- In 1942, upon the death of his father, Walter Annenberg assumed control of the Inquirer. The post-war years were far from easy ones for the paper. Critics claimed that Annenberg used the paper to press his own political and social agendas. The paper faced labor difficulties and declining circulation, mostly as a result of the popularity of city's larger afternoon paper, The Evening Bulletin.
- Following his appointment as ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1969, Annenberg sold the paper to Knight Newspapers Inc., which itself merged with Ridder Publishing in 1974 to form one of the nation's largest newspaper publishing companies.
- In 1970, Knight Newspapers created Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc. to run The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News, the Knight afternoon paper. In 1982 the Evening Bulletin folded, leaving the two Knight-Ridder papers as the only remaining daily newspapers in Philadelphia.
- Faced with the challenges brought by the growth of the Internet, Knight-Ridder launched The Real Cities network in October of 1997 to provide a home for the company's newspaper websites, city-resource sites and other specialty interest sites. Today Real Cities has grown to include non-Knight-Ridder companies such as the Belo Corporation and Central Newspapers.
Much has changed in the years since The Pennsylvania Inquirer was published from a small print shop on Bank Alley, between Front and Second Streets. However, unlike many of its competitors which have come and gone, the Philadelphia Inquirer has endured as one of the nation's most respected and nationally acclaimed newspapers.
Unlike its competitors, the Inquirer has shown itself to be adaptable to change. As more readers migrate from print to electronic media as the source for their news, new challenges are sure to arise. If history holds true, however, the Inquirer will adapt, evolve and remain as a major information source for the residents of the Greater Philadelphia and South Jersey area.
Sources
Circulation data courtesy of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, FAS-FAX Report - March 31, 2001.
A Concise History of The Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc.