Adolph Ochs

Adolph Ochs began his career as a newspaper boy for the Knoxville Chronicle, rising at 3:00 a.m. to fold and deliver newspapers for $1.50 per week. His disciplined work habits led to rapid promotions on several newspapers, and by 1878 he was able to purchase the Chattanooga Times. In 1896 he acquired the failing New York Times. Ochs refused to run comics and made book reviews and letters to the editor prominent features. Despite the fierce competition from the “yellow press” during the Spanish-American War, Ochs succeeded in making the Times the “newspaper of record” for the English-speaking world.