HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
and is based in
Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...
, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, covering the eastern New River Valley and
Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...
. According to the 2011 Scarborough “Ranker Report,” ''The Roanoke Times'' ranks fifth in the country in terms of percentage of adults reading a newspaper on weekdays in that newspaper's coverage area.


History

The ''Roanoke Daily Times'' began publication in 1886. The paper's original owner, M. H. Claytor, eventually added a companion evening newspaper, ''The Roanoke Evening News''. In 1909, he sold the paper to a group headed by banker J. B. Fishburn. The Fishburn group bought the ''Roanoke Evening World'' in 1913, merging it with the ''Evening News'' and changing its name to the ''Roanoke World-News''. At the same time, Times-World Corporation was formed as the owner of both papers. By 1931, Times-World Corporation had expanded into broadcasting with the purchase of WDBJ (now
WFIR WFIR (960 kHz "WFIR 960 AM - 107.3 FM") is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia and serving the Roanoke Valley. It is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. and airs a News/Talk radio format. WFIR broadcasts at 10,000 ...
), Roanoke's first radio station. It eventually spawned an FM station (now
WSLC WSLC-FM (94.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia and serving the New River Valley. WSLC-FM is owned and operated by Mel Wheeler, Inc. It airs a country music radio format, using the moniker "94.9 Star Country." W ...
) and a television station (which still has the
WDBJ WDBJ (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Roanoke– Lynchburg market. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Danville-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WZBJ, c ...
calls). In 1969, Times-World merged with
Landmark Communications Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC (a spinoff of Landmark Communications, Inc.) is a privately held media company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia specializing in newspaper publishing, Internet publishing and software. History Norfolk Newspape ...
, which sold off the broadcasting properties and kept the papers. In 1977, the newspaper became known as ''The Roanoke Times & World-News'' when the company stopped publication of the afternoon ''World-News'', though an afternoon edition of ''The Roanoke Times & World-News'' continued. The paper dropped the latter part of its name in 1995. Landmark started shopping its newspaper properties in 2008 and sold the ''Times'' to
Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...
's BH Media Group in 2013. This made the ''Times'' a sister publication to the ''
Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatch'' has the second-h ...
'', as well as the ''
News & Advance ''The News & Advance'' is the daily newspaper of record in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. Its primary circulation area consists of the city of Lynchburg and the surrounding counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, and Campbell. ''The New ...
'' of Lynchburg, the other major paper serving the Roanoke/Lynchburg media market.


Notable stories

As the major daily newspaper for Roanoke and much of
Southwest Virginia Southwest Virginia, often abbreviated as SWVA, is a mountainous region of Virginia in the westernmost part of the commonwealth. Located within the broader region of western Virginia, Southwest Virginia has been defined alternatively as all Virg ...
, ''The Roanoke Times'' has extensively covered news events from the area that have gained national media exposure. Some examples include: * International Marketing & Engineering Inc., investigated by ''The Roanoke Times'', 1979, subsequently featured by
Harry Reasoner Harry Truman Reasoner (April 17, 1923 – August 6, 1991) was an American journalist for CBS and ABC News, known for his adroit use of language as a television commentator, and as a founder of the long-running ''60 Minutes'' program. Over th ...
in a CBS ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...
'' report on the company engaged in deceptive sales practices, whose officers were later sentenced to federal prison. The Roanoke Times was awarded the Virginia Press Association's W. S. Copeland Award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service, its highest, for the investigation. The award was named after one of the prior owners of the ''Roanoake Times'', Walter Scott Copeland, but was later retitled the "Virginia Press Association Award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service" to distance itself from its namesake. * The November 4, 1985,
flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
that caused extensive damage around Roanoke and left 10 people dead. * The September 22, 2000, shooting at the Backstreet Cafe in downtown Roanoke motivated by the assailant's hatred of the establishment's gay and lesbian clientele. * The April 16, 2007,
shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...
at
Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...
, which claimed 32 lives. * The February, 2008 resignation of Roanoke City councilman Alfred Dowe. Dowe resigned after ''The Roanoke Times'' obtained documents showing that he billed
taxpayer A taxpayer is a person or organization (such as a company) subject to pay a tax. Modern taxpayers may have an identification number, a reference number issued by a government to citizens or firms. The term "taxpayer" generally characterizes o ...
s twice for some of the nearly $15,000 he spent in 2007 on meals and travel. * The Aug. 26, 2015, on-air
murders Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
of WDBJ-TV journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward.


Notable writers, columnists and editors

* Bill Brill, writer and columnist 1956-1991, sports editor 1960-1991 * Beth Macy, reporter 1989-2014


Popular features and columns

* Arts & Extras, arts and culture column by Mike Allen (2009 - 2021) * Cut 'N' Scratch, music feature by Tad Dickens (2007-) * McFarling Journal, sports column by Aaron McFarling (2004-) * Paparazzi, event photo feature by various contributors * Shoptimist, shopping feature by Rebecca Holland (2011-2014) Stephanie Ogilvie (2014-2016) * Style Street, fashion feature by David Verde (2011-2014) * Weather Journal, weather column by Kevin Myatt (2003-)


Awards

* 2007 Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Award for General Excellence, Class III


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roanoke Times, The Daily newspapers published in Virginia Roanoke, Virginia Publications established in 1886 1886 establishments in Virginia Lee Enterprises publications