''The Blowing Rocket'' is a weekly
newspaper in
Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States.
History
The newspaper was created as a
tabloid
Tabloid may refer to:
* Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism
* Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size
** Chinese tabloid
* Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size
* Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft
* ''Ta ...
by state Senator Columbus Vance Henkel, Jr., in June 1932. During the 1930s and 1940s it was a seasonal newspaper, published only during the months of June, July and August. Each summer a student at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism was hired to edit the ''Rocket''.
In the 1950s the ''Rocket'' switched to
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
format and a year-round publication schedule. In 1956 the ''Rocket'' was acquired by Rivers Printing Company, which owned the ''
Watauga Democrat
The ''Watauga Democrat'' is a weekly newspaper published in Boone, North Carolina. It was first published in 1888 to share news about the local Democrat Party, and today chronicles general local news in Watauga County
Watauga County ( ) '' in
Boone.
Today the ''Rocket'' is part of Jones Media's High Country Media group, which includes the ''
Watauga Democrat
The ''Watauga Democrat'' is a weekly newspaper published in Boone, North Carolina. It was first published in 1888 to share news about the local Democrat Party, and today chronicles general local news in Watauga County
Watauga County ( ) '', ''
The Avery Journal'' and the ''
Mountain Times''.
''The Blowing Rocket'' has the distinction of being the last newspaper affiliated with the National Press Association to charge 10 cents for an individual copy. The ''
Epitaph'' in
Tombstone, Arizona raised its price from 10 cents to 25 cents in 1982, shortly before the ''Rocket'' took the same step.
[
In 2002, the ''Rocket'' had a paid circulation of 3,530. As of December 1, 2019, the newspaper had a circulation of 591.]
See also
* List of newspapers published in North Carolina
There have been newspapers in North Carolina since the ''North-Carolina Gazette'' began publication in the Province of North Carolina in 1751. As of January 2020, there were approximately 260 newspapers in publication in North Carolina. While ...
References
External links
''A History of Local Media'' in the Watauga Democrat's 2005 supplement, ''A Place Called Home''
The Watauga Democrat
The Blowing Rocket
The Avery Journal
The Mountain Times
Jones Media Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blowing Rocket, The
Weekly newspapers published in North Carolina
Watauga County, North Carolina
1932 establishments in North Carolina