The ''Denton Record-Chronicle'' is a community

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 ...

and the main source of local news online for residents of the City of

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

and

Denton County Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the seventh-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was esta ...

. Controlled by Denton Media Company until 2023, it also publishes the bimonthly ''Denton County Magazine''. On August 7, 2023, it was announced that public radio station KERA acquired ''Denton Record-Chronicle''.

History

William C. Edwards, who started his career in journalism as a reporter for the weekly ''Denton Chronicle'' in 1886, took ownership of that newspaper and the city’s other weekly, the ''Denton County Record'', and merged them into the ''Denton Record and Chronicle'' in 1901. The newspaper published its first daily edition on Aug. 3, 1903. It dropped “and” from its name in 1915. Edwards, who served one term in the Texas House of Representatives (1922-24) and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor, was a president of the Texas Press Association. He left Denton for the Hearst newspaper company in 1927 and became editor of the ''

Washington Herald ''The Washington Herald'' was an American daily newspaper in Washington, D.C., from October 8, 1906, to January 31, 1939. History The paper was founded in 1906 by Scott C. Bone, who had been managing editor of ''The Washington Post'' from 188 ...

''. His brother Robert became publisher and managing editor in Denton when William left, and the Edwards family owned and operated the ''Record-Chronicle'' until 1945, when it sold to Riley Cross, former publisher of the Marshall ''News Messenger''. Cross led the newspaper during a period of significant growth in Denton, as well as through the integration of North Texas State University, now the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

. J.C. Matthews, president of the university, credited the peaceful integration of the late 1950s in part to coverage by the ''Record-Chronicle''. Fred Patterson, who was married to Cross’ daughter Patsy, started working in the newspaper’s ad department in 1958 and became ad manager in 1960. After Cross’ death in 1970, his wife, Vivian, led the ''Record-Chronicle'' until she retired in 1986, when Fred and Patsy Patterson took ownership. The Pattersons devoted their time and resources to supporting the arts and cultural communities in Denton, including leading the committee that raised $2 million to revive the Campus Theatre on Denton’s downtown square and co-founding Denton County’s Historical Park. They sold the newspaper to A.H. Belo Corporation, publishers of ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'', in 1999. In 2018, the Pattersons’ son Bill purchased the ''Record-Chronicle'' back from A.H. Belo. Since then, he has overseen the company’s transformation from a print-minded news organization to a digitally focused news source. In 2022, Dallas public radio station KERA announced its intention to purchase the ''Record-Chronicle''. The purchase was completed on August 7, 2023.

References

External links

Official site
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''Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.) 1915-current''
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
Daily newspapers published in Texas Denton County, Texas Denton, Texas {{Texas-newspaper-stub Newspapers established in 1903 1903 establishments in Texas 2023 mergers and acquisitions