Venice Vanguard

Venice Vanguard
Illustration of Venice Vanguard offices from 1920 newspaper masthead
Founder(s)William A. Rennie
C.B. Irvine
Founded1907
Ceased publication
1977

The Venice Vanguard was a newspaper circulated in Venice, California, from 1907 until 1977.

History

On June 17, 1907, C.B. Irvine and Judge William A. Rennie published the first edition of the Venice Vanguard.[1] Irvine was soon bought out.[2] In January 1910, Rennie was appointed justice of the peace of Ballona Township.[3] He also served as a city recorder for Venice.[4] Around that time his sons, Robert H. Rennie and Walter W. Rennie, joined the firm.[5]

Rennie was secretary of the good Government League in Venice but resigned to run for office.[6] In 1912, Rennie ran for state assembly as a Progressive but dropped out of the race.[4] Rennie served five terms as vice president of the Southern California Editorial Association. In 1919, Rennie died of Spanish influenza.[7][8]

In 1920, George W. Tompkins acquired the paper from the Rennie family.[9] In 1922, F.W. Kellogg and Edward A. Dickson acquired the business.[10][11] In 1928, Kellogg sold his newspaper chain to Ira C. Copley, owner of Copley Press.[12] The Vanguard was a daily until 1941 due to newsprint shortages caused by World War II.[13]

In 1947, Ira C. Copley died.[14] In 1949, the paper resumed daily publication.[13] In 1969, James S. Copley announced the sale of the Vanguard, Culver City Star-News and Westchester Star-News to Edwin W. Dean Jr., publisher of the Inglewood Daily News.[15][16] In November 1976, a former Culver City mayor filed a $3 million libel suit against Dean Jr. and a former city councilmember.[17] In January 1977, R.D. Funk, owner of United Western Newspapers, acquired the Vanguard and merged it into the Venice-Marina News.[18]

In 1907, newspaper published an article, later termed an "allegory," a take-off of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, and meant to be amusing, which mentioned Abbot Kinney, the founder of Venice, and W.H. Anderson. A court held the reference to be libelous but levied only a small sum, $750, as recompense, to be paid by Kinney to Anderson.[19][20][21][22]

Alva A. Layne, owner of the Ocean Park Journal, sought $5,000 in damages.[23] More than a hundred thousand dollars had been sought in the five suits filed.[24] The trial was a lengthy one, but the jury deliberated for only sixteen minutes.[25][26]

In October 1910, Vanguard owner W.A. Rennie sued Raymond Wayman of the Wilmington Journal, alleging libel and asking $50,000 in damages. He claimed that the Journal, in an article headlined "The Squealing of a Rat," had called him a "cheap little squirt" who "stole editorials," a "lovely ass," and a "long-tailed sewer rat." He said the article painted him as "out of sympathy" with the families of the victims of the Los Angeles Times bombing.[27]

References

  1. ^ "New Publication". Los Angeles Herald. June 18, 1907. p. 10.
  2. ^ "Brief News Notes From City Of Canals". Los Angeles Herald. August 22, 1907. p. 7.
  3. ^ "Editor Appointed Justice". Los Angeles Herald. January 11, 1910. p. 14.
  4. ^ a b "Rennie Gives Up Race; Field To Bloodgood". Los Angeles Evening Express. August 28, 1912. p. 3.
  5. ^ "Phenomenal Growth Venice Daily Vanguard". Evening Vanguard. Venice, California. July 19, 1913. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Resigns As Secretary". The Los Angeles Times. February 23, 1912. p. 16.
  7. ^ "Judge Rennie Falls Victim Of Pneumonia". The Los Angeles Times. January 23, 1919. p. 17.
  8. ^ "Funeral Of W.A. Rennie Tomorrow At Elks' Lodge". Evening Vanguard. Venice, California. January 24, 1919. p. 1.
  9. ^ Rennie, Sarah E.; Rennie, Robert R.; Rennie, Walter w. (May 22, 1920). "New Manager For Vanguard". Evening Vanguard. Venice, California. p. 2.
  10. ^ "Editorial | Statement of Publishers of Vanguard to the People of the Bay District". Evening Vanguard. Venice, California. June 30, 1922. p. 1.
  11. ^ "Newspaper at Venice to Have New Managers". The Los Angeles Times. July 1, 1922. p. 6.
  12. ^ "Kellogg Newspapers Acquired By Strong Eastern Capitalist". Evening Vanguard. Venice, California. February 15, 1928. p. 1.
  13. ^ a b "Venice Paper Goes Daily". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1949. p. 41.
  14. ^ "Col. Copley, Publisher, Succumbs at Age of 83". The Los Angeles Times. November 3, 1947. p. 2.
  15. ^ "Copley announces | Three West Area newspapers sold". Evening Vanguard. Venice, California. July 29, 1969. p. 1.
  16. ^ "3 Coast Dailies Sold By Copley". Arizona Daily Star. Tucson, Arizona. Associated Press. July 31, 1969. p. 41.
  17. ^ "Ex-Culver City Mayor Files $3 million suit". Venice-Marina News. November 25, 1976. p. 27.
  18. ^ "3 Newspapers Become Part Of UWN Group". Venice-Marina News. January 20, 1977. p. 1.
  19. ^ "Balm Victory for Attorney". Los Angeles Daily Times. April 8, 1910. p. 18.
  20. ^ "Near Million Dollars Sought as Damages". Los Angeles Daily Times. January 24, 1911. p. 17.
  21. ^ "Ocean Park-Venice Suit". Los Angeles Daily Times. January 26, 1911. p. 18.
  22. ^ "Jones-Kinney Case; Long Complaint Read". Los Angeles Daily Times. January 27, 1911. p. 18.
  23. ^ "Editor Sues Venice Paper For Imputing Hard Names". Los Angeles Herald. August 28, 1907. p. 6.
  24. ^ "Hatchet Buried in the Sands". The Los Angeles Times. October 31, 1911. p. 7.
  25. ^ "Quick Decision". Los Angeles Daily Times. March 1, 1911. p. 18.
  26. ^ "Kinney on Stand". Los Angeles Daily Times. February 9, 1911. p. 18.
  27. ^ "Editor Wants $50,000 for Being Called 'Sewer Rat'". Los Angeles Herald. October 19, 1910. p. 8.
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