''The Citizens' Voice'' is a compact newspaper published daily in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...

. Its 2005 circulation was 32,862, mostly

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeaste ...

residents.

History

Founding

The newspaper was founded in 1978 by striking employees of the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Company, which published the ''

Times Leader The ''Times Leader'' is a privately owned newspaper in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Founding Founded in 1879, it was locally owned until being purchased by Capital Cities in 1978. Early history On November 27, 1907, the ''Wilkes-Barre Times ...

''. Established on October 9 of that year, ''The Citizens' Voice'' was initially a "strike newspaper" published by the local Newspaper Guild, but quickly grew to become a direct competitor to the ''Times Leader''. After 11 years, the Newspaper Guild turned control of ''The Citizens' Voice'' over to the original striking employees. The Citizens' Voice, Inc., was formed to manage the newspaper. ''The Citizens' Voice'' added a Sunday edition in 1993.

2000 sale

In 2000, the newspaper was sold to

Scranton Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

-based

Times-Shamrock Communications Times-Shamrock Communications is an American media company based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The company, owned by the Lynett and Haggerty families of Scranton, lists among its assets nine radio stations. Assets Radio stations * WZBA, Baltimore ...

. That year, the company formed the Northeast Pennsylvania News Alliance, a news-sharing agreement between Times-Shamrock's newspapers and several local radio and TV stations. Several of the original strikers from 1978 still work for the newspaper. The ''Citizens' Voice'' is the oldest newspaper formed by striking workers in the nation.

2023 sale

In August 2023,

sold the newspaper and three other daily newspapers to

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

, a subsidiary of

Alden Global Capital Alden Global Capital is a hedge fund based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 2007 by Randall D. Smith, and is a division of Smith Management LLC. Its managing director is Heath Freeman. By mid-2020, Alden had stakes in roughly two ...

References

External links