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''The Free Press'' is an American, English language 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 ...
published in
Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...
,
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
.


History

On April 4, 1887, Editor L.P. Hunt published the first issue of the ''Mankato Daily Free Press'' and found it was not easy. In an apology to his readers, Hunt wrote "The labor incident to getting out the initial number of a daily paper is vastly more trying than people not familiar with newspaper work and worry are aware of or can be devised of. The fact, therefore, that today's ''Daily Free Press'' is decidedly short on telegraphic, as well as some other matter, is no exception to the perplexities experienced by newspaper men and we feel sure the public will bear with us a day or two until the 'mercheen' is fairly oiled and put in good running order." Since that time, the 'mercheen' hasn't skipped a beat publishing more than 100 years serving the Mankato region. The seminal publication actually was the ''Independent'' which began in 1857. Six years later, it was bought by Charles Slocum and named the ''Mankato Union.'' Then in 1880 the ''Union'' and its rival Mankato paper, the ''Record'', merged and became the ''Mankato Weekly Free Press''. It ran as a weekly until 1887, when it became a daily. It began as a conservative Republican newspaper remaining that way until modern days. The word "Daily" was dropped from its name in 1940 and 30 years later, "Mankato" was dropped. The last local owner of the paper was Jared How, who sold The Free Press Co. to Ottaway Newspapers Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Dow Jones & Company Dow Jones & Company, Inc. is an American publishing firm owned by News Corp and led by CEO Almar Latour. The company publishes ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''Barron's'', ''MarketWatch'', ''Mansion Global'', ''Financial News'' and ''Private Equ ...
. Ottaway acquired 11 percent of the company in 1977 and the remainder in 1979. In 2002, Ottaway sold ''The Free Press'' and other papers to
Community Newspaper Holdings CNHI, LLC (formerly Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.) is an American publisher of newspapers and advertising-related publications throughout the United States. The company was formed in 1997 by Ralph Martin,
Inc. On its 50th anniversary, ''The Free Press'' circulation was 12,000. In 2019, the circulation was Sunday: 17762/Monday-Saturday: 14209. It also publishes the ''Mankato Magazine'', "MN Valley Business" magazine and ''The Land'' a Minnesota farm and rural life publication. It also serves its readers through www.mankatofreepress.com which started in 1994 and now ranks as the No. 1 news website in the region. It was named the 2010 CNHI Newspaper of the Year.


Content

The ''Free Press'' news staff covers six counties -- Blue Earth, Nicollet, Le Sueur,
Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...
, Waseca and Watonwan. The major cities of Mankato, North Mankato, Waseca, St. Peter and Le Sueur are also primary coverage areas. It also has wide coverage of local sports and
Minnesota State University Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...
in
Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...
. It also is the publisher of ''Mankato Magazine'' (circulation 10,000), the ''MN Valley Business'' magazine and '' The Land'' (circulation 35,000).


See also

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List of newspapers in Minnesota This list of newspapers in Minnesota shows newspapers that are published currently in the state of Minnesota in the United States of America. According to records of the Library of Congress, there have been throughout its history almost 4,000 ne ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Free Press Newspapers published in Minnesota Mankato, Minnesota Publications established in 1887 1887 establishments in Minnesota