San Antonio Express-News

American newspaper, founded 1865

San Antonio Express-News

The January 18, 2012, front page of the
San Antonio Express-News

Type| Daily newspaper
Format| Broadsheet
Owner(s)| Hearst Communications
Publisher| Mark Medici
Editor| Marc Duvoisin[1]
Founded| 1865
Language| English
Headquarters| Avenue E and Third Street
San Antonio, Texas 78205
United States
Circulation| 58,624 (as of 2023)[2]
ISSN| 2690-7143
OCLC number| 61312326
Website| expressnews.com

The San Antonio Express-News is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas, founded in 1865. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The Express-News is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with a daily circulation of nearly 100,000 copies in 2016.[3] The newspaper's online presence can be found at Expressnews.com.[4] Hearst also owns MYSanAntonio.com, which shares office space with the Express-News but maintains a separate newsroom and website.[5] MYSanAntonio.com, or MySA, is editorially independent of ExpressNews.com.[6]

From 1881, the San Antonio Express-News' main competitor was the San Antonio Evening Light, which became a Hearst publication in 1924 and was shut down, in 1993, when Hearst bought the Express-News.

## History

[edit]

The paper was first published in 1865 as a weekly tabloid-style newspaper under the name San Antonio Express. At that time, the city had already had a number of other newspapers in a number of different languages. However, all the other publications went out of business, leaving only the Express to serve the city.[citation needed]

In December 1866, the Express made the move from a weekly paper to a daily newspaper, and expanded into a full newspaper by the early 1870s. The early days of the Express was marked by several leadership changes which almost doomed the paper, until a brand new company, the Express Printing Company, took control in 1875. The Express eventually became a daily morning newspaper in 1878.[citation needed]

In January 1881, a new rival newspaper, the Evening Light, was first published by A. W. Gifford and J. P. Newcomb, who had been an early investor in the Express.[7] The Evening Light was published as an afternoon paper, as opposed to the morning Express. At first, the editors of the Express chose to ignore the upstart paper, but the Light soon grew in popularity at the turn of the 20th century. In 1906 the Daily Light was sold to E. B. Chandler, and in 1909 the Daily Light Publishing Company bought the San Antonio Gazette. From then until 1911 the paper was referred to as the Light and Gazette. Edward S. O'Reilly, known as Tex, was at one time managing editor. In 1911 Harrison L. Beach and Charles S. Diehl, veteran correspondents of national standing, moved to San Antonio and bought the Light and Gazette. Once again it was known as the Light. Diehl was a founder of the AP wire service. Beach and Diehl installed leased wire news service and published the first full stock market reports in a San Antonio paper. The Light became liberal-Democratic in its political views. While Beach and Diehl ran the paper, circulation increased from 11,000 to 25,000 copies daily. In 1918, the Express ownership, now renamed Express Publishing Company, launched its own afternoon paper, the San Antonio Evening News. Soon thereafter, a rivalry developed between workers of the Express and the News. In fact, some News workers dubbed a new office building as the News-Express building. In 1924, however, William Randolph Hearst bought the Light and instituted Hearst policies, and by 1945 the circulation was approximately 70,000.[citation needed]

The 1920s was marked by expansion by Express Publishing as the company started one of the city's first radio stations, WOAI, in 1922. As the two rival publishers entered the 1950s, the Express and the News both had higher readership numbers than the Light. However, the Light skyrocketed to the top of the market when it acquired a number of popular comic strips, like Dick Tracy. The Express Publishing Company diversified further, acquiring two more radio stations and a television station, which they renamed KENS-TV. Those call letters were intended to stand for, K-Express News Station. In the 1960s, Express Publishing was sold to the Harte-Hanks newspaper group.[citation needed]

In 1973, with the Light beating both the Express and the News in circulation numbers, a new ownership group emerged. Australian native Rupert Murdoch of News Corp bought the Express and the News from Harte-Hanks. Murdoch re-formatted the News as a more tabloid-styled paper, while the Express retained its original, conservative format. The Light was now forced to compete against two different styles of newspaper while at the same time trying to combat the growing costs of an afternoon circulation.[citation needed]

