(Via Romenesko) A reader asked Howard Kurtz to list the top ten newspapers in the country. His reply:
“It’s an entirely subjective exercise, of course. I think that the NYT, LAT, WP and WSJ are widely seen as in the top tier of American newspapers, and the Chicago Tribune and Boston Globe a notch below. In the past, the list would have included the Inquirer and Miami Herald, both former Knight Ridder papers that have suffered their share of cutbacks. The Atlanta and San Francisco papers certainly have their strengths. The Dallas Morning News was an up and coming paper but has been hard hit by cutbacks. USA Today is influential but obviously a different kind of publication. And if sales are the measure, the New York Post is the No. 5 paper in America. So I guess these lists have to be revised as this industry shakeout continues.”
Romenesko asks the same question. Some folks are responding with their own lists.
I found Time Magazine’s list in 1964:
1. Baltimore Sun 2. Cleveland Press 3. Los Angeles Times 4. Louisville Courier-Journal 5. Milwaukee Journal 6. Minneapolis morning Tribune 7. New York Daily News 8. New York Times 9. St. Louis Post-Dispatch 10. Washington Post
And Time’s list in 1974 (the last year I could find the list):
1. Boston Globe 2. Chicago Tribune 3. L.A. Times 4. Louisville Courier-Journal 5. Miami Herald 6. Milwaukee Journal 7. Newsday 8. New York Times 9. Wall Street Journal 10. Washington Post
I’m curious what your list would be.
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