The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest 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 p ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primarily serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Monroe counties. The ''Free Press'' is also the largest city newspaper owned by Gannett, which also publishes ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

''. The ''Free Press'' has received ten Pulitzer Prizes and four Emmy Awards. Its motto is "On Guard for Years". In 2018, the ''Detroit Free Press'' received two Salute to Excellence awards from the National Association of Black Journalists.

History

1831–1989: Competitive newspaper

The newspaper was launched by John R. Williams and his uncle, Joseph Campau, and was first published as the ''Democratic Free Press and Michigan Intelligencer'' on May 5, 1831. It was renamed to ''Detroit Daily Free Press'' in 1835, becoming the region's first daily newspaper. Williams printed the first issues on a Washington press he purchased from the discontinued ''Oakland Chronicle'' of Pontiac. It was hauled from Pontiac in a wagon over rough roads to a building at Bates and Woodbridge streets in Detroit. The hand-operated press required two men and could produce 250 pages per hour. The first issues were in size, with five columns of type. Sheldon McKnight became the first publisher with his uncle John Pitts Sheldon as the editor. In the 1850s, the paper was developed into a leading Democratic Party–aligned publication under the ownership of

Wilbur F. Storey Wilbur Fisk Storey (December 19, 1819 – October 27, 1884) was an American journalist and newspaper publisher who was instrumental in the growth of the ''Detroit Free Press'' and the ''Chicago Times''. During the American Civil War, Storey pur ...

. Storey left for the '' Chicago Times'' in 1861, taking much of the staff with him. In the 1870s ownership passed to William E. Quinby, who continued its Democratic leanings and established a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

edition. In 1940, the Knight Newspapers (later Knight Ridder) purchased the ''Free Press''. During the next 20 years, the ''Free Press'' competed in the southeastern Michigan market with ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...

'' and the ''

Detroit Times Six different newspapers called the ''Detroit Times'' have been published in the city of Detroit; the most recent existed for six decades, from 1900-60. Overview *The first iteration of the ''Detroit Times'' was an antislavery bulletin only print ...

'', until the ''Times'' was purchased and closed by ''The Detroit News'' on November 7, 1960. The ''Free Press'' was delivered and sold as a night paper, with home deliveries made after 7:00pm until around 1966. A morning "Blue Streak Edition" was available at news stands beginning around 1965, meaning the ''Free Press'' actually printed two editions per day. During that period ''The Detroit News'' was sold and delivered as an afternoon newspaper.

1989–present: Joint operating agreement

In 1989, the paper entered into a one hundred-year

joint operating agreement The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President Richard Nixon, authorizing the formation of joint operating agreements among competing newspaper operations within the same media market area. It ...

with its rival, combining business operations while maintaining separate editorial staffs. The combined company is called the

Detroit Media Partnership Detroit Media Partnership, L.P. manages the business operations - including production, advertising and circulation - for the two leading Detroit newspapers: ''The Detroit News'' and ''Detroit Free Press''. Detroit Media Partnership also handles ...

. The two papers also began to publish joint Saturday and Sunday editions, though the editorial content of each remained separate. At the time, the ''Detroit Free Press'' was the tenth-highest circulation paper in the United States, and the combined ''Detroit News and Free Press'' was the country's fourth-largest Sunday paper. On July 13, 1995, Newspaper Guild–represented employees of the ''Free Press'' and ''News'' and the pressmen, printers and Teamsters working for the "Detroit Newspapers" distribution arm went on strike. By October, about 40% of the editorial staffers had crossed the picket line, and many trickled back over the next months while others stayed out for the two and a half years of the strike. The strike was resolved in court three years later, and the unions remain active at the paper, representing a majority of the employees under their jurisdiction. News Free Press Building

In 1998, the ''Free Press'' vacated its former headquarters in downtown Detroit and moved to offices into ''The Detroit News'' building and began to operate from its new offices in that building on June 26 of that year. On August 3, 2005, Knight Ridder sold the ''Free Press'' to the Gannett Company, which had previously owned and operated ''The Detroit News''. Gannett, in turn, sold ''The News'' to MediaNews Group; Gannett continues to be the managing partner in the papers' joint operating agreement. The ''Free Press'' resumed publication of its own Sunday edition, May 7, 2006, without any content from ''The News'', other than that ''The News'' would print its editorial page in the Sunday ''Free Press''. FederalReserveBankDetroit

On December 16, 2008, Detroit Media Partnership (DMP) announced a plan to limit weekday home delivery for both dailies to Thursday and Friday only. On other weekdays the paper sold at newsstands would be smaller, about 32 pages, and redesigned. This arrangement went into effect March 30, 2009. The ''Free Press'' entered a news partnership with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

owned-and-operated station WWJ-TV channel 62 in March 2009 to produce a morning news show called ''First Forecast Mornings''. Prior to the partnership, WWJ aired absolutely no local newscast at all. In February 2014, the DMP announced its offices along with those of the ''Free Press'' and ''The Detroit News'' would occupy six floors in both the old and new sections of the former Federal Reserve building at 160 West Fort Street. The partnership expected to place signs on the exterior similar to those on the former offices. The move took place beginning in October 2014.