By September 1984, the Express and the News merged into the San Antonio Express-News and afternoon service was slowly discontinued, while the Light started getting into the morning circulation business in order to keep up. But under News Corp., the Express-News adopted a more mainstream format and expanded its services to communities outside Bexar County. As a result, the Express-News became San Antonio's leading newspaper for good. By 1992, News Corp had diversified into movies and television and was looking to sell the Express-News. The Hearst Corporation, which still owned the Light, agreed to either sell or close the newspaper and acquire the Express-News in order to keep its stake in the San Antonio market. The Light never found a buyer and it went out of business in January 1993.[citation needed]

In 2019, the Express-News sold its downtown headquarters building. The planned move to another downtown property was delayed as the COVID-19 pandemic led to the staff working remotely. In 2022, the paper relocated to the top two floors of the Light Building, which is named after its former tenant and Hearst property, The San Antonio Light. Following this move, employees began transitioning back to in-person work, and the news organization now operates under a hybrid model.[8]

## See also

[edit]

* Dan Cook
* List of newspapers in Texas

Portals:

* Texas
* Companies

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Danner, Patrick (June 11, 2018). "Duvoisin, a former Los Angeles Times top editor, named Express-News editor". San Antonio Express-News.
2. ^ "2023 Texas Newspaper Directory". Texas Press Association. Archived from the original on May 3, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
3. ^ "Top 10 Texas Daily Newspapers". Cision. August 3, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
4. ^ "San Antonio Express-News". Hearst Corporation.
5. ^ "San Antonio Express-News". Hearst Corporation. Hearst Communications. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
6. ^ "MySA". Hearst Corporation. Hearst Communications. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
7. ^ Handbook of Texas Online, James Pearson Newcomb
8. ^ Fu, Angela (June 16, 2022). "'Back in the cockpit': The San Antonio Express-News moves into its new newsroom". Poynter. Retrieved June 17, 2022.

## Sources

[edit]

* Donecker, Frances. "San Antonio Light". Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved April 26, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* "San Antonio Express-News".
* "MySA".
* "Getting it down in black and white: A history of the E-N".
* Hearst subsidiary profile of the San Antonio Express-News
* San Antonio Light: About the Collection The Portal to Texas History University of North Texas

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Hearst Communications

Daily
newspapers|

* The Advocate
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* The Pioneer
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* San Antonio Express-News
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Weekly
newspapers|

* The Bastrop Advertiser
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Magazines|

| United States|

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* Hot Rod
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|

International|

* Bicycling
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* Men's Health
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United Kingdom
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Gente
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The Netherlands
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Spain
Fotogramas
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25Ans
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ELLE Girl
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Hearst Television|

ABC
KETV
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KHOG
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KOCO-TV
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The CW
KCWE
KHBS .2

KHOG .2
KQCA
WCWG
WKCF
WNNE
WPXT

Radio|

* WBAL
* WIYY

Entertainment|

* A&E Networks (50%)
* ESPN Inc. (20%)
* Hearst Media Production Group
* King Features Syndicate
* NorthSouth Productions (50%)
* Reed Brennan Media Associates

Business|

* Black Book
* First Databank
* Fitch Group
* BMI Research
* Motor

Marketplaces|

* Bring a Trailer
* First Finds
* Men's Health Shop
* Oprah Daily Shop

Real estate|

* CDS Global
* Hearst Tower
* Hearst Service Center
* Hearst Ranch

** Owned by a third party and operated by Hearst Television.

* v
* t
* e

City of San Antonio

Nickname: Alamo City

Topics|

* Architecture
* Culture
* History
* Neighborhoods
* Metropolitan Area
* San Antonio River (Springs)

Attractions|

* The Alamo
* Alamo Cenotaph
* Acequia Madre de Valero
* La Antorcha de la Amistad
* Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower
* Cathedral of San Fernando
* Convention Center
* Earl Abel's
* Guenther House
* HemisFair '68
* Houston Street
* La Villita
* Market Square
* Rivercenter
* River Walk
* St. Joseph Catholic Church
* Tower of the Americas
* Tower Life Building
* San Antonio Zoo

