The News & Observer is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the Charlotte Observer). The paper has been awarded three Pulitzer Prizes; the most recent of which was in 1996 for a series on the health and environmental impact of North Carolina's booming hog industry. The paper was one of the first in the world to launch an online version of the publication, Nando.net in 1994. Ownership On May 17, 1995 the News & Observer Publishing Company was sold to McClatchy Newspapers of Sacramento, California, for $373 million, ending 101 years of Daniels family ownership. In the mid-1990s, flexo machines were installed, allowing the paper to print thirty-two pages in color, which was the largest capacity of any newspaper within the United States at the time. The McClatchy Company currently operates a total of twenty-nine daily newspapers in fourteen states with a combined weekday circulation of 1.6 million and a Sunday circulation of 2.4 million. With McClatchy's acquisition of most of Knight Ridder's properties in 2006, North Carolina's two largest newspapers (the News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer) are now under common ownership. History The News & Observer traces its roots to The Sentinel, which was founded by the Rev. William E. Pell in 1865 and who used, "the newspaper to fight against the domination of carpetbaggers and other forces during Congressional Reconstruction." The paper's struggles to stay relevant and make money led to new ownership in 1868. With the new owner The Sentinel began to cover the Democrats' push to retake the North Carolina Legislature, along with the impeachment of Gov. William W. Holden in 1871. The Sentinel went bankrupt a little over ten years after the paper was first founded. The owners of the newly founded Raleigh Observer, Peter M. Hale and William L. Saunders, bought the now-bankrupt paper, ending its publication and focusing on the Raleigh Observer. After about ten years the paper ran out of money, so the two owners sold to the owner of the Raleigh News, Samuel A. Ashe. Ashe combined the two papers under the new banner The News & Observer in September 1880, making it the sole daily paper in Raleigh. Ashe ran the company personally until 1894, focusing on politics and the Democratic party. Ashe used connections within