''The Daily News'', formerly the ''Galveston County Daily News'' and ''Galveston Daily News'', is a

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

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

, United States. It was first published April 11, 1842, making it the oldest newspaper in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The newspaper founded ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' on October 1, 1885, as a sister publication. It currently serves as the

newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...

for the City of Galveston as well as

Galveston County Galveston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, the population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, ...

History

On April 11, 1842, George H. French began publication of the ''Daily News'', as a single broadsheet paper. At the time, Texas was an independent

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

, with

Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...

serving as president, and Galveston was its largest port and primary city. By 1843, Willard Richardson was named editor of the paper and in 1845 decided to purchase the growing publication. ''The News'' continued to grow and became a "major voice in the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas ( es, República de Tejas) was a sovereign state in North America that existed from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846, that bordered Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande in 1840 (another breakaway republic from Mex ...

", and was one of the first papers in the US with a dedicated

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

to manage its circulation in cities across the Republic and later the U.S.

state of Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

The Daily News building in Galveston Texas

During the Civil War, the ''Daily News'' was briefly published in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, after Galveston was occupied by Union forces, but by 1866, it had returned. Alfred Horatio Belo, joined the staff in 1865 and purchased the paper in 1875. By 1885, Belo saw the need for a strong independent publication in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, and sent staff there to establish a satellite publication, ''

''. In 1923,

William Lewis Moody Jr. William Lewis Moody Jr. (January 25, 1865 – July 21, 1954)Who Was Who In America, Vol. 3, 1951-1960. Library of Congress number 43-3789. was an American financier and entrepreneur from Galveston, Texas, who founded a private bank, an insurance ...

, a prominent banker and insurance man purchased the paper from A. H. Belo. In 1963 the

Moody Foundation The Moody Foundation is a charitable foundation incorporated in Texas and based in the island city of Galveston. It was chartered in 1942 by William Lewis Moody Jr. and his wife Libbie Rice Shearn Moody ''"to benefit, in perpetuity, present and f ...

chose to sell the paper to

William P. Hobby Jr. William Pettus Hobby Jr. (born January 19, 1932) is an American Democratic politician who served a record eighteen years as the 37th Lieutenant Governor of Texas. He held that office from January 16, 1973, to January 15, 1991, for an unpreced ...

, owner of the ''

Houston Post The ''Houston Post'' was a newspaper that had its headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States. In 1995, the newspaper shut down, and its assets were purchased by the ''Houston Chronicle''. History Gail Borden Johnson founded the ''Houston Po ...

''. The Hobbys, who also owned the competing ''Galveston Tribune'', chose to discontinue that publication and convert the ''Daily News'' into a daily evening publication. In June 1967 Galveston Newspapers Inc., purchased the paper and changed ''The News'' to daily morning format. On Sunday November 7, 2004, ''The Daily News'' absorbed the ''Texas City Sun'', a smaller sister publication that had been founded in 1912 and was based in

Texas City Texas City is a city in Galveston County, Texas, Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and pe ...

, Texas.

Awards

The paper has won first place awards from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and the

Texas Press Association Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

in editorial writing, headline writing and general excellence, as well as breaking news articles.

Today

In November 2011 the paper dropped the "Galveston County" moniker and returned to its original name, ''The Daily News''. It is currently published by Galveston Newspapers Inc., and owned by the Carmage B. Walls family. The Wallses also operate the

-based media group,

Southern Newspapers Inc. Southern Newspapers Inc. (SNI) is a publishing holding company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company was founded as Southern Newspapers, Inc., of Tennessee in 1967 by Carmage Walls. Its flagship paper, the ''Galveston County Daily News'' is ...

It is Southern Newspapers' flagship publication and has a circulation of 33,000 in 2008. It has a weekday circulation of approx. 14,200 and a weekend circulation of approx.14,900.

References

External links

''The Daily News'' websiteSouthern Newspapers Inc.

Historic issues of the Galveston Daily News from 1845-1897
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daily News (Texas), The Daily newspapers published in Texas Newspapers published in Greater Houston Companies based in Galveston, Texas Newspapers established in 1842 Mass media in Galveston, Texas 1842 establishments in the Republic of Texas

History

Awards

Today

See also

References

External links