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Democrat and Chronicle
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Gannett
EditorMichael Kilian
Founded1833; 191 years ago (1833)
(as The Balance)
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters245 East Main Street
Midtown Plaza
Rochester, New York 14604
United States
Circulation
  • 27,569 daily
  • 42,355 Sunday
(as of Q3 2022)[1][2]
ISSN1088-5153
Websitedemocratandchronicle.com

The Democrat and Chronicle is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. Headquartered at 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the Democrat and Chronicle operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production facility is in Rockaway, New Jersey. Since the Times-Union merger in 1997, the Democrat and Chronicle is Rochester's only daily circulated newspaper.

History

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Founded in 1833 as The Balance, the paper eventually became known as the Daily Democrat.[3] The Daily Democrat merged with another local paper, the Chronicle, in 1870, to become known as the Democrat and Chronicle. The paper was purchased by Gannett in 1928.[4] Prior to 1959, the newspaper was headquartered at 59-61 E. Main Street, on Rochester's Main Street Bridge.[5][6]

From 1928 to 1985, the Democrat and Chronicle was Gannett's flagship paper. In 1959, the newspaper relocated to Gannett's headquarters in the Gannett Building at 55 Exchange Boulevard.[6] It shared the space with the Rochester Times-Union, an afternoon daily paper. Gannett moved its headquarters to Tysons Corner, Virginia, home of USA Today, in 1985. Over time, Gannett merged the Times-Union into the Democrat and Chronicle. Their staffs were merged in 1992, and the Times-Union circulation ended in 1997.[7] That same year, newspaper production was relocated from the Gannett Building to a facility in Greece, New York.[8]

The Democrat and Chronicle building at Midtown Plaza in Rochester, New York

In May 2016, the Democrat and Chronicle relocated its headquarters to a new, smaller building at the Midtown Plaza site on East Main Street. At 153,350 square feet, the former headquarters in the Gannett building was considerably larger than the current headquarters, which is 42,000 square feet. The Democrat and Chronicle no longer needed the much larger space in the building, which included the area that formerly held the printing presses before 1996, which was expensive to maintain.[6]

With the move came new branding as D&C Digital, emphasizing focus on the outlet's digital marketing services and video properties.[9]

In 2010, The Democrat and Chronicle ranked number one among US newspapers in market penetration, the percentage of readers in a metro area who read in print or online. The Democrat and Chronicle held that top spot for several years, and have been among the leaders since the 1990s.[10]

In 2023, the paper announced it would relocate its printing offices from Greece, New York to Rockaway, New Jersey that April.[8][11]

Sexual abuse scandal

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The Democrat and Chronicle, along with its parent company Gannett, was sued in October 2019 by a former paperboy who accused the newspaper of enabling a former district manager to sexually abuse him in the 1980s. In late 2018, this former paperboy emailed investigative reporters and Gannett management, asking them to investigate his claims. Karen Magnuson, then Executive Editor for Gannett's Democrat & Chronicle, told reporters to put their investigative reporting of abuse claims on "pause" and brought the email to the attention of Gannett's management to conduct their own investigation.[citation needed] Gannett COO Michael G. Kane then sent the original claimant a letter indicating no evidence had been found and they were "closing out" the matter. Shortly after, New York passed its Child Victim Act, lifting the statute of limitations on child sex abuse claims.[12] This initial case is currently pending. Four more lawsuits were filed in early 2020.[13] Additionally, three more men filed suit against Gannett for child sex abuse in September 2020.[14] As the New York state window to file under its Childs Victim Act closed in August 2021, a ninth man sued[15] the Democrat and Chronicle, and its publisher Gannett, in Rochester NY alleging child sex abuse by the same former district manager of paper carriers. In July 2022, Gannett defense attorneys notified the court of their intent to file a motion to have the former paperboy's Child Victims Act cases taken "out of the state court system and turn them over to the New York Workers' Compensation Board"[16] stating that the 11-14-year-old paperboys should have applied for workman's compensation at the time of their injuries in the 1980s, or in 2019 upon enactment of the CVA as it is a simple online process.[17] All these cases are currently pending in New York State court.

Nearly three years after the first lawsuit filing, in July 2022, Gannett (the parent company and publisher of the Democrat & Chronicle) defense attorneys notified the court of their intent to file a motion to have the former paperboys' Child Victims Act cases taken "out of the state court system and turn them over to the New York Workers' Compensation Board" stating that the 11–14-year-old paperboys should have applied for workman's compensation at the time of their injuries in the 1980s or upon enactment of the CVA in 2019. In December 2022, presiding Judge, Deborah A. Chimes acquiesced to Gannett's demands that NY Workers Compensation Board – despite the existence of the Child Victims Act as NY State law – determine if Plaintiffs have a valid cause of action for damages or whether they are limited to benefits under the Worker’s Compensation Law. This despite the fact that the Workers Compensation Board has no mechanism to consider this question of justice and legal rights, as the Board is tasked by the state of New York solely to: "administer workers’ compensation, disability benefits and Paid Family Leave." On July 26, 2024, this demand of Gannett, received and accepted fully by Judge Deborah Chimes, was reversed, by the Fourth Judicial Department of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. The nine plaintiff cases remain pending action by Judge Chimes and her court.

Notable contributors

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References

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  1. ^ Gannett. "Form 10-K". Securities & Exchange Commission. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  2. ^ Benton, Joshua (March 9, 2023). "The scale of local news destruction in Gannett's markets is astonishing". Nieman Lab.
  3. ^ "The newspaper". Retrieved December 3, 2006.
  4. ^ "About Gannett: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle". Gannett Co., Inc. Archived from the original on October 23, 2006. Retrieved October 26, 2006.
  5. ^ "Explore our first home on Main Street". Democrat and Chronicle. June 1, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Staff report. (October 29, 2013). "D&C announces plans for new downtown home". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  7. ^ "Rochester Times-Union Publishes Final Edition". The New York Times. June 28, 1997. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "D&C closing printing facility at Canal Ponds". Democrat and Chronicle. January 4, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  9. ^ "D&C Digital: Welcome to our new home". Democrat and Chronicle. May 21, 2016.
  10. ^ "Ranking of newspapers' market penetration indicates the market matters as well as the content" Archived April 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine – Poynter Institute
  11. ^ "Democrat & Chronicle is moving its printing operations to New Jersey". WHEC. January 5, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  12. ^ "Former paperboys await justice after suing Gannett for allowing sexual abuse four decades ago". Poynter. December 7, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  13. ^ Andreatta, David. "Four more paperboys sue the Democrat and Chronicle claiming sexual abuse". CITY News. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  14. ^ "Two more former paperboys come forward to allege sexual abuse by supervisor: Lawsuit". ABC News. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  15. ^ "Archived copy". iapps.courts.state.ny.us. Archived from the original on September 3, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. ^ Will Astor (September 8, 2022). "Gannett's Legal Gambit". Rochester Beacon.
  17. ^ https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=oKUHyrvdVbsaTWAtEJPBDA==. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ^ "Earl Caldwell, once a local watchdog". Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  19. ^ Pablo, Manriquez (October 19, 2011). "7 Young Latinos In Online Media To Watch In 2012". List of Influencers. The Huffington Post. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
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