The Tucson Citizen

The weekly Arizona Citizen [LCCN: sn 82014896], which began publication in Tucson in 1870, was one of Arizona’s earliest newspapers. Originally published by John Wasson, the weekly paper was sold to John P. Clum in 1877. Clum then started the affiliated daily newspaper, the Daily Arizona Citizen, in February 1879, while the weekly paper continued to be published for many years. Clum sold his rights to both newspapers to R.C. Brown in early 1880, and a few months later, he co-founded the Tombstone Epitaph [LCCN: sn 82016455].

By 1884, the daily paper’s name changed to the Arizona Daily Citizen [LCCN: sn87062098]. In its early years, the Citizen usually focused on local and state news and included editorials, a professional directory, and pages full of advertisements for local businesses. Columns like “Pick and Drill, Mill and Smelter” and “Hoofs and Horns, Ranch and Range” reported mining and agricultural news. Arizona’s journey from territory to state was often reported in the paper, including a 1902 front page headline, “Fight for Statehood,” ten years before Arizona would become a state. Initially four pages in length, the newspaper grew substantially over its long run to include national and international news. The Citizen was read widely, with newspapers in Arizona and in other states republishing its articles.

In December 1901, under the editorship of O’Brien Moore, the newspaper’s name changed to The Tucson Citizen, and the new masthead declared: “The Dawn of A New Era for Tucson.” An editorial discussed improvements being made to the paper, including more space for advertisers, and laid out the newspaper’s goals: “We believe the people of Arizona in general, and Tucson in particular, want, and will support an honest, plain-spoken, intelligent, enterprising newspaper, and this is what The Citizen aims to be…There is no better indication of the character of a town than the character and quality of its newspapers. An enterprising intelligent, up-to-date newspaper plainly indicates a progressive, prosperous, intelligent community.”

The Citizen advertised itself as a Republican paper: “The Daily Citizen is a representative Republican paper, devoted to the interest of Pima County and the Territory of Arizona.” In its 1920 anniversary issue, the newspaper noted that it “has always been a Republican paper, save from 1901 to 1910” when Moore was editor, and described Moore as a “brilliant editorial writer” who “became one of the landmarks of journalism in Arizona.”

The Tucson Citizen’s name changed again in 1928 to the Tucson Daily Citizen and that title remained until 1977, when it returned to the Tucson Citizen for the remainder of its publication. When the daily paper had first appeared in 1879, the Weekly Arizona Miner [LCCN: sn 82014897] commented: “Mr. Clum, the editor and proprietor, assures his readers that the Daily Citizen has come to stay…” The daily Tucson Citizen did stay for many years as the city’s afternoon paper until it ceased print publication in May 2009. An online publication, TucsonCitizen.com, described as “a compendium of blogs” continued until January 2014.

Essay provided by University of Arizona Libraries