The Nebraska City News-Press is the oldest newspaper in Nebraska.[2] The paper is published once a week on Fridays[3] in Nebraska City, Nebraska,[4] the county seat of Otoe County.[5]
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | CherryRoad Media |
| Founder(s) | Thomas Morton |
| Editor | Kirt Manion |
| Founded | 1854 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 109 S 9th Street - P.O. Box 757 Nebraska City, NE 68410-0757 USA |
| Circulation | 1,106[1] |
| OCLC number | 32441202 |
| Website | ncnewspress.com |
History
editThomas Morton was born in Wales in 1829 and immigrated to Ohio with his parents as a child. He made his living in the printing trade and in May 1854 was employed at a small newspaper in St. Mary, Iowa. Around that time Morton pitched the idea of launching a newspaper called the Platte Valley Advertiser for people living nearby across the Missouri River in the Nebraska Territory. Before launching, Morton merged his paper with another that had recently started called the Gazette. The newly formed Nebraska Palladium was first published on July 15, 1854.[6]
The paper was printed in Iowa by Washington hand press. The business later moved to Bellevue and printed the first issue of the Nebraska Palladium & Platte Valley Advocate on November 18, 1854.[7] The masthead listed Morton as editor and the owners as D. E. Reed and J. M. Latham. When Bellevue was not named territorial capital as expected, Morton moved the paper to Nebraska City and renamed it to the Nebraska City News. Julius Sterling Morton was hired as the paper's first editor after the relocation.[6] Despite sharing the same last name, the two men were unrelated.[8] Sterling Morton wrote editorials that were staunchly Democratic for the paper which acted as the party's mouthpiece in the territory. One day horsemen led by Jim Lane visited him and threatened to destroy his printing plant if he did not stop attacking abolitionists.[7]
Another paper called The People's Press was first published in Nebraska City on Nov. 25, 1858. It was founded by Charles W. Sherfey. [7] The paper was later renamed to the Nebraska City Daily Press.
On May 12, 1860, a fire destroyed most of the city's downtown district, including the News' plant.[6] In March 1887,[9] the News became owned Thomas Morton's nephew C. H. Hubner and E. D. Marnell.[8] Thomas Morton died about five months later on August 10, 1887.[6] On November 6, 1925, Hubner and Marnell sold the Nebraska City News to Earl M. Marvin, owner of the Beatrice Daily Sun. Ten minutes after signing the deal, Marvin sold the paper again to J. Hyde Sweet, owner of the Nebraska City Daily Press.[10][8] The two papers were then merged together to form the Nebraska City News-Press.[7]
Upon J. Hyde Sweet's death in 1964,[11] the paper was inherited by his son Arthur Sweet.[7] In 1975, he retired and sold the paper to Roy H. Park, owner of Park Newspapers, Inc.[12] Park sold the paper in 1993 to American Publishing Co., a subsidiary of Hollinger Inc.[13] Hollinger sold the paper to Liberty Group Publishing in 1999.[14] The company was bought in 2005[15] and then renamed to Gatehouse Media,[16] which merged with Gannett in 2019.[17] In September 2021, Gannett sold the Nebraska City News-Press to CherryRoad Media.[18] The newspaper announced on April 20, 2023, that it would add a paywall to its website starting that May.[19]
References
edit- ^ "Nebraska Newspaper Locator Map | Nebraska Press Association". 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
- ^ Manion, Kirt (2024-10-03). "News-Press celebrates 'oldest paper in the state' status". Nebraska City News-Press. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
- ^ "Nebraska Classified Newspapers". USA Newspapers. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
- ^ "Nebraska Newspapers Alphabetical Listing". Nebraska Press Association. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ "Otoe County Newspapers". Morton James Public Library. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ a b c d McKee, Jim (August 30, 2020). "The story of the other Morton". Lincoln Journal Star. pp. L3.
- ^ a b c d e "Nebraska's First Newspaper Used Handpress from Iowa". Lincoln Journal Star. January 10, 1976. p. 8.
- ^ a b c "Oldest Nebraska Daily In Final Issue Sunday". Omaha World-Herald. November 7, 1925. p. 4.
- ^ "Nebraska City News Sold". The Beatrice Republican. March 5, 1887. p. 2.
- ^ "Nebraska City News Sold". The Syracuse Journal-Democrat. November 13, 1925. p. 1.
- ^ "Sweet Dies". Evening World-Herald. April 4, 1964. p. 1.
- ^ "Park Buys Paper". The Post-Standard. May 16, 1975. p. 1.
- ^ "Park Sells Shenandoah, Iowa, Nebraska City Papers". Omaha World-Herald. December 29, 1993. p. 18.
- ^ "Liberty Group to Buy Midwest Publications". The New York Times. July 28, 1999. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
- ^ "Investment Group Finalizes Acquistion of Liberty Group Publishing". Editor and Publisher. 2005-06-06. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
- ^ "GateHouse Media enters into agreement to acquire Gannett, forming largest US publishing company". Herald-Mail Media. August 5, 2019. Retrieved 2024-10-17.
- ^ Darcy, Oliver (5 August 2019). "USA Today owner Gannett merges with GateHouse Media to form massive newspaper company". CNN. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
- ^ "CherryRoad Media Acquires 20 Newspapers in Four States". CherryRoad Technologies. 2021-09-24. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
- ^ "Trial period ending for newspaper's website". The Hamburg Reporter. 2023-04-20. Retrieved 2023-04-20.