-16|date=April 7, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090819041631/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS218929+07-Apr-2008+BW20080407|archive-date=August 19, 2009|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In 2010, reporter Raquel Rutledge was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for her investigations and stories on abuses in a state-run child care system.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2010-Local-Reporting|title=The 2010 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Local Reporting|access-date=2010-04-13}}</ref>

In 2011, Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar, and Alison Sherwood were awarded the [[Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting]] for their "lucid examination of an epic effort to use genetic technology to save a 4-year-old boy imperiled by a mysterious disease, told with words, graphics, videos and other images."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2011-Explanatory-Reporting|title=The 2011 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Explanatory Reporting|access-date=2011-04-19}}</ref>

===Other awards===
In 1965 the paper's [[women's section]] won the [[Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards|Penney-Missouri Award]] for General Excellence.<ref name="TD28dec65">{{cite news |title=The T-D's It's A Woman's World Wins Top National Prize |newspaper=Quad-City Times |date=December 28, 1965 |page=1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26586459/quadcity_times_28dec1965p1/ |publisher=Times Democrat |access-date=28 December 2018}}</ref>

==Archives==
In 2008, Google published the newspaper's archives as part of an initiative to digitize historical newspapers. Though the initiative ended in 2011, the archives remain accessible. The Milwaukee digitization used microfilm that had been scanned for [[ProQuest]]'s database. At the ''Journal Sentinel''{{'s}} request, the [[Milwaukee Public Library]] loaned decades of missing microfilm volumes to complete the digitization. When Google's project ended, the newspaper began the process of creating its own archive via its relationship with [[Newsbank]].{{r|vanished}}

Newsbank unsuccessfully attempted to sell ''Journal Sentinel'' digital archive access to the Milwaukee Public Library, which could not afford their asking price. The Library already subscribed to Newsbank's obituary and recent ''Journal Sentinel'' articles, as well as other proprietary databases with annual subscriptions costing less than $100,000. In May 2014, Newsbank suggested several purchase options, one of which was $1.5 million, which would have consumed nearly all of the library's $1.7 million materials budget. The newspaper changed ownership to Gannett in April and by August had requested that Google remove free public access to the archives, leaving a gap in coverage.<ref name=vanished>{{Cite news| issn = 1091-2339| last = Grabar| first = Henry| title = Why Milwaukee's Online Newspaper Archive Vanished Overnight| work = Slate| accessdate = 2021-12-29| date = 2016-08-24| url = https://slate.com/technology/2016/08/milwaukee-journal-sentinel-archive-vanishes-from-googles-news-archive.html}}</ref> Google Newspapers access was restored in December 2017,<ref>{{Cite web| last = Nickels| first = Craig| title = Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel newspaper archives are back on the Web| work = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel| accessdate = 2021-12-29| date = 2017-12-20| url = https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2017/12/20/milwaukee-journal-sentinel-newspaper-archives-back-web/970727001/}}</ref> but digital access continued to be sporadic over the next several years.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Horne| first = Michael| title = Plenty of Horne: Journal and Sentinel Archives Threatened| work = Urban Milwaukee| accessdate = 2021-12-29| date = 2020-02-10| url = https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/02/10/plenty-of-horne-journal-and-sentinel-archives-threatened/}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Conrad, Will C., Kathleen Wilson, and Dale Wilson (1964). ''The Milwaukee Journal: The First Eighty Years''. [[University of Wisconsin Press]].
** Review by [[Scott Cutlip]] (Fall 1964). "Portrait Without Blemishes", ''[[Columbia Journalism Review]]'', pp.&nbsp;42–43.
* Wells, Robert W. (1981). ''The Milwaukee Journal: An Informal Chronicle of its First 100 Years''. Milwaukee, WI: Milwaukee Journal.

==External links==
* [http://jsonline.com/ ''JS'' Online, the ''Journal Sentinel'' website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041213054804/http://www.jsonline.com/recruitment/about.asp ''Journal Sentinel'' background page]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050225033302/http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,860305,00.html ''Time'' magazine article: "The Fair Lady of Milwaukee"]
* [http://libarchstor.uah.edu:8081/repositories/2/resources/169 Mary Beth Walker Collection, The University of Alabama in Huntsville Archives and Special Collections] Collection of key World War II issues of the Milwaukee Journal.

{{Gannett}}
{{Pulitzer Prize for Public Service}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:1837 establishments in Wisconsin Territory]]
[[Category:Gannett publications]]
[[Category:Mass media in Milwaukee]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1837|Milwaukee Sentinel]]
[[Category:Newspapers published in Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1882|Milwaukee Journal]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1995]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize–winning newspapers]]