About Us

Pantagraph (pan'-te-graf):

The Pantagraph is a daily newspaper that services eight counties and more than 60 communities in Central Illinois. Located in Bloomington, Illinois, it reaches more than 107,000 daily readers, and is recognized as one of the most influential papers in Illinois. It is the oldest business in McLean County, and with the many years of public service behind it and a promising future before it, The Pantagraph truly stands as a community cornerstone.

The Pantagraph's name is derived from the Greek words "panta" and "grapho," which have a combined meaning of "write all things." Charles Merriman is the man responsible for giving The Pantagraph its name. In the words of Merriman, the name is "a perpetual injunction upon its editors to dip their pens fearlessly into all matters of human interest." When Merriman named The Pantagraph on December 1, 1853, he was a co-owner of the paper with Jesse Fell. The Pantagraph's previous name was "The Intelligencer."

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Company Bio:

Jesse Fell founded "The Pantagraph" on January 14, 1837, a full 10 years before the Chicago Tribune was conceived. Originally called "The Bloomington Observer and McLean County Advocate," the newspaper went through several names, including "The Daily Pantagraph" and currently simply "The Pantagraph."

During the Civil War, The Pantagraph took a pro-North stance in a community largely made up of pro-slavery settlers from the South. And it was Pantagraph founder Jesse Fell who nominated Abraham Lincoln for the United States Senate. The backing of both Fell and The Pantagraph helped Lincoln achieve an overwhelming majority of supporters in McLean County for his presidential bid, when he carried only a 10 percent margin of victory in the state of Illinois.

Our editorial motto, "Independent in everything, neutral in nothing," has helped The Pantagraph weather more than a century and a half and remain the sole survivor of more than 150 papers that had at some time or another started publication in Bloomington. Now primarily servicing more than 60 communities, The Pantagraph is published every morning in broadsheet format and is one of the top among daily newspapers in Illinois for metro area penetration.

Mission Statement:

The Pantagraph's mission is to be the number one information provider in Central Illinois. To that end, The Pantagraph utilizes a wide range of technologies. Our core product, The Pantagraph, boasts a Sunday readership of more 107,000. The newspaper's Web site, Pantagraph.com, was first made available to the public in April 1996, and its popularity paved the way for the classified-specific Web site, PantagraphClassifieds.com.

Value Statement:

The Pantagraph's wide reach and high penetration has made it the successful entity it is today. If you want to connect with the people of Central Illinois, nothing gets the job done better than The Pantagraph. The Pantagraph easily reaches more people in McLean County (our MSA) than the combined audience of the top three local radio stations and the top three network affiliate stations.

The Pantagraph is a part of Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises Inc.