The ''Coal Valley News'' is a weekly newspaper produced in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

in the U.S. state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. Published on Wednesdays, it has a 2016 circulation of 1,176, and is owned by

HD Media HD Media Co., LLC is a Huntington, West Virginia, based publisher of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines. It was established by Doug Reynolds in 2013 to purchase the Herald-Dispatch from Champion Industries. Newspapers ''The Herald-Dispa ...

. The 2014 book ''The Coal River Valley in the Civil War: West Virginia Mountains'' identified the ''Coal Valley News'' as the "region's principal local newspaper." The newspaper's title has been described in national media as typical of Boone County, where the coal industry plays defining role in the local economy. It is considered a

newspaper of public record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the ol ...

by the

West Virginia Secretary of State The Secretary of State of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, including voter registration and election res ...

History

Founded in 1925 by M.L. Jones, it achieved notoriety in 1931 when a local sheriff allegedly paid to have the plant damaged in an attempt to shut down production of the paper. Amos Sullivan testified that on the morning of October 23, 1930, he had attended a deputies' meeting that had discussed recent opposition of the ''Guyan Valley News'' to Republican candidates favored by the sheriff's department. At that time the ''Guyan Valley News,'' which had been running editorials attacking the "Hatfield clique", was printed in the ''Coal Valley News'' plant. Sullivan testified that at the meeting it was said that "something had to be done" and claimed he had later been paid five hundred dollars by Logan County Sheriff Tennis Hatfield to damage the plant. He broke into the newspaper printing plant late at night, but was surprised by assistant editor Elmer Jones, who shot and seriously wounded him. Both deputy Henry Napier and Amos Sullivan pled guilty to the crime, with Sullivan receiving a year in prison. In 1935, the paper was a prominent critic of the appointment of William N. Beehler as West Virginia relief administrator for the

Federal Emergency Relief Administration The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) was a program established by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, building on the Hoover administration's Emergency Relief and Construction Act. It was replaced in 1935 by the Works Progress Adm ...

, arguing that his nonpartisan approach to government aid programs was disqualifying. The paper was acquired by HD Media from

Civitas Media Civitas Media, LLC was a Davidson, North Carolina-based publisher of community newspapers covering 11 Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern states. The company was formed in 2012 via the merger of Heartland Publications, Impressions Media, Ohi ...

in June 2017. The paper is archived by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History. It is owned by HD Media, and is a member of the West Virginia Press Association.

Related Resources

List of newspapers in West Virginia This is a list of newspapers in West Virginia, sorted by location. Daily and nondaily newspapers College newspapers Marshall University, Huntington *'' The Parthenon'' West Virginia University, Morgantown *'' The Athenaeum'' Shepherd Unive ...

References

{{Reflist Newspapers published in West Virginia Boone County, West Virginia Newspapers established in 1925 1925 establishments in West Virginia