''Delaware State News'' is an American
daily newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
published in
Dover, Delaware
Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...
. It is owned by Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA and prints seven days a week.
It bills itself as "The Capital Daily" and "downstate Delaware's dominant daily newspaper", primarily covering Dover and the state's two southern counties,
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
and
Sussex
Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
. It is one of two dailies based in the state of Delaware; the other is ''
The News Journal'' in
New Castle County, at the state's northern end.
History
The ''Delaware State News'' debuted as a four-page weekly newspaper in Dover in May 1902. Thirty years later, the paper said it aimed to deliver "a live, readable newspaper at all times. While
Democratic in politics, we shall not swerve from our policy of many years' standing to maintain an independent attitude at all times. ..."
The paper was founded by Robert H. Wilson, who owned it from May 24, 1902, to June 28, 1908. He sold it to James C. Wickes, who owned it until his death August 1, 1945.
Wickes, who had cut his teeth in journalism as a
printer's devil
A printer's devil was a young apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Ambrose Bierce, Bret Harte, and Mar ...
at a previous Dover paper in the early 1880s, was on the inaugural staff of the ''Delaware State News''. Under his leadership, the paper championed the
progressive politics of the day. He supported
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
and, in a series of
editorials, was the first Delaware publisher to push for the presidential nomination of
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
. He was affectionately known as the
dean of Delaware publishers and as "Colonel Jim", having been appointed a
Kentucky Colonel in 1935.
George Willets Parker purchased the paper from Wickes' estate in January 1946, then sold it half a year later to J. Hampton Barnes Jr.
[
Bernard "Jack" Smyth, a newspaper owner in Renovo, Pennsylvania, purchased the ''Delaware State News'' and a competing weekly in 1953 for $40,000 (), with the intention of turning it into a daily newspaper, after learning that Dover was the only ]state capital
Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital city, capital cities.
National capitals
*List of national capitals
*List of national capitals by latitude
*List of national capitals by population
*List of national capitals by area
*List of ...
without one. The ''Delaware State News'' became the first daily newspaper in Delaware outside of Wilmington, starting with its edition of September 14, 1953.
Smyth moved to Arizona
Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
for health reasons in 1969, selling the paper to his children. His son Joe Smyth bought out his siblings' shares in the 1970s, establishing Independent Newspapers Inc. and expanding his holdings into Arizona and Florida. In 1991, he transferred ownership of the company to a nonprofit trust, INI Holdings Inc., to ensure that the papers remain independent.[
]
Sister papers
The ''Delaware State News'' is the East Coast flagship publication of Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA, a company founded by the Smyth family and now owned by a nonprofit trust. The company owns newspapers in Arizona, Delaware, Florida and Maryland, including the ''Daily Independent'' of Sun City, Arizona.[
* ''Milford Chronicle'' of Milford, Delaware
* ''Smyrna Extra'' of Smyrna, Delaware
* ''Sussex Post'' of Sussex County, Delaware
Independent Newsmedia also owns three weekly newspapers nearby on the Delmarva Peninsula:][
* ''Dorchester Banner'' of Cambridge, Maryland, published Wednesdays
* ''Crisfield-Somerset County Times'' of Crisfield, Maryland, published Wednesdays
* ''Salisbury Independent'' of ]Salisbury, Maryland
Salisbury ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, United States. Salisbury is the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region, with a population of 33,050 at the 2020 United States census ...
, published Thursdays
References
External links
* {{Official website, https://baytobaynews.com/
Newspapers published in Delaware
Dover, Delaware
Companies based in Kent County, Delaware
Newspapers established in 1902
1902 establishments in Delaware