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| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | Hearst Communications |
| Founded | 1878, as theMiddlesex Monitor |
| Headquarters | 386 Main St., 4th Fl.,Middletown,Connecticut 06457United States |
| Website | middletownpress |
The Middletown Press is a daily newspaper based inMiddletown, Connecticut that is the main newspaper of Middletown and its surrounding area inMiddlesex County, Connecticut.
It was founded in 1878 as theMiddlesex Monitor, a daily flyer, by Ernest King and his son Ernest. It carried information about the 1884 presidential elections. It became a one-cent daily newspaper (also called a penny press). The name would later change to The Evening Press when its price went up to two cents in 1918, and one year later it became The Middletown Press in 1919.[1]
“It was blatantly a Democratic paper in a town dominated by Democrats,” in its early history, according to Elizabeth A. Warner, author ofA Pictorial History of Middletown, who credits the overt political affiliation as part of the reason for its success.[2]
Competitors then or over the years included weekly papersThe Sentinel and Witness andThe Constitution and dailyThe Daily Herald (all of which may not have been Middletown focused). Direct competition on Middletown news was provided byThe Middletown Tribune, a Republican newspaper, that was established in 1893 and operated until 1906, and later byThe Middletown Times which operated during 1913-1914. Otherwise, "the Middletown Press had a monopoly on Middletown news."[1]
It was later owned by Berkshire, Massachusetts-based Eagle Publishing Company, publisher of theBerkshire Eagle and other papers.The Eagle's last independent publisher was Michael G. Miller, grandson ofKelton Bedell Miller, who founded the paper. Michael was president of The Eagle Publishing Company which ownedThe Eagle, theMiddletown Press inMiddletown, Connecticut, and two daily newspapers in Vermont: theBennington Banner and theBrattleboro Reformer, as well as a weekly newspaper, theJournal inManchester, Vermont; his brother Mark C. Miller was editor ofThe Eagle, while brother Kelton B. Miller II was publisher of the Vermont newspapers. A sister, Margo Miller, a writer forThe Boston Globe, sat on Eagle Publishing's board.[3] The Eagle paper was said to be struggling financially in the early 1990s, burdened by mismanagement and debt incurred by the decision to purchase new multi-million dollar four-color printing presses. That purchase necessitated that the company expand into larger quarters.
In 1995, The Middletown Press was purchased, along with other New England newspapers, byMediaNews Group.[4]It was sold soon after toJournal Register Company.[5]
In 2013, the Journal Register Company became known as21st Century Media, an American media company.
The company was led by CEO John Paton who openly blogged about the changes he is making to transform Journal Register from a newspaper company to a "digital first, print last" company. Paton, formerly CEO ofImpreMedia, started on February 1, 2010 by announcing he would provide all reporters with Flip video cameras as a sign of his commitment to the company's digital transformation.
It was included in the Connecticut cluster of newspapers, one of six clusters, owned by 21st Century Media.[9] In 2017, 21st Century Media/Digital First Media sold its Connecticut papers toHearst Communications.[10]
The Middletown Press is now a dailybroadsheet which covers news in the Middletown area. TheHartford Courant is a daily broadsheet which includes a Middletown story in every issue.
“The Press Influence is Large,” an article published in The Middletown Press on Oct. 29, 1935 as part of the 50th Anniversary Edition, cited by Argus.
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