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The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' 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 ...
that serves
Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
, the state capital and home of the
University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in Nebraska (after the ''
Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...
''). The paper also operates a commercial printing unit.


History

The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is the result of a 1995 merger between the city's two historic newspapers. The ''Lincoln Star'', established in 1905, was Lincoln's morning newspaper while the ''Lincoln Journal'' was distributed in the evenings. The ''Journal'' was itself the conglomeration of several previous Lincoln newspapers.


''The Lincoln Journal''

On September 7, 1867, Charles Henry Gere founded the ''Nebraska Commonwealth''. A member of the prominent Gere family, Gere was a New York native and
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
veteran. As an attorney who had studied law in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Gere quickly became an important figure in
Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
, serving as the private secretary of the state's first governor. Gere spearheaded numerous local issues, specifically favoring the idea that all state government functions should be housed in one city as opposed to scattering them across the state. As such, Gere became an important voice in the nascent state capital,
Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...
, and the ''Nebraska Commonwealth'' became its first newspaper. In 1869, two years after moving the ''Commonwealth'' to Lincoln, Gere changed the name of the publication to the ''Nebraska State Journal''. The following year, the newspaper became a
daily Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
. As his publication grew, Gere retired from law to become an active part of his newspaper. Having served in the first governor's administration, the state constitutional convention, the state senate, the education commission, the committee on railroads, and the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, Gere's long history of involvement in local politics and strongly-held views impacted the editorial tone of the paper. In one editorial in 1890, Gere famously likened the
Farmer's Alliance The Farmers' Alliance was an organized agrarian economic movement among American farmers that developed and flourished ca. 1875. The movement included several parallel but independent political organizations — the National Farmers' Alliance and ...
and its
candidates A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be election, elected to an official, office — in this case a Preselection, candida ...
to "a herd of hogs", criticizing the party for disrupting Republican party politics in the state. In 1897, J.C. Seacrest, a former reporter for the ''Nebraska State Journal'', purchased the ''Lincoln Evening News'', which was published by the ''State Journal'' as an evening edition. By 1922, Seacrest had changed the name of the ''Lincoln Evening News'' to the ''Lincoln Evening Journal'' and become the majority owner of the State Journal Company. Seacrest merged the two publications to create to create the ''Lincoln Evening Journal & Nebraska State Journal''.


''The Lincoln Star''

In 1902, Lincoln utilities tycoon and millionaire D.E. Thompson established the ''Lincoln Daily Star.'' In 1910, Thompson sold the ''Daily Star'' to local grain operator Herbert E. Gooch. The
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
caused Gooch to sell the publication to the Lee Group of Davenport, Iowa, now
Lee Enterprises Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...
, for one million dollars in 1930. As the Depression wore on, financial circumstances forced the Seacrests and Lee Group to buy
minority interest In accounting, minority interest (or non-controlling interest) is the portion of a subsidiary corporation's stock that is not owned by the parent corporation. The magnitude of the minority interest in the subsidiary company is generally less than 5 ...
in each other's companies in 1931 to stay afloat. However, the two publications remained independent and controlled their own content.


Merger

The two papers had held minority stakes in each other since 1931. In 1937, J.C. Seacrest created a trust which ensured that the ''Journal'' would remain in the possession of the Seacrest family throughout the lifetimes of his sons, Joe W. and Fred S. Seacrest, and their children. Joe W. and Fred inherited the ''Journal'' upon their father's death in 1942. However, financial realities forced greater cooperation between the ''Journal'' and ''Star'' and in 1950, the State Journal Printing Company and Star Printing Company merged into the Journal-Star Printing Company. Despite being printed by the same company and sharing offices and production facilities, the publications maintained competing news teams and ran separate stories. In 1971, Joe W. Seacrest chose his son Joe R. Seacrest and his nephew Mark Seacrest to run the ''Journal''. In 1990, the two papers began running combined weekend and holiday editions. By 1995, it was obvious that Lincoln could no longer support two separate newspapers. That March, Lee Enterprises bought the ''Journal'' from the Seacrest family, and merged it with the ''Star''. The final separate editions of the ''Journal'' and ''Star'' were published on August 4, 1995; the first edition of the merged ''Lincoln Journal Star'' rolled off the presses on August 7.


Awards and alumni

* In 1949, the ''Nebraska State Journal'' was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalis ...
"for the campaign establishing the "Nebraska All-Star Primary" presidential preference primary which spotlighted, through a bi-partisan committee, issues early in the presidential campaign." *
Mari Sandoz Mari Susette Sandoz (May 11, 1896 – March 10, 1966) was a Nebraska novelist, biographer, lecturer, and teacher. She became one of the West's foremost writers, and wrote extensively about pioneer life and the Plains Indians.Bristow, David ...
served as proofreader for the ''Nebraska State Journal''. *
Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including ''O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and ''My Ántonia''. In 1923, ...
wrote for the ''Nebraska State Journal'' from 1893 to 1899 as the fine arts critic.


References


External links

* {{coord, 40.815, N, 96.708, W, display=title 1867 establishments in Nebraska 1995 establishments in Nebraska Daily newspapers published in the United States Lee Enterprises publications Mass media in Lincoln, Nebraska Newspapers published in Nebraska Newspapers established in 1867 Publications established in 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service winners Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers