History
in the
Making

James M. Cox was born to Gilbert and Eliza Cox in Jacksonburg, Ohio. James was the youngest of seven children. Young Cox grew up on a working farm, and was often in the fields by sunrise. Of this start in life he later wrote, “It made me realize then that life and hard work in the open had given me my health, agility and endurance.”

Cox later moved to Middleton, Ohio to live with his sister Anne and her husband John Q. Baker — owner and publisher of the Middleton Weekly Signal. While finishing school, Cox delivered the entire circulation of the Weekly Signal. During this time, Cox developed a “passionate interest in newspapers” and later wrote that, “printer’s ink had moved into my blood.”

On July 15, 1957 Governor Cox dies. In his will, Governor Cox urged his trustees and heirs to show “unfailing devotion to the best interests of those communities wherein my businesses are located. These businesses have developed until they occupy and influential position. As such, the power that they have should be exerted for those who have made possible their growth — the best people of all classes. The working people, by their numbers, have been a tremendous factor behind these businesses in many an emergency, and I ask my trustees and children to recognize this debt.”

Cox put the South’s first TV station, WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia on the air. The first TV set in that city had been sold only four months earlier. Approximately 2,500 homes in Atlanta had sets when WSB-TV made its debut. Local, live programming filled the schedule of WSB-TV’s earliest days which quickly solidified a relationship with viewers and the community.

1939, Governor Cox (then aged 69) purchased the Atlanta Journal and the Georgian papers. The purchase of the Atlanta Journal also included WSB Radio. Governor Cox wrote “It was the rounding out of a dream… This was not the mere acquiring of another newspaper property. Atlanta fitted perfectly into the picture of our operations between Dayton and Springfield in Ohio and Miami in Florida. Georgia offered a rare opportunity for service and development… Residentially, (Atlanta) had a charm peculiarly its own.”

Someone asked Cox why he had undertaken his largest newspaper enterprise at the age of sixty-nine. His response was: ‘Running water never grows stagnant.’”

It was his son Governor Cox’s, James Cox, Jr. (then manager of the Dayton Daily News) and his fascination for new technology who encouraged his then 67-year-old father to enter the radio business; thus, WHIO-AM Dayton was launched. At the station’s debut on February 9, 1935, Governor Cox broadcast these words, “…the voice of this Miami Valley (Ohio) empire will always be an instrument of dignity, culture, and practical service…”

In 1920 Governor Cox was the Democratic nominee for President, his running mate: Franklin Delano Roosevelt. While defeated, most likely because of popular isolationist sentiments that were contrary to his more international vision and support of the League of Nations, James M. Cox left an enduring stamp on both the nation’s politics and news industry.

In March of 1913, floods devastated the state of Ohio and claimed the lives of hundreds. Three days later, fires raged across the city of Dayton. In an effort to bring order to chaos, Governor Cox declared martial law, called the National Guard and the Red Cross, and took possession of the telegraph and railroads. Determined to get the Dayton Daily News back on the street, Cox literally published the paper there.

On December 20, 1913, President Wilson notified Cox that the American Red Cross, by unanimous vote, had awarded him its gold medal of merit for his relief work in the great Ohio flood in his efforts to help raise two million dollars for flood victims.

In 1908 Cox was elected Congressman of Ohio and began his political career. He went on to serve as Governor of Ohio for three terms. As Governor, Cox oversaw a progressive agenda that included the beginnings of his state's highway system, creation of the state's "no fault" workers' compensation, prison reforms, and restrictions on child labor.

The 28-year-old Cox purchased the struggling Dayton Evening (now Daily) News for $26,000, much of it borrowed. He wrote, “I could not get out of my mind the idea of owning a newspaper.” His bookkeeper warned him that even if he filled every inch of the paper with advertising and ran no news, he would still lose $500 a week. After just one year, the determined young publisher had successfully lured readers away from the competition and by 1900, the Dayton Daily News was the leading paper in town. Cox was committed to his paper and to serving the community. He wrote, “…any newspaper in times of stress which does not recognize its duty to a community is not deserving of the name.” From the beginning, he called his paper the “People’s Paper.”