| First in Southern Arkansas | |
 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | WEHCO Media |
| Founder(s) | Freeman Family |
| Editor-in-chief | Byron Tate |
| Founded | 1897 |
| Language | English |
| City | Pine Bluff, Arkansas |
| Country | United States |
| Website | www |
The Pine Bluff Commercial is a newspaper that serves Southern Arkansas and was founded in 1897 as the Pine Bluff Daily Commercial. It was renamed to its current name in 1912. [1] In 1969, the paper won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing on civil rights.
The paper began as a family owned paper, by the Freeman family, [2] until 1987, when it was sold to Donrey Media Group. [3] The paper had been an afternoon paper from its inception until 1992, when it became a morning paper. Before that transition, weekend papers were still delivered in the morning. [2] In 2020, WEHCO Media acquired the paper from Gannett. [4] The paper had joined Gannett after Gannett acquired GateHouse in 2019. [5] The paper was part of GateHouse after a line of acquisitions, wherein Donrey became Stephens Media Group in 2002 – after having been acquired by Stephens Media in 1993. [6] In 2015, Stephens was acquired by New Media Investment Group, [7] which itself was the parent company of GateHouse until New Media merged GateHouse into Gannett in 2019. [8]
In 1969, the newspaper was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for editorial journalist, Paul Greenberg. The prize is "[f]or his editorials during 1968." [9]
