News Chief
Encyclopedia
The News Chief is a daily paper located in Winter Haven, FL and serves east Polk County, FL. It is owned by The New York Times Company
and is located at 455 Sixth St. N.W.
Everything originally was handset, but, within four years, Lee had moved the newspaper
to larger quarters and eventually acquired three linotype machine
s. During its 10th anniversary in September 1921, the newspaper
went to twice-a-week publication, and three years later went to five days a week, Monday through Friday.
Lee continued the newspaper
through two severe hurricanes (1926 and 1933), a fire (1930) and the Great Depression before selling the newspaper
in January 1948 to W.W. Galvin of Ohio.
Galvin immediately acquired a weekly, The Winter Haven News, and combined it with the Florida Chief into the News Chief.
The newspaper
eventually passed to the W.E. "Bill" Rynerson family, which later acquired the weekly Auburndale Star.
Disaster struck on Nov. 13, 1954, when a major fire destroyed the News Chief's downtown Winter Haven
building and severely damaged most of the equipment.
A four-page Sunday edition was printed at The Winter Haven Herald to keep intact the record of not missing a scheduled publication day.
In March 1964, the News Chief became one of the early leaders in Florida
journalism
in converting to offset printing.
In December 1972, the News Chief moved from its downtown plant to new quarters.
The News Chief added to its holdings with the purchase of the Winter Haven Shopping Guide in 1978.
In 1979, the Rynerson family sold the News Chief to Multimedia Inc.
In 1990, the News Chief was sold to Stauffer Communications.
In 1995, the News Chief and its other holdings became part of Morris Communications Co. with the Morris purchase of the Stauffer Communications chain of publications.
On Dec. 1 2007, the News Chief and its other holdings, including the Polk Shopper, became part of GateHouse Media Inc.
In March 2008, GateHouse sold the News Chief's newspaper
operations to The New York Times Company
and its Lakeland
newspaper
, The Ledger
. The News Chief moved from the Sixth Street, S.W., office it has held for 35 years to a new location a few blocks north on U.S. Highway 17 at 455 Sixth St., NW.
The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American media company best known as the publisher of its namesake, The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. has served as Chairman of the Board since 1997. It is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City....
and is located at 455 Sixth St. N.W.
History
The News Chief in Winter Haven, Fl., traces its beginnings to Sept. 28, 1911, when the first edition of the weekly Florida Chief was published by its founder, M.M. "Dad" Lee.Everything originally was handset, but, within four years, Lee had moved the newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
to larger quarters and eventually acquired three linotype machine
Linotype machine
The Linotype typesetting machine is a "line casting" machine used in printing. The name of the machine comes from the fact that it produces an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line-o'-type, a significant improvement over manual typesetting....
s. During its 10th anniversary in September 1921, the newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
went to twice-a-week publication, and three years later went to five days a week, Monday through Friday.
Lee continued the newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
through two severe hurricanes (1926 and 1933), a fire (1930) and the Great Depression before selling the newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
in January 1948 to W.W. Galvin of Ohio.
Galvin immediately acquired a weekly, The Winter Haven News, and combined it with the Florida Chief into the News Chief.
The newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
eventually passed to the W.E. "Bill" Rynerson family, which later acquired the weekly Auburndale Star.
Disaster struck on Nov. 13, 1954, when a major fire destroyed the News Chief's downtown Winter Haven
Winter Haven, Florida
Winter Haven is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 26,487 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 estimates, the city had a population of 32,577, making it the second most populated city in Polk County...
building and severely damaged most of the equipment.
A four-page Sunday edition was printed at The Winter Haven Herald to keep intact the record of not missing a scheduled publication day.
In March 1964, the News Chief became one of the early leaders in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
in converting to offset printing.
In December 1972, the News Chief moved from its downtown plant to new quarters.
The News Chief added to its holdings with the purchase of the Winter Haven Shopping Guide in 1978.
In 1979, the Rynerson family sold the News Chief to Multimedia Inc.
In 1990, the News Chief was sold to Stauffer Communications.
In 1995, the News Chief and its other holdings became part of Morris Communications Co. with the Morris purchase of the Stauffer Communications chain of publications.
On Dec. 1 2007, the News Chief and its other holdings, including the Polk Shopper, became part of GateHouse Media Inc.
In March 2008, GateHouse sold the News Chief's newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
operations to The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American media company best known as the publisher of its namesake, The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. has served as Chairman of the Board since 1997. It is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City....
and its Lakeland
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, The Ledger
The Ledger
The Ledger is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland, Florida and the Polk County area. It is owned by The New York Times Company. Jerome Ferson became publisher of the newspaper on July 30, 2007....
. The News Chief moved from the Sixth Street, S.W., office it has held for 35 years to a new location a few blocks north on U.S. Highway 17 at 455 Sixth St., NW.