[10] In 1864, Hammersley brought new presses from England, having run the Union blockade, although he sold half his interest to James W. Lewellen before his dangerous departure (presumably through Wilmington, North Carolina, the last Southern port open to Confederate vessels in 1864).
The Richmond Daily Dispatch published its last wartime issue on April 1, 1865; and its office was destroyed the next night during the fire set by Confederate soldiers as they left the city.
His son John Stewart Bryan had given up his own legal career in 1900 to become a reporter working for the Dispatch and helped found the Associated Press and then became vice-president of the publishing company.
He hired Douglas Southall Freeman as editor of the News Leader in 1915, and remained in control until becoming President of the College of William and Mary in 1934 (and publishing a biography of his father the following year).
[14] On June 1, 1992, four days after its sponsored contestant Amanda Goad won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the News Leader, which had been losing circulation for many years, ceased publication and was folded into the Times-Dispatch.
In 2021, Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his writing about the protest movements in Richmond in the wake of the murder of George Floyd leading to the removal of many Confederate monuments.
[16] The Richmond Times-Dispatch drew national attention for its coverage of a December 21, 2004, attack by a suicide bomber on an American military base in Mosul, Iraq.
[19] The international exposure from the recurring TLC broadcast led to this tradition becoming popular in other cities, like Fairfax, Virginia (DC area) [20] as well as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Birmingham, Alabama.
Lee Enterprises acquired the Richmond Times-Dispatch and eight other Virginia newspapers they already manage for Berkshire Hathaway in March 2020 as part of a larger $140 million deal that included 111 publications across 10 states.
During the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, its Commentary sections featured some pieces by Retired Admiral Roy Hoffmann, a founding member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and resident of Richmond suburb Chesterfield, against Democratic candidate John Kerry.
However, the paper is not unilaterally conservative; for example, a 2005 editorial called for the then House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to relinquish his leadership position on ethical grounds.
The "Scoreboard," which features minor-league standings, sports-betting, and other sports scores, also gives tide measurements, river levels, and skiing conditions, depending on the season.
Particular emphasis is given to American football and basketball; The Times-Dispatch ranks area teams in these sports, in the style of the NCAA polls, and generally updates them weekly.
Prep games are also receive above-average coverage in baseball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
The business desk consists only of six reporters; they cover technology, retail, energy, insurance, banking, economics, real estate, manufacturing, transportation and consumer issues.
It contains a center cover story on a regional business-related issue and is filled with events for the coming week, advice columnists and gadget reviews.
In August 2019, the RTD publicized on its pages a large book of photos and text relating to the history of the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper, offering a substantial discount to online readers.
[32] On July 12, 2006, Richmond-based news magazine Style Weekly ran a cover story [33] titled "Truth and Consequences," a piece that took a look at the Times-Dispatch's operations as the paper settled into its first year with new management.
The piece described a newsroom teetering on the edge, preparing for promised changes — such as possible layoffs, fewer pages and combined sections — that eventually were realized.
The front page of the Times-Dispatch's August 14, 2011 Sunday paper consisted entirely of a Wells Fargo advertisement, commemorating said bank's acquisition of Wachovia properties in Virginia.