''The Telegraph'' is an American

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written 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 politics, business, sports a ...

published seven days a week in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the ...

, serving the St. Louis

Metro-East Metro East is a region in southern Illinois that contains eastern and northern suburbs and exurbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Southern Illinois counties (and parts of three others) in the St. Louis Metropolitan Stati ...

region. It was owned by Civitas Media, based in

Davidson, North Carolina Davidson is a suburban town located in northern Mecklenburg and Iredell counties, North Carolina, United States, on the banks of Lake Norman. It is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 10,944 at the 2010 census, and in ...

, a subsidiary of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

-based Versa Capital Management, which owned about 100 daily and weekly newspapers across 12 states but sold The Telegraph to Hearst Corp. in 2017. It was founded in 1836, as the ''Alton Telegraph'' by Lawson A. Parks. It is published seven days a week. Until the 1970s, the ''Telegraph'' was known as the ''Alton Daily Telegraph'' and then the ''Alton Evening Telegraph''. In 1969 the ''Alton Telegraph'' was sued for defamation by a local builder, James C. Green. A jury awarded $9 million. The newspaper could not appeal unless it posted a $10 million bond, and instead declared bankruptcy, eventually settling for slightly more than its insurance limits. The Cousley family controlled the paper from 1889 to 1985, when they sold the paper to

Ingersoll Publications 21st Century Media was an American media company. It was the successor of Ingersoll Publications and Journal Register Company, and it was succeeded by Digital First Media. The company operated more than 350 multi-platform products in 992 comm ...

, who had acquired the '' Suburban Journals'' the previous year. When Ingersoll successor Journal Register exited the St. Louis market, ''The Telegraph'' was sold to

Freedom Communications Freedom Communications, Inc., was an American media conglomerate that operated daily and weekly newspapers, websites and mobile applications, as well as ''Coast Magazine'' and other specialty publications. Headquartered at 625 N. Grand Avenue in ...

. Along with ''The Telegraph'', Civitas Media also owned the ''

Journal-Courier The Jacksonville Journal-Courier is an American daily newspaper published in Jacksonville, Illinois. It is owned by Hearst Newspapers since being sold in August 2017 by Civitas Media, a subsidiary of Versa Capital Management. With a history da ...

'' in nearby

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,446 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the ...

, which was sold to Hearst at the same time as the ''Telegraph'', and the ''

Sedalia Democrat The ''Sedalia Democrat'' is an American daily newspaper published in Sedalia, Missouri. It was founded in 1868 as the ''Democratic Press'', a weekly newspaper. It became the ''Sedalia Democrat'' soon after. It began its daily edition, originally ...

'' in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. These three newspapers, along with ''

The Lima News ''The Lima News'' is a local daily newspaper aimed at residents in Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Logan, Mercer, Putnam, Shelby and Van Wert counties in Ohio, USA. Its headquarters are located in Lima, Ohio. It was first printed on July 2 ...

'' in Ohio, constituted the Central Division of

before being sold to Ohio Community Media in May 2012 before becoming part of Civitas Media. News publishing corporation Hearst Media Company acquired The Telegraph in August 2017. In December 2017, The Telegraph moved its offices from 111 East Broadway, after 90 years at that location, to 219 Piasa St. in Alton. “Our current building was great as a manufacturing facility, but as the newspaper business has evolved and technology has improved, staffing is now office-based and we need a more modern space to operate the business,” former Telegraph Publisher Jim Shrader said.Telegraph to relocate offices to Piasa Street location Monday
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Telegraph Alton Publications established in 1836 Alton, Illinois 1836 establishments in Illinois Newspapers published in Illinois