Capital Newspapers is a partnership between

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 ...

and The Capital Times Company that operates 27 publications and several web sites in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The corporate name of the company is Madison Newspapers Inc. Capital Newspapers has nearly 400 employees.

History

The ''

Wisconsin State Journal The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of September ...

'' was first published on December 2, 1839 as ''The Madison Express'', an afternoon weekly in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. It changed its name in 1852 to the ''Wisconsin Daily Journal'' in 1852 and to its current name in 1860. In 1919, the newspaper was sold to Lee Newspaper Syndicate (now

) by publisher Richard Lloyd Jones. ''

The Capital Times ''The Capital Times'' (or ''Cap Times'') is a digital-first newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by The Capital Times Company. The company also owns 50 percent of Capital Newspapers, which now does business as Madison Media Partners. The ot ...

'' was founded in 1917 by the former managing editor of the ''Wisconsin State Journal'', William T. Evjue. He quit the State Journal in the summer of 1917 after the newspaper abandoned support for

Robert La Follette Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...

and his opposition to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. By December that year, he had raised enough funds to begin his own newspaper, an afternoon daily first published on December 13, 1917. Lee Enterprises and Evjue's The Capital Times Company began discussing a partnership that would operate both newspapers in 1947. The new partnership began on November 15, 1948 as Madison Newspapers, Inc. On February 1, 1949, the ''Wisconsin State Journal'' moved from afternoons to mornings and was the sole newspaper published on Sunday in the partnership.

Central Wisconsin acquisitions

Madison Newspapers and

acquired Independent Media Group, Inc.'s newspapers 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 ...

and

on July 1, 2000. Of the purchased newspapers, Lee Enterprises purchased 18 in both states and Madison Newspapers acquired 11 in Wisconsin. The newspapers purchased the '' Portage Daily Register'', the ''

Baraboo News Republic Baraboo is a city in the Midwest and the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The largest city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2020 population was 12,556. It is situ ...

'', the '' Shawano Leader'', '' Reedsburg Times Press'', the '' Juneau County Star-Times'', the '' Wisconsin Dells Events'', the '' Sauk Prairie Eagle'', the ''Shopper Stopper'', and the ''Wisconsin Reminder''. Central Wisconsin Newspapers, Inc., a subsidiary of Madison Newspapers, was created to manage the newspapers. The '' Daily Citizen'' of

Beaver Dam A beaver dam or beaver impoundment is a dam built by beavers to create a pond which protects against predators such as coyotes, wolves and bears, and holds their food during winter. These structures modify the natural environment in such a way t ...

, two weekly newspapers, and five other publications were acquired by Central Wisconsin Newspapers, Inc., a subsidiary of Madison Newspapers, from Conley Publishing Group on April 1, 2002.

Name change

One year after completing the purchase of the ''Daily Citizen'', Madison Newspapers changed its name to Capital Newspapers and integrated its two subsidiaries—Central Wisconsin Newspapers and Citizen Newspapers—in name only into the renamed company. The name change was strategic in order to identify itself as a regional newspaper company. According to the press release, the "change does not signal a significant reorganization and no job losses will occur because of this change. The newsrooms will remain separate and independent ...."

Sales to BlueLine

On October 3, 2006, Capital Newspapers completed the sale of the ''Shawano Leader'' and its commercial printing operations near Shawano to BlueLine Media Holdings LLC of

Neenah Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the East North Central States, north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Wiscon ...

. The Leader had a circulation of 6,500 daily and 7,200 on Sundays.

Changes to ''The Capital Times''

The company's most recent change took place on April 26, 2008, when The Capital Times published its last daily print edition and started publishing primarily online. The Capital Times now consists of two interrelated products: its website, captimes.com, and a tabloid-style print edition, '' The Cap Times'', distributed on Wednesdays. The Capital Times Co. of Madison acquired '' WisPolitics.com'' the online subscription political news service, in February 2011. ''WisPolitics.com'' is operated as a wholly owned subsidiary, with no integration of staff or connection to the editorial philosophy of ''The Cap Times''.

Printing press

The Capital Newspapers printing press also inks numerous publications in the

Dane County Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin. The county seat is Madison, which is also the state capital. Dane County is the ...

region that are not owned by the corporation. Press room clients include various

University of Wisconsin 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, t ...

student-led newspapers, such as

The Badger Herald ''The Badger Herald'' is a newspaper serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison community, founded in 1969. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year and once during the summer. Available at newsstands across campus ...

which distributes 11,500 papers on Mondays and Thursdays and

The Daily Cardinal ''The Daily Cardinal'' is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. One of the oldest student newspapers in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892. The newspaper is financially and editoria ...

which distributes 10,000 newspapers Monday through Thursday.

Publications

* ''Agri-View * ''

'' * ''

'' * ''Beaver Dam Daily Citizen'' * ''Juneau County Star-Times'' * ''Marketplace Rentals'' * ''Monday Marketeer'' * ''Monday Mini'' * ''Portage Daily Register'' * ''Shopper Stopper'' * ''Shopper's View'' * ''Shopping Reminder'' * ''

'' * '' Wisconsin Dells Events'' * ''

References

{{reflist, 30em Companies based in Madison, Wisconsin Newspaper companies of the United States Publishing companies established in 1948 1948 establishments in Wisconsin