The Bladen Journal

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Bladen Journal
TypeBiweekly newspaper
Owner(s)Champion Media
PublisherDenise Ward
Editor-in-chiefSara Fox
Staff writersAlex Brooks
LanguageEnglish
Headquarters109 N Pine Street, Suite B2, Elizabethtown, NC
Circulation4,400
OCLC number5884408
Websitebladenjournal.com

The Bladen Journal is a bi-weekly newspaper, published in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, United States. The paper caters to residents of Bladen County. The paper is published each Tuesday and Friday.[1]

History[edit]

In 1898 a daily news bulletin titled The Bladen Express began being published in Clarkton, North Carolina. In 1911 the paper changed its name to The Bladen Journal. About 16 years later the publication relocated to Elizabethtown, North Carolina.[2]

In 1929 Jessie Lee Sugg McCulloch became editor of The Bladen Journal, thus becoming one of the first women in North Carolina to edit a newspaper. She served in the role until 1974.[2] Alan Wooten was named editor in July 2018, and Sara Fox took over in September 2022. In 2023, Fox added a Spanish section to the Bladen Journal website and physical newspaper to serve the Spanish-speaking community in Bladen County.[3]

The paper has won some awards from the North Carolina Press Association, including first place in sports coverage (W. Curt Vincent, reporting) and religion & faith reporting (Chrysta Carroll) in 2016 in the "Community newspapers under 3,500 circulation" category.[4]

The Journal first began publishing in 1898 as The Clarkton Express.[5] and was given its current name in 1902.[6] The Journal has had multiple owners including Community Newspaper Holdings,[7] Heartland Publications,[8] and Civitas Media.[9] Civitas Media sold its properties in the Carolinas to Champion Media in 2017.[10][11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Weeklies". Editor & Publisher DataBook. 2018. p. 285.
  2. ^ a b Thompson, Bill (December 2016). "Beast of Bladenboro to Hurricane Matthew, Bladen County's newspaper tells stories of its corner of eastern North Carolina". Business, North Carolina. Vol. 36, no. 12.
  3. ^ Carroll, Chrysta (2018-07-26). "Taking the reins". Bladen Journal. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  4. ^ "News/ Editorial/ Photography Awards" (PDF). 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  5. ^ "The Bladen journal". Chronicling America (U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present). Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  6. ^ "Bladen Journal Serves County". News and Observer. May 18, 1940 – via Newsbank.
  7. ^ "Regional Report / Eastern". Business North Carolina. 23 (7): 16. May 2003 – via EBSCO.
  8. ^ "Regional Report / Eastern". Business North Carolina. Vol. 24, no. 6. June 2004. p. 14.
  9. ^ Business Wire, Versa Capital Announces the Formation of Civitas Media, LLC, retrieved April 10, 2017 {{citation}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  10. ^ "Champion Media has acquired the North Carolina and South Carolina print and digital and local assets of Civitas Media". Issuu. Editor & Publisher. August 2017. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
  11. ^ "Champion Media purchases Bladen Journal, others". Bladen Journal. 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2019-07-05.

External links[edit]

  • BladenJournal.com
  • Bladen Journal, Google news archive. —PDFs of 2,696 issues, dating from 1929 to 1985.