''The State Journal-Register'' is the only local daily
newspaper for
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1831 as the ''Sangamo Journal'' by William Bailhache and Edward Baker, and describes itself as "the oldest newspaper in Illinois". As such, it and its editor, Edward L. Baker, supported the political career of the Springfield-based
Abraham Lincoln in the years before the
American Civil War; in fact, it was in the ''Journal''s office that Lincoln and his friends waited for the
telegraphic news from Chicago to find out who would be the
Republican presidential nominee in 1860.
Later in publication, the name was changed to ''Illinois State Journal''. The cover-price is $2 daily, $4.50 on Sunday.
Copley Press bought the ''State Journal'' in 1927. In 1942, it bought Springfield's afternoon paper, the ''Illinois State Register''. For years, the two papers maintained separate editorial stances, with the ''State Journal'' tilting Republican and the ''State Register'' tilting Democratic. The two papers merged in 1974 as ''The State Journal-Register''.
-based
GateHouse Media bought ''The State Journal-Register'', along with most of Copley's other Midwestern titles, in 2007.
Since the change in ownership, the paper has downsized its staff, leading to internal controversy and at least one editor resigning in protest. In 2022, the paper announced it would stop printing its Saturday edition.
References
External links
''The State Journal-Register'' websiteIllinois Digital Newspaper Collections: Sangamo Journal/Illinois State Journal (1831–1853)
Gannett publications
Newspapers published in Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Companies based in Sangamon County, Illinois
Publications established in 1831
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