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Cheney Free Press
TypeWeekly newspaper
Owner(s)Free Press Publishing
Founded1896
Headquarters1616 W. First St. Cheney, WA 99004
Circulation3,695 (as of 2022)[1]
OCLC number17315741
Websitecheneyfreepress.com

The Cheney Free Press has been the dominant newspaper of Cheney in the U.S. state of Washington since its inception in 1896.[2][3] It was not the first newspapers there; the North-West Tribune was published in Cheney from June 1880 to about 1886, and was the second in Spokane County.[4][5]

It was a Republican paper in its earliest days, but switched its allegiance to the People's Party when purchased in 1898. It has been firmly embedded in its community throughout, devoting a page to local high school student editors in the teens and using its press to print newspapers for various other companies in the region.

Timeline

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  • 1896 established by three Northwest newspaper veterans[2] (includes W. H. Beyer?)
  • Spencer L. Alexander purchased the paper in May 1898.[6]
    • Alexander brothers: Furman and Merrill buy Union Printing Co[7]
  • Soon after the purchase, it was announced in a neighboring paper that the Free Press had deserted the Republican party and endorsed the People's Party and the fusion movement.[8]
  • In 1912 the Free Press began dedicating one of its six pages to the local high school, whose students assumed editorial control of the page's contents.[9] In that same year the Free Press lost a libel suit worth $1,250, and was joined by other Washington newspapers in its call for the state to update its libel laws.[10]
  • 1916 G Willis Swank editor
    • editor in 1923 (book)
  • Vernon R Frost publisher (brother Guyel T Frost)
  • Part of Medical Lake Press in 1932[11]
  • 1936 Harry N Beall and Max Schafer buy paper[12]
  • 1953 Guyel T Frost buys the paper (dies 1968)[13]
    • started as printer staff in 1933
  • 1971-ish Jerald R. Adams editor
    • wins 3 awards in news-design division of 1973 BNC
  • 1981 Jerome 'Jerry' Jantz
  • Journal News Publishing purchased the paper along with the Davenport Times in 1989. Previous owners were the Wilbur and Jantz families and the Times Publishing Co. A Free Press circulation of 3,200 was reported at the time.[14][15]
  • Journal News Publishing was controlled by majority partner Jeff Fletcher, owner of the Grant County Journal.[2] Bill Ifft bought Fletcher's interest in 2007. He renamed the company Free Press Publishing;[2] at the time the company owned several weekly newspapers in eastern Washington, including the Spokane Valley News Herald (its largest paper), the Davenport Times, and several specialty publications, and owned 70% of the Ritzville Journal.[16] It had previously had an ownership stake in the Newport Miner and the Grand Coulee Star, but had sold its interest to the local owners. The company planned to buy an additional press to support its own publications and also to serve other publications such as the Adams County Journal, the Wilbur Register, and the Miner.[2][16]
  • Free Press Publishing acquired the Odessa Record and The Whitman County Gazette in March 2020. Both newspapers are published weekly.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy" (PDF). League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund. 2022-11-14.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bagwell, Steve; Stapilus, Randy (2013). New Editions: The Northwest's newspapers as they were, are, and will be. Carlton, Oregon: Ridenbaugh Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-945648-10-9. OCLC 861618089.
  3. ^ "The State Press (seattle)". The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. April 23, 1896. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  4. ^ Oliphant, J. Orin (July 1948). "Newspapers of Washington Territory". The Pacific Northwest Quarterly. 39 (3): 235.
  5. ^ Oliphant, J. Orin (January 1927). "Additions to Professor Meany's: Newspapers of Washington Territory". The Washington Historical Quarterly. Vol. 18, no. 1. pp. 33–54. JSTOR 40475079.
  6. ^ Edwards, Jonathan (1900). An Illustrated History of Spokane County, State of Washington. Eastern Washington Genealogical Society. p. 568.
  7. ^ The Inland Printer. Maclean-Hunter Publishing Corporation. 1900. p. 554.
  8. ^ "The cheney free press politics". The Ellensburg Dawn. 5 Aug 1898. p. 2.
  9. ^ Oliphant, J. Orin (1912). "Featuring High School News". The Washington Newspaper. p. 231.
  10. ^ "The Cheney Free Press Libel Suit". The Washington Newspaper. 1912. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  11. ^ "Cheney Free Press- EWU". Eastern Washington University Library. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  12. ^ "Cheney, Wash., April 17". Medford Mail Tribune. 17 Apr 1936.
  13. ^ "Cheney Free Press Publisher Dies". Corvallis Gazette-Times. 19 Jul 1968.
  14. ^ "Editor & Publisher 1989-01-28: Vol 122 Iss 4". Editor and Publisher. Duncan McIntosh. January 28, 1989. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  15. ^ "1989 Non-Daily Newspaper Sales". Editor and Publisher. Duncan McIntosh. January 6, 1990. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  16. ^ a b Gustafson, Jeanne (July 26, 2007). "Cheney News Publisher Buys Out Partner". Journal of Business. Northwest Business Press Inc. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  17. ^ Thomas, Virginia (March 12, 2020). "Free Press Publishing acquires two newspapers: Cheney company adds weekly publications in Whitman County, Odessa". Spokane Journal of Business. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
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