- The Free Lance–Star
Infobox Newspaper
name = The Free Lance–Star
caption = Front page,April 14 ,2008
type = Dailynewspaper
format =Broadsheet
foundation = Jan. 27, 1885
ceased publication =
price = $156 subscription (US dollars)
owners = Free Lance–Star Publishing Company
publisher = Josiah P. Rowe III [http://stylebook.fredericksburg.com/namefram.htm The Free Lance-Star people at fredericksburg.com] ] Associate Publishers Florence C. Barnick Nicholas J. Cadwallender
editor = Edward W. Jones
chiefeditor =
copublisher =
staff =
language =
political =
circulation =
headquarters = Fredericksburg, Virginia
oclc =
ISSN =
website = http://www.fredericksburg.com"The Free Lance–Star" is the principal daily
newspaper distributed throughout Fredericksburg,Virginia , with a circulation area including the city of Fredericksburg and all or parts of the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George, Caroline, Culpeper, Fauquier, Louisa, Orange, Prince William and Westmoreland.The Free Lance was first published on
January 27 ,1885 , when a group of local merchants created the paper to serve the news and advertising needs of the community. A one-year subscription that very first year cost $1.50. In 1900, the Free Lance merged with its competing The Fredericksburg Daily Star. The two papers continued to be published separately until 1926 when, under the leadership of Josiah P. Rowe Jr., they were combined into The Free Lance–Star, a single newspaper published 6 days a week.WFLS , the company’s firstradio station housed at the same location, went on the air in 1960.WYSK was added to the company in 1964. The company purchasedWWUZ Classic rock out of Bowling Green in 2001, and expanded further into publishing telephone directories with its Star Directory distributed to 140,000 homes. Accordingly, The Free Lance–Star Publishing Co. has grown to 500 employees.In the mid-1990s the company maintained a web presence under FLStarWeb.com. Those efforts have since shifted to fredericksburg.com. In 1984, The Free Lance–Star was named by
Time magazine as one of two top small daily newspapers in the country. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951066-2,00.html TIME Magazine, Apr. 30, 1984.] See: "family legacies: Virginia's Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star"]The paper has occupied two addresses in its history. It was founded in 1885 as a twice-weekly publication by Col. John W. Woltz and William E. Bradley from their offices at 303 William St in Fredericksburg. In 1965 the newspaper, owned and operated by members of the same family since 1926 moved to its current location at 616 Amelia Street.James Kelly, [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961622,00.html "Telling a Town About Itself",]
Time Magazine , June 16, 1986.] Charles and Josiah Rowe inherited the paper from their father in 1949, and in 1997, upon Charles’ retirement, the family of Josiah P. Rowe III purchased total ownership of the business. ["The Free Lance–StarPublishing Co., Story", by The Free Lance–Star. [http://www.freelancestar.com/about.php] ]It! and Myline
The student produced sections called
it! and Myline , published every Tuesday and Thursday, give local students the opportunity to write on popular topics. "Myline" is featured on the back of Tuesday's "Family Section" and "it!" is found inside Thursday's "Weekender" section. "Myline" is designed in a broadsheet format, while "it!" is designed as a six page tabloid. [Sarah Keith, [http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/102007/10162007/324812 A brief history of MyLine] , The Free Lance–Star, October 16, 2007.]Notes
External links
* [http://fredericksburg.com/ Official site]
* [http://fredericksburg.com/FreeLanceStarCompany/history History of the Free Lance–Star]
* [http://departments.umw.edu/hipr/www/fredburg.htm Fredericksburg Research Resources, including links to historical newspaper indexes of the Free Lance, the Star, and other Fredericksburg newspapers]
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