Alan D. Miller|The Columbus Dispatch
Thejournalists and printers who founded The Dispatch in 1871 couldn't have imagined the stories their paper would tell across 150 years.
It has chronicled the amazing growth of the capital city, told of Ohioans rocketing into space, covered Ohioans who would become the U.S. president, and informed readers about war heroes and everyday heroes, and so much more.
Timeline: The Dispatch in Downtown Columbus
The staff of this news organization works in service to this community.The Dispatch proudly sendsthatmessage from the rooftop with an iconic neon sign: 150 Years of Service.
It's a calling and a commitment.The Dispatch has been an enduring presence in downtown Columbus and a trusted news source since July 1, 1871, when the first four-page paper rolled off of presses at 26N. High St.
We celebrate this city and its people. We call out injustice. We speak truth to power.
Columbus landmark: Columbus Dispatch sign stands as a symbol of 150 years of service to the community
We are your neighbors and friends. We live here, work here and care deeply about this community, and wedoour best for you each day. We walk in the footsteps of all who came before us in this business, including cartoonist Billy Ireland, who amused and entertained Dispatch readers from 1898 to 1935, and for whom the cartoon library and museum at Ohio State University is named.
Another is author James Thurber, who worked at the paper from 1920 to 1924 and had been on theCity Hall beat for five days when the building caught fire during a city council meeting and burned down.
Thurber considered his time at The Dispatch "the most valuable training I ever got, in school or out, for a life of literary crime in the future, if any."
The late Mike Harden is another Columbus legend who wrote for the Columbus Citizen-Journal before joining The Dispatch in 1983.
Harden’s columns reflected the humanity of Columbus in profiles and poignant observations written in a conversational style that put a reader right there next to the people he wrote about.
We are honored to follow them and to serve you, and we see this as your newspaper and news website.
Those who came before us at this award-winning news organization felt the same way. "We want you to think of The Dispatch as your newspaper," the staff wrote in a booklet in the 1940s about the process of gathering and delivering the news. "It is devoted to the service of bringing you the happenings of each day, that you may be informed and entertained.
"Please think of The Dispatch not as a giant machine, but rather as a vital, living institution with a personality — a personality which sees the happenings each day and chronicles them, even as you might compile your diary."
As The Dispatch turns 150 today, we renew our commitment to provide you with the news and information you need to make important decisions and navigate daily life. And we will continue to provide it in whatever form you want to receive it— online, on your phone or tablet, in podcasts, in videos, on your smart speaker,in print and via social media.
Want to know the background on candidates for public office?We have that. Curious about how your tax dollars are being spent or what your public officials are doing? We have them covered. Wondering where or howto buy a house? We provide that. Want to know who has the best burgers or ribs in town? We have that and more.
The Dispatch sports team covers Ohio State football, the Crew, the Blue Jackets and other local sports like no other. Theteam covering state government and politics— now a combined forceof reporters from The Dispatch and The Cincinnati Enquirer— is giving readers across the state some of the best political coverage in the country.
When news breaks, we flood the scene with journalists and you swarmDispatch.com, because you know we're there for you— when natural disasters hit, when wild animals escape from a farm in rural Muskingum County, when a man with a knife goes on a rampage on the Ohio State campus or when a doctor is accused of killing dozens of patients at a local hospital.
And The Dispatch has a decades-long history of investigative journalism that has changed lives and laws, and ultimately, the quality of life for central Ohioans and people far beyond our state line.
We reported about the rise in serious injuries in youth sports, which helped resultin a law that established new protocols to protect children who may have suffered concussions. We dug into the state's woeful useand retention of DNA evidence, which also resulted in law changes and helped set free six men who were either released or declared innocent after collectively serving more than 110years in prison.
Dispatch reporters dug into the lack of meaningful disciplinary action for teachers who abused students, often in sexual relationships, and that series brought swift action by state officials to change laws and procedures.
They sifted through millionsof complaints about credit-reporting agencies not fixing mistakes in credit reports, which in many cases destroyed thefinances for families across the country. The Dispatch published three series on the topic, and the reporting led to national reforms in how credit-reporting agencies are monitored and regulated.
More recently, reporters put the spotlight on crime, poverty and lack of attention being paid to neighborhoods along Sullivant Avenue west of Downtown. That project helped city officials see the need for more investment in that area to improve the quality of life there. And a series on deaths caused by hazing resulted in a law change that Gov. Mike DeWine is expected to sign soon.
Our commitment to you includes a continued focus on local news, which is our franchise.
With this anniversary, we are launching a year-long celebration of local journalism by looking back at our collective history through a series of stories and the reproduction of historic front pages. We'll also look forward by implementing new initiatives.
Beginning in August, we will beef up the Sunday paper with additional content based on comments from you, our readers, about news and features you would like to see more of. Watch for more details about that in the coming weeks.
We also are making a commitment to increased coverage of Columbus neighborhoods, in part by routinely placing reporters in those neighborhoods to listen, learn and get to know people better so that we can do our best to reflect this community.
And we are launching a series ofcommunity conversations, hosted by Opinion and Engagement Editor Amelia Robinson. Some will be virtualand some will be in-person events. The first in the series of Columbus Conversations will be "Bridging the Divide Between Police and the People" at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 8.
Panelists areJames Wynn, co-president of B.R.E.A.D. (Building Responsibility, Equality and Dignity);Sean Walton, a Columbus civil rights attorney; Deputy Chief Tim Becker of the Columbus Police Division;Brian A. Steel, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9;Vladimir Kogan, Ohio State University associate professor of political science; and Columbus City Council President Shannon G. Hardin.
The free town-hall event will stream live on Dispatch.com and the newspaper's Facebook page and YouTube channel. It will remain available for viewing on those platforms following the event as well. Questions for the panel can be submitted in advance by emailing them to AmeliaRobinson@dispatch.com.
Please join us on July 8, and thank you for being with us each day as you read The Dispatch. We appreciate you and your support for local journalism.
Alan D. Miller is editor of The Dispatch.
amiller@dispatch.com
