A New Combined Paper for Chattanooga

Today is the first edition of the combined newspapers -- the Chattanooga Times and Chattanooga Free Press. Two of America's greatest newspaper entrepreneurs -- Adolph Ochs and Roy McDonald -- guided and published their respective newspapers for decades. Their families continued their publishing traditions after them. We hope to make the combined newspaper one of America's best, one that will be a lasting legacy to the unique talents and visions of both men and their families. Readers will be able to find their favorite features, comics and editorials from both newspapers. Our comics and puzzles pages can be found in the Lifestyle section of today's paper. Editorial pages from the Chattanooga Free Press and the Chattanooga Times will be in the Metro/Region section. A separate and expanded Business section also will be a regular feature of the combined newspaper -- six pages in Section D. The color weather map is on page 6D. For the first time in modern history, the Chattanooga newspaper will have a full-time bureau in Washington, D.C., with veteran reporter Andy Sher providing stories of importance and interest to our region. We also will be able to utilize the resources of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Washington bureau's three reporters to enhance coverage of the Clinton administration. Full-time reporters also will be covering both the Tennessee and Georgia legislative sessions this winter. Our goal is to make Chattanooga's newspaper not just the best paper in Tennessee, but the best paper its size in both the South and the entire country. Walter Hussman Jr. Publisher