In 1878 Edward W. Scripps borrowed $10,000 from his brothers to help launch America's first information revolution. With the loan, the young entrepreneur founded a newspaper in Cleveland aimed at an emerging - but yet unserved - mass audience of urban workers. From Cleveland, Scripps took the formula to dozens of other cities, building one of the first newspaper chains under common ownership. In 1907, his independent spirit led Scripps to challenge the Associated Press, which at the time struck exclusive agreements with only one newspaper in each market, thereby discouraging the launch of competing newspapers. Scripps responded with United Press International. The service was available to all and became a leading force in worldwide journalism for decades to come. In 2005 Scripps acquired Shopzilla, an online comparison shopping service that creates a market of tens of millions of products offered by thousands of online merchants. UK-based uSwitch, an online comparison service focusing on essential home services, was acquired. On July 1, 2008, the five cable networks and the two online comparison shopping services split off into a publicly traded company: Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI). Shares in the new company were distributed to Scripps shareholders on a one-for-one basis in the form of a dividend. Following the separation of SNI, The E. W. Scripps Company returned to its roots as an enterprise that is focused on local media. In print, over the air and on the Internet, Scripps is the premier resource for news and local information that benefits readers, viewers and advertisers. The company is driven by people of purpose who strive to make Scripps communities stronger and more vibrant.
