The Democrat and Chronicle is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. Located at 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the Democrat and Chronicle operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production facility is located in the town of Greece, New York. The Democrat and Chronicle is Rochester's only daily circulated newspaper.
History
Founded in 1833 as The Balance, the paper eventually became known as the Daily Democrat. The Daily Democrat merged with another local paper, the Chronicle, in 1870, to become known as the Democrat and Chronicle. The paper was purchased by Gannett in 1928. In 1997 Gannett merged the evening sister paper the Rochester Times-Union into the Democrat and Chronicle, the two merged staffs in 1992 and had shared the same building since 1959 when the Democrat and Chronicle moved from a location at 59-61 East Main Street on the Main Street Bridge where they had been since 1923. From 1928 to 1985, the Democrat and Chronicle was Gannett's flagship paper, and Gannett's corporate headquarters were located in the Democrat and Chronicle building. Gannett moved its headquarters to Tysons Corner, Virginia; home of USA Today, in 1985.The Democrat and Chronicle who moved into the building in 1959 continued to occupy the historic Gannett Building at 55 Exchange Boulevard until moving to a new smaller building at the Midtown Plaza site on East Main Street in May, 2016. At 153,350 square feet, the former headquarters in the Gannett building was considerably larger than the current headquarters, which is 42,000 square feet. The Democrat and Chronicle no longer needed the much larger space in the new digital age where newsprint in the United States is on the decline and the building which included the space that formerly held the printing presses prior to 1996 was expensive to maintain. With the move came new branding as D&C Digital, emphasizing focus on the outlet's digital marketing services and video properties. In 2010, The Democrat and Chronicle ranked number one among US newspapers in market penetration, the percentage of readers in a metro area who read in print or online. The Democrat and Chronicle held that top spot for several years, and have been among the leaders since the 1990s. The Democrat and Chronicle, along with its parent company Gannett, by a former paperboy who accused the newspaper of enabling a former district manager to sexually abuse him in the 1980s. This case is currently pending. .
