''The Free Press'' is an American, English language 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
Mankato
Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
.
History
The first newspaper published in Mankato, the ''Mankato Weekly Independent'', began publication in 1857. Six years later, it was bought by Charles Slocum and named the ''Mankato Union.'' Then in 1880 the ''Union'' and its rival Mankato paper, the ''Record'', merged and became the ''Mankato Weekly Free Press''. It ran as a weekly until 1887, when it became a daily. The word "Daily" was dropped from its name in 1940 and 30 years later, "Mankato" was dropped.
The last local owner of the paper was Jared How, who sold The Free Press Co. to
Ottaway Newspapers Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Dow Jones & Company
Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (also known simply as Dow Jones) is an American publishing firm owned by News Corp, and led by CEO Almar Latour. The company publishes ''The Wall Street Journal'', '' Barron's'', '' MarketWatch'', ''Mansion Global'' ...
. Ottaway acquired 11 percent of the company in 1977 and the remainder in 1979. In 2002, Ottaway sold ''The Free Press'' and other papers to Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. (later renamed
CNHI
CNHI, LLC (formerly Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.) is an American publisher of newspapers and advertising-related publications throughout the United States. The company was formed in 1997 by Ralph Martin, ).
On its 50th anniversary, ''The Free Press'' circulation was 12,000. In 2024, the circulation was 12,476. That year, due to rising costs, the paper stopped printing its Monday issue of the newspaper, though an electronic edition would continue to be published on their website.
The Free Press also publishes the ''Mankato Magazine'', ''MNValley Business magazine'' and
''The Land'', a Minnesota farm and rural life publication. It also serves readers through its website, which launched in 1994. It was named the 2010 CNHI Newspaper of the Year and in 2013 was named the CNHI Best Website.
Content
The ''Free Press'' news staff covers six counties
Blue Earth,
Nicollet,
Le Sueur,
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black.
In the ...
,
Waseca and
Watonwan. The major cities of Mankato,
North Mankato,
Waseca,
St. Peter and
Le Sueur are also primary coverage areas. It also has wide coverage of local sports and
Minnesota State University in
Mankato
Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...
. It also is the publisher of ''Mankato Magazine'' (circulation 10,000), the ''MN Valley Business'' magazine and ''
The Land'' (circulation 35,000).
See also
*
List of newspapers in Minnesota
References
External links
Mankato Weekly Independent, 1857-1863Mankato Union, 1863-1879Mankato Free Press, 1879-1924The Free Press (Current)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Free Press
Newspapers published in Minnesota
Mankato, Minnesota
Newspapers established in 1887
1887 establishments in Minnesota