The Lincoln County Leader is a weekly newspaper based in Newport, Oregon, United States. It was formed in January 2024 by the merger of the Newport News-Times and Lincoln City News Guard, both published by Country Media, Inc. The newspaper takes the name of an earlier publication that existed from 1893 to 1987.[1] The Leader is the newspaper of record for Lincoln County.
 Entrance to the Lincoln County Leader building located in Newport, Oregon. Seen in 2022 when property was home to the News-Times. | |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Country Media, Inc. |
| Publisher | Frank Perea |
| Editor | Joe Warren |
| Managing editor | Steve Card |
| Founded | January 10, 2024 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 831 NE Avery Street |
| City | Newport, Oregon |
| Country | United States |
| Website | newportnewstimes thenewsguard |
History
editAt least 20 different newspapers have been published in the Lincoln County area.[2] The county's first newspaper was the Yaquina Post, established in 1882 and published in Yaquina City by Collins Van Cleve.[2] In 1889, Van Cleve was also publishing the Scio Press out of Yaquina City.[2] One of the papers, founded in 1886, was called the Newport News, but it was short-lived.[3]
Various newspapers started and closed until 1893, when, in the same year Lincoln County was officially established from part of Benton County, two newspapers were started: the Yaquina Bay News out of Newport, and the Lincoln County Leader out of Toledo.[2] In 1947, Monroe Sweetland, owner of the Molalla Pioneer, purchased the 53-year-old Yaquina Bay News from Doy I. Fruit and the 23-year-old Newport Journal from Harold Perrine.[4] He then combined the two to form the Newport News.[5]
In July 1965, the Newport News Publishing Co. purchased the Lincoln County Times of Waldport following the death of its publisher Dave Hall. The paper was merged that November with the Newport News to form the Newport News-Times.[6] The News-Times bought the Lincoln County Leader about a year later.[2] Both papers were sold by Walter Taylor and Lee Irwin in 1977 to the Democrat-Herald Publishing Co., which published the Albany Democrat-Herald.[7] Capital Cities purchased the company in 1980,[8] which itself was acquired by the The Walt Disney Company in 1995.[9] Disney sold its Oregon newspapers to Lee Enterprises in 1997.[10]
The Beach Resort News in Delake started in 1930 and the Lincoln Coast Guard in Nelscott started in 1937. The two merged in 1939 to form the North Lincoln News Guard. In 1965, the name was changed to the Lincoln City News Guard.[11] The paper was purchased in 1967 by Dave Juenke[12] and sold to Scripps-Ifft Newspapers Inc.[13][14] The company sold the newspaper to Swift-Pioneer Publishing Co. in 1983.[15] The paper was sold to Oregon Coast Newspapers LLC in February 2003, and was sold again to Country Media, Inc. in April 2007.[16]
Lee Enterprises sold the Newport News-Times in 2007 to News Media Corporation.[17] The paper was sold again In 2023 to Country Media, Inc.[18] In January 2024, Country Media merged the Newport News-Times and Lincoln City News Guard into a single newspaper named after the Lincoln County Leader, which had published for 94 years from 1893 to 1987.[19] The plan was first announced in the previous October.[20]
References
edit- ^ Heinbach, Michael (January 15, 2024). "Move over News-Times, here comes The Leader". Lincoln County Leader. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e M. Constance Guardino, III & Rev. Marilyn A. Riedel (July 2008). "Sovereigns of Themselves: A Liberating History of Oregon and Its Coast, Volume IX". Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ Turnbull, George S. (1939). . . Binfords & Mort.
- ^ "Sweetland Acquires Second Coast Paper". The Capital Journal. November 18, 1947. p. 1.
- ^ "Newport Papers Are Purchased By Molalla Publisher". Medford Mail Tribune. November 19, 1947. p. 2.
- ^ "2 Coast Papers Combine to One". The Capital Journal. November 6, 1965. p. 8.
- ^ "Publisher buys 4 weeklies". Statesman Journal. February 10, 1977. p. 37.
- ^ "Paper sale should be final today". Albany Democrat-Herald. July 14, 1980. p. 3.
- ^ Geraldine Fabrikant (5 January 1996). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS;Disney and ABC Shareholders Solidly Approve Merger Deal". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ "Lee Enterprises closes purchase of Oregon newspapers from ABC". The Oregonian. September 9, 1997. p. 45.
- ^ "North Lincoln Coast Guard in Combination With the Beach Resort News (Delake, Lincoln County, Or.) 1939-1939". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- ^ "David Juenke Obituary (2014) - Portland, OR - The Oregonian". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2024-09-29.
- ^ "Weekly newspapers change hands". The Oregonian. October 2, 1980. p. 43.
- ^ "Idaho chain buys papers on coast". Statesman Journal. October 2, 1980. p. 51.
- ^ "The Northwest". The Oregonian. Jul 21, 1983. p. 61.
- ^ "New owners taking over coast papers". Tillamook Headlight-Herald. 2007-04-04. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved 2023-09-09.
- ^ "Lee Enterprises Will Sell Shoppers, Other Publications and Commercial Printing Operations in Pacific Northwest". Lee Enterprises. September 7, 2006. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
- ^ "News Media Corporation sells Oregon cluster to Country Media, Inc". Editor and Publisher. September 5, 2023. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
- ^ Smith, Quinton (2024-01-11). "Newspapers in Newport, Lincoln City combine to form Lincoln County Leader". YachatsNews.com. Archived from the original on 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
- ^ Thornberry, David (2023-10-09). "Editorial: Lincoln County Leader returns". The News Guard. Archived from the original on 2024-01-16. Retrieved 2024-01-16.