The Independent Journal was formed from the merger of the Marin Journal and the San RafaelDaily Independent in 1948. The weekly Journal, one of the state's oldest newspapers, had been established in 1861 as the Marin County Journal. The Journal was published in San Rafael on Saturdays by Jerome A. Barney. The Independent had been started by Harry Granice in 1900 as the weekly San Rafael Independent, which became a daily by 1903 under the management of his daughter, Celeste Granice Murphy. The merged paper was originally called the San Rafael Independent-Journal. Gannett acquired the paper from the Brown family in 1980. MediaNews Group acquired the paper from Gannett in 2000. Gannett turned over the newspaper to a partnership headed by Dean Singleton and it is now owned an operated by a company made up of investment bankers.
The "hot-tubber" incident
In 2002, former President George H. W. Bush described "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh as "some misguided Marin County hot-tubber." His comment prompted criticism among readers of the Marin Independent Journal, until Bush sent the paper a letter of apology:
Awards
Staff of the Marin Independent Journal have won the following recent awards: The Independent Journal won two first-place awards, three second-place awards and six "honorable mention" awards in the annual California Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest for 2016. Winners were: • Photographer Alan Dep, first place, for an online photo story/essay about a youth chess tournament. • Editorial cartoonistGeorge Russell, first place, for a cartoon about youth vaccinations. • Reporter Paul Liberatore, second place, for best writing, a feature on the end of the Lawson’s Landing trailer park at Dillon Beach. • Reporter Janis Mara, second place, for education coverage, a feature on the one-room Lincoln School in rural Marin. • Photo chief Robert Tong, second place, for news photo, of Novato firefighters attacking a fire. In addition, "honorable mention" awards went to reporter Richard Halstead, for stories about recycling and health care; lifestyles editor Vicki Larson for lifestyle sections; reporter Mark Prado for coverage of unrest in the Sausalito Marin City School District; photo chief Tong for an online photo story/essay about the Novato murder investigation; and Audria Ruscitti, a page designer, for the design of a lifestyles page.
