Spaceman (Austin American-Statesman nickname)
The Austin American-Statesman is the daily newspaper for the capital city of Austin. The Democratic Statesman dates back to 1871, and today’s newspaper is called “The Statesman” for short. “Statesman” (http://www.statesman.com) is also the newspaper’s website.
“Spaceman” (or Austin American-Spaceman or Austin Spaceman) replaces “Statesman” when people think the newspaper has some far-out views. The nickname “Spaceman” has been used since at least 1994.
There are many other nicknames. When the newspaper makes mistakes, Statesman becomes Mistakesman (a nickname used since at least 1992). Real Estatesman (in print since at least 1992) is a nickname used by people who think that the newspaper favors Austin’s developers.
Un-American Statesman (in print since at least 1994) is another nickname used by those who think the newspaper holds far-left liberal views. The two nicknames are sometimes combined to form the Austin Un-American Spaceman.
Wikipedia: Austin American-Statesman
The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises and edited by Richard Oppel, who led his previous newspaper, the Charlotte Observer to multiple Pulitzers. The Statesman places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region.
The Statesman is sometimes referred to as liberal. On balance, its editorials show it to be an amalgam of liberal philosophy combined with strong pro-business sentiment. In this, it reflects the Texas heritage of focusing on business and Austin’s history of being youthful and liberal. However, it did endorse George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and Republican governor Rick Perry along with every other Republican incumbent in 2006. The Statesman also tends to provide fair coverage of Libertarian Party and Green Party matters.
The Austin American-Statesman competes with the Austin Chronicle, an alternative weekly. The paper tends to print Associated Press, New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times international and national news, but has strong Central Texas coverage, especially in political reporting. The Statesman benefits from the culture and writing heritage of Austin. It extensively covers the music scene, especially the annual South by Southwest Music Festival. The newspaper co-sponsors various events around Austin such as the Capital 10K foot race and the Season for Caring charity campaign.
The Statesman’s news website is statesman.com and its entertainment site is Austin360. Both sites are known for embracing citizen journalism because they are among the few newspaper Internet sites to host reader blogs.
Handbook of Texas Online
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. The Austin American-Statesman, in 1994 the only daily newspaper in Austin, Travis County, traces its origins back to the Democratic Statesman, which began publication every three weeks beginning in July 1871. The paper began as a semiofficial organ of the state executive committee of the Democratic party and was the only major Democratic newspaper in Texas at that time. It advocated “straight out Jacksonian Democracy” during the Reconstruction period of Republican control of the state. The paper was prominent in the election campaign of 1873, which resulted in the defeat of the Republican regime in Texas. In 1873 the paper began daily morning publication, and from 1880 to 1889 the publishers were John Cardwell and a Mr. Morris. In 1914 the Democratic Statesman took over the Austin Tribune (founded 1889), a competitor that in 1904 had absorbed a smaller local newspaper called the Austin Daily News. The newly consolidated paper began to publish each afternoon as the Austin Statesman and Tribune. In 1916 this paper changed its name to the Evening Statesman to reflect a new time of publication.
The first issue of the Austin American, published daily including Sunday, was issued on May 31, 1914, under the direction of Henry Hulme Sevier. In 1919 Charles E. Marsh and E. S. Fentress bought the American, and in December 1924, the Austin Evening Statesman, by then one of the oldest dailies in Texas. At this juncture the two papers were merged into one company, but were published as independent newspapers. The American remained the morning paper and the Statesman an afternoon paper, but the Sunday morning issue of the American was renamed the Sunday American-Statesman. Early in 1948 all of the Marsh-Fentress newspapers became a part of Newspapers Incorporated. The American joined the Associated Press, subscribed to the daily wire services of the United Press International News Service, and acquired comics and other news features on an independent basis from NEA, the Chicago Tribune, and other syndicates.
In November 1973 the Austin American and the Austin Statesman combined to become an all-day newspaper issued in four daily editions as the Austin American-Statesman.
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Mauricio Breternitz)
Date: 16 Sep 1994 12:28:44 -0500
Local: Fri, Sep 16 1994 1:28 pm
Subject: WANTED: Notebook/Subnotebook ?
I see the ads in the Austin Spaceman, but they are mostly related to desktop systems.
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From: jfh@rpp386 (John F. Haugh II)
Date: Sat, 3 Dec 1994 04:45:08 GMT
Local: Sat, Dec 3 1994 12:45 am
Subject: Re: But the point is…
Or did you miss the piece in the Austin Spaceman today about one of Clinton’s cronies being convicted on two felony counts in connection with Whitewater?
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Don House)
Date: 1995/04/03
Subject: Re: Austin vs. the rest of Texas?
But to quote the Austin American-Spaceman—
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (doug m)
Date: 1996/01/27
Subject: Re: Gotcha, Austin American Statesman ...
>> I thought it was the Austin American MISTAKESMAN
also…austin american spaceman
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Spider)
Date: 1997/08/19
Subject: Re: Texan vs. American-Statesman
Austin-American Spaceman
I’d say Austin-American Mistakesman
Errors in Advertising & Editorial.
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From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Date: 30 Apr 2001 23:21:53 -0500
Local: Tues, May 1 2001 12:21 am
Subject: Re: North Austin Restaurants?
(was it in the Austin Chronicle or the Austin Spaceman you come acros this bit of mistaken trivia? 😊
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From: Dewitt
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 23:17:19 GMT
Local: Thurs, Nov 29 2001 7:17 pm
Subject: Re: Katz’s never kloses?
Well first, it really says something about the quality of the Austin American-Spaceman when a Katz’s dispute is the front page headline. It reminds me of the headline several years back that said, “Sod
Shortage hits Austin”.
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From: “buddhashortfatguy”
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 15:06:40 GMT
Local: Sat, Jan 24 2004 11:06 am
Subject: Re: Dean the unpatriotic liar?
Criminey at least they report the news unlike the Austin Spaceman which got Barton Springs closed down for no GD reason other than to pollute us with toxic ink…
Democratic Underground
sonias
Mon Oct-25-04 09:41 AM
(...)
A freind of mine wrote the Austin Spaceman this zinger:
The Statesman Is Insane
The Corner on National Review Online
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Re: Newspaper Nicknames [Mark Krikorian]
Oh, my. It seems that a lot of people don’t really like their hometown newspapers. Sure, some of the nicknames are pretty puerile, but a little puerility can be a good thing:
(...)
Austin unAmerican Spaceman
The Bling Blog
July 10, 2006
Conflict Diamonds? At 0.2% I Like My Chances, Okay?
(...)
And Austin? No mistake that charity is based in Austin. The newspaper there, technically The Austin American-Statesman, is known to most folks in Texas as The Austin American-Spaceman. Enough said.