Museums|

* Artpace
* Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum
* Buckhorn Saloon & Museum
* Casa Navarro State Historic Site
* Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
* Institute of Texan Cultures
* McNay Art Museum
* Museo Alameda
* Museum of Aerospace Medicine
* O. Henry House Museum
* Ruby City
* San Antonio Museum of Art
* Spanish Governor's Palace
* Edward Steves Homestead
* Texas Air Museum
* Texas Transportation Museum
* United States Army Medical Department Museum
* USAF Airman Heritage Museum
* Witte Museum
* Yturri-Edmunds Historic Site

See also: List of museums in Central Texas

Entertainment|

* Alamo City Comic Con
* Arneson River Theater
* Aztec on the River
* Charline McCombs Empire Theatre
* Fiesta Noche del Rio
* Fiesta San Antonio
* Freeman Coliseum
* Majestic Theatre
* Morgan's Wonderland
* Ripley's Believe It or Not!
* San Japan
* Santikos Theatres
* SeaWorld San Antonio
* Six Flags Fiesta Texas
* Splashtown San Antonio
* St. Mary's Strip
* Texas Folklife Festival
* Tobin Center for the Performing Arts (San Antonio Symphony)
* San Antonio Municipal Auditorium
* Woodlawn Theatre

Industry|

* Bill Miller Bar-B-Q Enterprises
* Christus Santa Rosa
* iHeartMedia
* Frost Bank
* H-E-B
* Jim's Restaurants
* Luby's
* M7 Aerospace
* NewTek
* NuStar Energy
* Rackspace
* San Antonio Express-News
* SAS Shoemakers (SAS)
* San Antonio Water System
* Security Service Federal Credit Union
* Taco Cabana
* Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas
* USAA
* Valero Energy
* Visionworks of America
* Whataburger

Research
and education|

* The Alamo Colleges
* Baptist Health System School of Health Professions
* Cancer Therapy & Research Center
* Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute
* Oblate School of Theology
* Our Lady of the Lake University
* San Antonio Public Library
* San Antonio Municipal Archives
* South Texas Medical Center
* Texas Biomedical Research Institute
* Southwest Research Institute
* St. Mary's University
* Texas A&M University–San Antonio
* Texas Neurosciences Institute
* Trinity University
* University Health System
* University of the Incarnate Word
* University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
* University of Texas at San Antonio

Military|

* San Antonio Military Medical Center
* Brooks City-Base
* Camp Bullis
* Fort Sam Houston
* Lackland Air Force Base
* Pershing House
* Randolph Air Force Base
* Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center

Neighborhoods|

* Alamo Heights
* Alazán-Apache Courts
* Brooks
* Dominion
* Downtown
* Inwood
* La Cantera
* Mahncke Park
* Monte Vista
* Pearl
* Pecan Valley
* Stone Oak
* Thompson Field

Parks|

* Acequia
* San Antonio Botanical Garden
* Brackenridge Park
* Denman Estate Park
* Dwight D. Eisenhower Park
* Friedrich Wilderness Park
* Government Canyon State Natural Area
* Phil Hardberger Park
* Mahncke
* Milam Park
* Miraflores Park
* Roosevelt Park
* San Antonio Japanese Tea Garden
* San Antonio Missions National Historical Park
* San Pedro Springs Park
* O. P. Schnabel Park
* Travis Park

Sports|

* Alamodome (San Antonio Brahmas, UTSA Roadrunners football)
* Frost Bank Center (San Antonio Spurs)
* Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium (Incarnate Word Cardinals football)
* Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium (San Antonio Missions)
* Toyota Field (San Antonio FC)
* Freeman Coliseum
* San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo

Transportation|

* San Antonio International Airport
* Amtrak Station
* VIA Metropolitan Transit

Other|

* Mayor
* San Antonio Fire Department
* San Antonio Police Department

* Bexar County
* San Antonio–New Braunfels Metro

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