Ownership changes

In June 2015, Gannett split itself into two companies. The company's television broadcasters and digital publishers became part of a new company known as Tegna Inc. while its traditional print publishers became part of a new Gannett. In November 2019, the newspaper announced it would cut four staff positions ahead of the GateHouse Media conglomerate completing its purchase of Gannett. The Gannett board finalized the purchase agreement on November 19, 2019.

Other ''Free Press'' publications

* '' Screen & Radio Weekly'' (1934–1940) * ''The Detroit Almanac: 300 Years of Life in the Motor City'' (2001). Peter Gavrilovich and Bill McGraw, editors.

Notable people

Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. His books have sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing the ...

* Edward A. Batchelor * Jack Berry * Donna Britt *

Frank Bruni Frank Anthony Bruni (born October 31, 1964) is an American journalist and long-time writer for ''The New York Times''. In June 2011, he was named an op-ed columnist for the newspaper. His columns appear twice weekly and he also writes a weekly ne ...

* Mike Downey * Joe Falls * David Gilkey * Robin Givhan * Susan Goldberg *

Ellen Goodman Ellen Goodman (née Holtz; born April 11, 1941) is an American journalist and syndicated columnist. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1980. She is also a speaker and commentator. Career Goodman's career began as a researcher and reporter for ''Newsweek ...

Gary Graff Gary Graff (born 1960) is an American music journalist and author. Biography Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Graff attended Taylor Allderdice High School where he wrote for school newspaper ''The Taylor Allderdice Foreword''. He recei ...

* Sam Greene *

Edgar Guest Edgar Albert Guest (20 August 1881 – 5 August 1959) was a British-born American poet who became known as the People's Poet. His poems often had an inspirational and optimistic view of everyday life. Early life Guest was born in Birmingham ...

Dick Guindon Richard Gordon Guindon (December 2, 1935 – February 27, 2022) was an American cartoonist best known for his gag panel ''Guindon''. Guindon's cartoons have appeared in the ''Minneapolis Tribune'', ''The Realist'', and the ''Detroit Free Press''. ...

Ken Hamblin Ken Loronzo Hamblin II (born October 22, 1940), the self-titled ''Black Avenger'', was host of the ''Ken Hamblin Show'', which was syndicated nationally on Entertainment Radio Networks. His show peaked in the 1990s, but he left the air, without ...

* Stephen Henderson * Jemele Hill * Lee Hills * Royce Howes * Clark Hoyt * Joe S. Jackson * David Cay Johnston * Dorothy Misener Jurney *

Michelle Kaufman Michelle Kaufman (born 1965) is an American sportswriter and columnist for the ''Miami Herald''. She writes a column every Sunday on sports, focusing on soccer in particular. She also covers tennis, Olympic sports and college and professional sport ...

David Lawrence Jr. David Lawrence Jr. (born March 5, 1942 in New York City, New York) is an American nationally known newspaper editor and publisher who retired at the age of 56 and subsequently became a leading national advocate for children, especially in the area ...

* John C. Lodge * Kurt Luedtke *

Myra MacPherson Myra MacPherson (born 1934) is an American author, biographer, and journalist known for writing about politics, the Vietnam War, feminism, and death and dying. Although her work has appeared in many publications, she had a long affiliation with ...

* Dori J. Maynard * Eric Millikin *

Elvis Mitchell Elvis Mitchell (born December 6, 1958) is an American film critic, host of the public radio show ''The Treatment'', and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', the ''LA Weekly ...

Al Neuharth Allen Harold "Al" Neuharth (March 22, 1924 – April 19, 2013) was an American businessman, author, and columnist born in Eureka, South Dakota. He was the founder of ''USA Today'', The Freedom Forum, and its Newseum. Early life Al Neuharth was bo ...

Jack Ohman Jack Ohman (born September 1, 1960) is an American editorial cartoonist and educator. He works for ''The Sacramento Bee'', and previously worked for ''The Oregonian.'' His work is syndicated nationwide to over 300 newspapers by Tribune Media Se ...

* Rob Parker * William E. Quinby * Rochelle Riley *

James Risen James Risen (born April 27, 1955) is an American journalist for ''The Intercept''. He previously worked for ''The New York Times'' and before that for ''Los Angeles Times''. He has written or co-written many articles concerning U.S. government ...

* Gene Roberts *

Neal Rubin Neal Rubin (born 1955) is an American cartoonist and writer. He is currently a columnist for ''The Detroit Free Press'' and writes the nationally syndicated comic strip '' Gil Thorp.'' He previously spent 15 years as a feature writer and columni ...

Lyall Smith Lyall F. Smith (November 22, 1914 – October 8, 1991) was an American sports writer and editor. He was the sports editor and columnist for the Detroit Free Press from 1945 to 1965 and the president of the Baseball Writers' Association of Ame ...

* Jennie O. Starkey *

* Joe Stroud *

Neely Tucker Neely Tucker (born November 26, 1963, in Lexington, Mississippi) is a journalist and writer. He is the author of ''Love in the Driest Season'', an autobiographical story that touches on his journey from his education at a whites-only school in Mi ...

* David Turnley * Rob Wagner * Lewis Walter * Taro Yamasaki

References

External links

Official website

Detroit Newspaper Partnership
{{Authority control Newspapers published in Detroit Gannett publications Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers Publications established in 1831 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners