The Dispatch and the various WBNS stations (WBNS (AM), WBNS-FM, and WBNS-TV) as part of the Dispatch Broadcast Group are privately owned by the Wolfe family. Although this concentration of media ownership might seem to run afoul of the Federal Communications Commission's cross-ownership rules, the family was granted an exemption because their ownership pre-dated the regulations. The Dispatch Broadcast Group also includes WTHR Channel 13 in Indianapolis, Indiana, an affiliate of NBC, and the "Ohio News Network" cable news channel.
As of 2010, John F. Wolfe is the newspaper's publisher. Michael F. Curtin is the associate publisher emeritus, Michael J. Fiorile is the president and chief operating officer, and Benjamin Marrison is the editor.
The paper traditionally has had a conservative slant. The paper's last endorsement of a Democrat as a Presidential candidate, was for the re-election of Woodrow Wilson in 1916. More recently, coverage has taken a more leftward tilt. For example, the Dispatch endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland in the 2006 Ohio elections.
A competitor paper, The Columbus Citizen-Journal ("C-J", pronounced "See-Jay"), as it was known, was beholden to the Columbus Dispatch for its printing facilities, and controversy surrounded the C-J's demise in 1985.
