Joseph Medill Patterson

Joseph Medill Patterson
Joseph Medill Patterson
Born	(1879-01-06)January 6, 1879
Died	May 26, 1946(1946-05-26) (aged 67)
Occupation	Journalist
Notable credit(s)	The Chicago Tribune Daily News
Children	Alicia Patterson James Joseph Patterson
Relatives	Joseph Medill (grandfather) Cissy Patterson (sister)

Joseph Medill Patterson (January 6, 1879 – May 26, 1946) was an American journalist, publisher and founder of the Daily News in New York.

His younger sister was publisher Cissy Patterson. He was the father of publisher Alicia Patterson, who founded and edited Newsday. His father was Robert W. Patterson Jr., a journalist at the Chicago Tribune who married the owner's daughter and rose to prominence at the Tribune. His grandfather was publisher Joseph Medill, founder of the Chicago Tribune and a mayor of Chicago, Illinois.

Joseph Medill Patterson became one of the most significant newspaper publishers in the United States, founding New York's Daily News and introducing the tabloid. He was groomed to follow in the footsteps of his famous grandfather. His mother, Elinor ("Nellie"), and his aunt, Kate, both named their firstborn sons after their famous father. As a young adult, he asked his father if he could go to China to cover the Boxer Rebellion. Granted permission, he went as a correspondent for William Randolph Hearst but did not arrive in time. He attended Yale University where he was a member of Scroll and Key.

Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago, and covered the police beat for the Chicago Tribune. Patterson served in Illinois legislature briefly, married and was the father of three daughters by 1906. The youngest, Alicia, explained, “He had wanted a boy, instead of three daughters in succession, and that meant one of the Patterson girls would have to be his substitute son.” Nearly 20 years later, in 1923, after his three daughters had become young women, his mistress (and future wife) gave birth to his only son, James Joseph Patterson, in England.