''The Telegraph'' is an American

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 poli ...

published seven days a week in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend (Illinois), Riv ...

, serving the St. Louis

Metro-East The Metro East is an urban area in Southern Illinois, United States that contains the eastern and northern urban, suburban, and exurban areas on the Mississippi River in Greater St. Louis. It encompasses eight Illinois counties and constitutes th ...

region. It was owned by Civitas Media, based in

Davidson, North Carolina Davidson is a suburban town in Mecklenburg, Iredell, and Cabarrus counties, North Carolina, United States. It is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 15,106 at the 2020 census, up from 10,944 in 2010. The town was ...

, a subsidiary of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based Versa Capital Management, which owned about 100 daily and weekly newspapers across 12 states but sold The Telegraph to Hearst Corp. in 2017.

History

It was founded in 1836, as the ''Alton Telegraph'' by Lawson A. Parks. It is published seven days a week. Until the 1970s, the ''Telegraph'' was known as the ''Alton Daily Telegraph'' and then the ''Alton Evening Telegraph''. In 1969 the ''Alton Telegraph'' was sued for defamation by a local builder, James C. Green. A jury awarded $9 million. The newspaper could not appeal unless it posted a $10 million bond, and instead declared bankruptcy, eventually settling for slightly more than its insurance limits. The Cousley family controlled the paper from 1889 to 1985, when they sold the paper to

Ingersoll Publications 21st Century Media was an American media company. It was the successor of Ingersoll Publications and Journal Register Company, and it was succeeded by Digital First Media. The company operated more than 350 multi-platform products in 992 comm ...

, who had acquired the ''

Suburban Journals Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis was a group of publications in the St. Louis region owned by Lee Enterprises. The chain served St. Louis and St. Charles counties in Missouri and Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties in Illinois. It pu ...

'' the previous year. When Ingersoll successor Journal Register exited the St. Louis market, ''The Telegraph'' was sold to

Freedom Communications Freedom Communications, Inc. was an American media conglomerate that operated daily and weekly newspapers, websites and mobile applications and television stations, as well as ''Coast Magazine'' and other specialty publications. Headquartered at ...

. Along with ''The Telegraph'', Civitas Media also owned the '' Journal-Courier'' in

Jacksonville, Illinois Jacksonville is a city and the county seat of Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,616 at the 2020 census, down from 19,446 in 2010. It is home to Illinois College, Illinois School for the Deaf, and the Illinois Sc ...

, which was sold to Hearst at the same time as the ''Telegraph'', and the '' Sedalia Democrat'' in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. These three newspapers, along with ''

The Lima News ''The Lima News'' is a local daily newspaper aimed at residents in Allen, Auglaize, Hancock, Hardin, Logan, Mercer, Putnam, Shelby and Van Wert counties in Ohio, USA. Its headquarters is located in Lima, Ohio. History The newspaper wa ...

'' in Ohio, constituted the Central Division of

before being sold to Ohio Community Media in May 2012 before becoming part of Civitas Media. News publishing corporation Hearst Media Company acquired The Telegraph in August 2017. In December 2017, The Telegraph moved its offices from 111 East Broadway, after 90 years at that location, to 219 Piasa St. in Alton. "Our current building was great as a manufacturing facility, but as the newspaper business has evolved and technology has improved, staffing is now office-based and we need a more modern space to operate the business", former Telegraph Publisher Jim Shrader said.Telegraph to relocate offices to Piasa Street location Monday
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Telegraph (Alton, Illinois), The Newspapers established in 1836 Alton, Illinois 1836 establishments in Illinois Newspapers published in Illinois