Idaho State Journal

Core Values

• We will provide credible and compelling information and services to our customers and a forum for debate for the community.
• We will remain an independent, family-owned company.
• We value fairness and veracity in our relationships with employees and will provide them with an opportunity for growth.
• We will strive to improve the quality of life in our communities.
• We will constantly improve our products and services through innovative approaches to how we conduct our business.
• We value honesty and integrity in all of our business dealings.

Journal's story spans century
From weekly to 7-day production, the newspaper has grown with the town.
  From its beginnings as a weekly newspaper, the Idaho State Journal's history has been as varied as the communities it serves.
  The predecessor of today's Journal, the Pocatello Tribune actually began in 1890 as a political publication. It was in 1892 that the Tribune became a newspaper.

A simple beginning
  In December 1892, three newspapermen from Salt Lake City came north to purchase the newspaper. They were C.H. Fernstermaker, a typesetter, William Wallin, an advertising salesman and job printer, and George N. Ifft, a reporter.
  Operating out of an office at East Center Street and Second Avenue, the three printed their first weekly newspaper on Jan. 6, 1893.
  Later that winter, the trio moved their offices to the upper floors of the recently completed opera house. The business office and newsroom were located on the second floor and the composing room and job plant were on the third floor.
  A year after they began their operations, Ifft and Wallin purchased Fernstermaker's interest in the Tribune.
  In the ensuing years, the paper moved to several new locations as its operations expanded as the paper grew to a twice-weekly and thrice-weekly publication schedule.
  In March 1897, the decision was made to publish the Tribune on a daily basis. That effort lasted just two months.
  Five years later, on March 17, 1902, the Tribune again published on a daily basis and has continued that service without interruption.

Making changes
  G. Nicholas Ifft II took over management of the newspaper shortly after World War I. In 1927, his father transferred the bulk of his interest in the paper to his son.
  While the younger Ifft, better known as Ing, was in management, he didn't hesitate to pick up his notebook to cover a story. He also wrote "Buzz of the Burg," a popular column with the readers. His career with the Journal lasted 59 years.
  In 1928, the Tribune moved to 420 W. Center St. The offices remained their until the Journal moved to its present location at 305 S. Arthur Ave. in 1951.
  Ownership of the Tribune continued to change hands as well. In 1930, William S. Cady of Kansas City, purchased Wallin's interest in the company.
  Cady sold his interest in 1947 to Preston Goodfellow of Washington, D.C. Goodfellow's stint with the Tribune, however, last just two years.
  While the Tribune was growing, the original Idaho State Journal began publication on April 28, 1924. The newspaper was owned by Frank W. Brown, H.P. Pinkney and E. G. Frawley.
  That paper had several owners during its early years. Finally, the Tribune purchased the Journal in 1932. The Journal continued to operate as a morning edition of the Tribune, before publication was suspended in 1942 due to a newsprint shortage because of World War II.

A new paper is born
  Today's Idaho State Journal came into being on Oct. 1, 1949, the result of a merger between the Tribune and the Post, which had started operations in 1947.
  The Tribune Journal company was owned by the Scripps League of Newspapers, G. Nicholas Ifft and his sister, Catherine Kirchhof.
  G. Nicholas Ifft III began his involvement with the Journal in the early 1966.
  One of his first projects was the replacement of the Journal's production equipment. The focal point of the project was the purchase of a new Goss Urbanite offset press - at a cost of $225,000. The first paper printed on the new press hit the streets on Aug. 20, 1967. Additional units were added to the press in 1977. Ifft continued the family's involvement with the Journal until 1984, selling his interests to Pioneer Newspapers, Inc. Mr Ifft. continued his relationship with the Journal until his death in May of 2003.
  In addition to replacing aging presses, there have been many other technological changes at the Journal. The same year the Urbanite press was expanded, the newspaper went to a complete computer typesetting system.
  In the fall of 1981, the Associated Press converted its delivery of news and photos to a satellite system. That speeded up the transmission of items by 20 times.
  As an example, it used to take the 500 items on the daily stock list 35 minutes to transmit. With the new equipment, it took just 1 minute, 32 seconds to receive the same information.
  The Photo Department has also gone through changes. In 1991, the paper installed a computer to receive AP photographs and in 2000, the department began the transition from film to digital photography. The process was completed in 2002.
  The three years from 2000 through 2003 saw an expansion of facilities including a complete remodel of the Idaho State Journal building on Arthur in Pocatello , and a new computerized press built in Preston as a separate printing company called "Bear River Publishing" which prints both the Idaho State Journal, the Logan Herald Journal, Teton Valley News, Rexburg Standdard Jounral, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, and other newspaper printing work. The newspaper is now printed on a computerized offset press with all computer generated images, electronically transferred daily from computers in Pocatello to computers in Preston.

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