Belo: From Newspapers to New Media »

Founded in Galveston in 1842 with the launch of the Daily News, the Belo Corporation entered the twenty-first century as a powerhouse conglomerate, owning four daily newspapers (including the Dallas Morning News), twenty-six television and cable stations, and over thirty interactive Web sites. The first comprehensive work to bring to life this remarkable success story, Belo blends biography with a history of corporate strategies.

Drawing on company archives and private papers of key figures, including A. H. Belo and G. B. Dealey, former company archivist Judith Garrett Segura brings to life important chapters in the cultural life of Texas, from Galveston's days as the largest and most vibrant town in the Republic of Texas, through the wars that followed statehood, periods of economic hardship, and the effects of sweeping social change. Turning points in the company's history, such as the sale of its Galveston paper when company revenues were dramatically affected by candid reporting of Ku Klux Klan activities in the 1920s, highlight crucial elements of the press's role in the life of a community. Segura also charts technological advances, from the telegraph and the typographers' union to the dawn of the Information Age. Finally, she includes the most complete portrait of the Dallas Times Herald Company to date, documenting the rise and fall of Belo's chief rival.

This is a story of frontier survival and futuristic thinking, marketing genius and historic reporting, nurtured by a family of mavericks.

Acknowledgments ix Prologue 1 Chapter 1 Leaders of Legend: A. H. Belo & G. B. Dealey 7 Chapter 2 The Children Confront the Legacy (1912-1945) 42 Chapter 3 The Grandsons Return from War (1946-1955) 68 Chapter 4 The Dark Days of Dallas (1956-1964) 97 Chapter 5 A New Era Dawns (1965-1972) 125 Chapter 6 Enter the Fourth Generation (1973-1976) 150 Chapter 7 Competitive Gains and Rapid Change (1977-1981) 170 Chapter 8 The Modern Belo Emerges (1982-1986) 197 Chapter 9 The World Takes Note (1987-2000) 231 Chapter 10 New Century, New Media 263 Epilogue 273 Appendixes A G. B. and Olivia Allen Dealey Family Tree 277 B Chairmen and Directors of Belo Corp., 1926-2007 279 C Time Line of Significant Events in Company History 282 D Text of the Black-bordered Advertisement Run on November 22, 1963, in the Dallas Morning News 284 Notes 288 Bibliography 296 Index 307