The News-Star

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The News-Star
Monroe News Star Circulation IMG 1294.JPG
The circulation department of The News-Star
TypeDaily newspaper
Format Berliner
Owner(s) Gannett
General managerBarbara Leader
Founded1890
Headquarters217 DeSiard Street, Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, USA
Website thenewsstar.com

The News-Star is the principal newspaper of Monroe and northeastern Louisiana. Its circulation area ranges over some dozen parishes from Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish, on the west, to Tallulah in Madison Parish on the east, to the Arkansas state line on the north, and to Ferriday in Concordia Parish on the south. The newspaper is a Gannett publication.

Contents

History

The News Star began in 1893 as the Monroe Evening News, published by John Travis Nixon, a native of Illinois, and a partner, Julius Cheney. A few years later, Nixon began what is now the Crowley Post Signal. [1]

In 1909, The Evening News merged with The Daily Star to form the afternoon newspaper, The Monroe News-Star. [2] In 1908, Robert Wilson Ewing, I (1859–1931), while still the publisher of the since defunct New Orleans Daily States, purchased The Shreveport Times . In 1929, Ewing bought the since defunct Monroe Morning World. In 1930, he acquired the News-Star, since switched from an afternoon to a morning publication. Ewing was accordingly among the two or three most influential persons in the Louisiana journalism community. [3] The two Monroe newspapers remained in the Ewing family until the Gannett acquisition on June 16, 1977. The Morning World and News-Star consolidated on August 4, 1980, to become The News-Star-World. The name was later changed and the first edition of The News Star was printed on May 22, 1988. [2]

John D. Ewing (1892–1952), one of the five sons of Robert Ewing, was editor and publisher of The Shreveport Times and the Monroe News-Star-World from 1931 until his death. John Ewing moved to Shreveport in 1915 to become the associate publisher of The Shreveport Times. When his father died, Ewing became the publisher of the Shreveport Times and both Monroe papers. All three newspapers were known for their conservative editorials. [4]

Robert Ewing, III (1935–2007), a nephew of John Ewing, was a nature photographer and served as a News Star board member. [5] Another Ewing relative, Edmund Graves Brown (1921–2008), was a News Star executive who served as the assistant general manager until Gannett, an Arlington, Virginia, firm, purchased the combined News-Star-World. [6] In 1980, "World" was dropped from the name, which became the News Star, without a hyphen.

Beginning in October 2017, The News-Star will be published at the printing press of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. For the past several years, The News-Star had been published in Shreveport at The Shreveport Times regional distribution center, which will close. The Shreveport Times will instead be published at the Longview News-Journal, another Gannett paper. The change is designed to reduce printing and labor costs. The change is not expected to impact delivery schedules. The commute from Monroe to Jackson is 120 miles one-way, 22 miles more than the trip from Monroe to Shreveport. [7]

The News Star has usually endorsed conservative candidates. In 2004, it supported successful Republicans Rodney Alexander for the United States House of Representatives and David Vitter for the United States Senate. [8] In 2007, the paper endorsed Royal Alexander, a former Rodney Alexander staff member (no relation), who unsuccessfully carried the Republican Party banner for Louisiana attorney general in the 2007 elections. Royal Alexander of Shreveport was handily defeated by Buddy Caldwell of Tallulah, after incumbent Charles Foti was eliminated in the first round of balloting. [9]

Notable staff members

Building housing the Newsroom of the paper. Monroe News Star newsroom IMG 1293.JPG
Building housing the Newsroom of the paper.

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References

  1. "A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, "Nixon, John Travis"". Louisiana Historical Association. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  2. 1 2 About Us | thenewsstar.com | The News Star
  3. "Robert Ewing", A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 1 (1988), pp. 292-293
  4. "John Dunbrack Ewing", A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 1 (1988), p. 292
  5. http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070401/OBITUARIES/704010344/1023
  6. thenewsstar.com | Monroe OBITUARY | The News Star
  7. "News-Star to move printing to Jackson," Monroe News-Star, August 23, 2017.
  8. David Vitter | U.S. Senate
  9. Dhimmi This!: Monroe News Star Endorses Royal Alexander
  10. "About Bob Mann". bobmannblog.com. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  11. "Obituary - Dr. Jesse Dale Thorn, May 14, 2014". Ouachita Citizen . Retrieved May 17, 2014.