The ''Richmond Free Press'' is an independent newspaper in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Published on a weekly basis, it is mainly targeted at the city's

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

community and its poorest residents. Raymond H. Boone, its founder, started the paper in part because he felt these groups were underrepresented in the mainstream media.

History

Raymond H. Boone and Jean Patterson Boone founded the paper in 1992, and Raymond H. Boone served as its managing editor and publisher until his death on June 3, 2014. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe eulogized Boone as “a true Virginia legend” whose "life devoted to justice, equality and a well-informed public discourse, and I know that commitment will live on thanks to his leadership at the ''Richmond Free Press''.” Prior to publishing the ''Richmond Free Press'', Boone, who graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in journalism and Howard University with a M.A. in political science, taught journalism at Howard University for almost a decade. Boone was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame in 2000, and in 2006, he received the Virginia

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

’s highest honor, the Oliver W. Hill Freedom Fighter Award. Jean Patterson Boone took over the role of publisher and president upon her husband's death. Her son, Raymond Boone, Jr. is vice president. Her daughter, Regina H. Boone, works at the newspaper as a staff photojournalist. The newspaper's coverage of anti-racism and

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

protests in Richmond, and in particular, the toppling of Confederate monuments on the city's Monument Avenue, has been highlighted due in part to Richmond's historical status as the former capital of the Confederacy. Clarence L. Townes Jr. contributed to it.

Awards

The paper has won honors and awards for excellence in journalism, including awards from the National Newspaper Publishers Association, as well as the Virginia Press Association. Previous journalists have included A. Peter Bailey.

References

External links

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Raymond H. Boone Oral History
VCU Libraries Digital Collections
The Virginia Civil Rights Movement
Virginia Humanities {{African American press African-American newspapers Newspapers published in Virginia Mass media in Richmond, Virginia 1992 establishments in Virginia Newspapers established in 1992