| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Community Media Group / Tioga Publishing Group |
| Publisher | Philip Husick II |
| Editor | Recommended |
| Founded | 1875 |
| Headquarters | 6 2nd Street, Coudersport, Pennsylvania United States |
| Circulation | 6,000 |
| ISSN | 0895-6839 |
| OCLC number | 16729019 |
| Website | tiogapublishing |
The Potter Leader-Enterprise is an American weekly newspaper serving Coudersport, Pennsylvania, with a circulation of over 6,000 copies.[1] It is published weekly on Wednesdays.[2] The paper is owned by Community Media Group, Inc.
The Potter Enterprise was founded by F. W, Knox and W. W. Thompson and several others in 1875.[3] The paper had 24 stockholders, residents of county holding 151 shares.[3][4] By 1880, W.W. Thompson became sole owner of the paper's shares.[3] The paper was purchased by David Butterworth in December 1886.[5] Butterworth had previously published the Potter County Journal for 9 years. Under his "clever management" Potter Enterprise became the leading paper in the county.[4]
Butterworth died suddenly in 1901[6] and his son sold the paper to M.J. Ostrander, who made the paper into a strict Republican newspaper.[7] M.T. Stokes joined the paper as publisher and editor around 1903 and became known for his "aggressive politics and fearless opposition to many interests, business and political."[8] Stokes made many enemies during his time at the paper, and is reported to have been kicked down by a bank president, horsewhipped by a woman, and paddled by a printer.[8] There were also numerous libel suits against the paper while it was under Stokes.[9] Things became so bad that in 1913, "political antagonists" set off dynamite in the Potter Enterprise printing plant.[10] Stokes ran for Congress as a Washington Party candidate in 1914, but was labeled as a joke.[11] Stokes was accused of blackguardism when he used the Potter Enterprise to abuse his Congressional opponent.[12] In 1920, Stokes sold his interests in the paper in 1920, and the Potter Enterprise continued to be the top paper in the county.[8]
Stokes sold the paper to A.A. Bernard and William Fish, who were owners of the rival Potter Democrat.[9] The paper stayed with the Fish family for a number of years. Bill Fish Jr. became co-owner of the paper in 1957, along with his wife Jill,[13] after having worked at the paper since he was in high school.[14] In 1958, the Enterprise acquired the Galeton Leader Dispatch.[15] After Bill Fish Jr. died in 1977,[14] Jill remained as the publisher of the paper until she sold it in 1983.[13] The paper was purchase by Stauffer Media, though Fish Sr.'s grandson, Paul Heimel, was appointed editor of the paper.[16] In 1986, Heimel left the Enterprise to work at the Potter County Leader and soon after, the Leader Publishing Company purchased the Enterprise.[16] The paper was renamed as the Potter Leader-Enterprise.
The paper was purchased by Community Media Group and is operated under its Tioga Publishing Group.[17] In 2017, Philip Husick II was named Publisher for the Tioga Publishing Group.
In 2018, The Potter Leader-Enterprise was named one of the eight best newspapers in Pennsylvania.[18]
In 2010, The Potter Leader-Enterprise broke the news that the company Adelphia Communications Corporation was involved in illegal activity. The paper published a full securities filing that detailed illegal activities by the company and founder John Rigas and his sons.[19] John Rigas and one of his sons, Timothy, were sentenced to 15 and 20 years of prison, respectively.
