| On Guard for 194 Years | |
 | |
 The September 11, 2011 front page of theDetroit Free Press, withEric Millikin art andMitch Albom column about the 10th anniversary of theSeptember 11 attacks | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | USA Today Co. (Detroit Media Partnership) |
| President | Timothy Gruber |
| Editor | Nicole Avery Nichols[1] |
| Founded | 1831 |
| Headquarters | 160 W. Fort St. Detroit, Michigan 48226 United States |
| Circulation |
|
| ISSN | 1055-2758 |
| OCLC number | 137343179 |
| Website | www |
TheDetroit Free Press (commonly referred to as theFreep) is a major dailynewspaper inDetroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned byGannett (the publisher ofUSA Today), and is operated by theDetroit Media Partnership under ajoint operating agreement withThe Detroit News, its historical rival. The Sunday edition is titled theSunday Free Press.
TheFree Press has received tenPulitzer Prizes[4] and fourEmmy Awards.[5] Its motto is "On Guard for 194 Years". In 2018, theDetroit Free Press received two Salute to Excellence awards from theNational Association of Black Journalists.[6]
The newspaper was launched byJohn R. Williams and his uncle,Joseph Campau, and was first published as theDemocratic Free Press and Michigan Intelligencer on May 5, 1831.[7] It was renamed toDetroit Daily Free Press in 1835, becoming the region's first daily newspaper.[8] Williams printed the first issues on a Washington press he purchased from the discontinuedOakland Chronicle ofPontiac. It was hauled from Pontiac in a wagon over rough roads to a building at Bates and Woodbridge streets in Detroit. The hand-operated press required two men and could produce 250 pages per hour. The first issues were 14 by 20 inches (360 mm × 510 mm) in size, with five columns of type. Sheldon McKnight became the first publisher, with his uncle John Pitts Sheldon as the editor.
In the 1850s, the paper was developed into a leadingDemocratic Party-aligned publication under the ownership ofWilbur F. Storey. Storey left for theChicago Times in 1861, taking much of the staff with him.[9] In the 1870s ownership passed toWilliam E. Quinby, who continued its Democratic leanings and established aLondon, England edition.[8] In 1904, a group of investors (including prominent journalistOtto Carmichael of theDetroit Journal) purchased theFree Press and sold it for a substantial sum of money five years later.[10]: 7
In 1940, the Knight Newspapers (laterKnight Ridder) purchased theFree Press. During the next 20 years, theFree Press competed in the southeastern Michigan market withThe Detroit News and theDetroit Times, until theTimes was purchased and closed byThe News on November 7, 1960. TheFree Press was delivered and sold as a night paper, with home deliveries made after 7:00 pm until around 1966. A morning "Blue Streak Edition" was available at news stands beginning around 1965, meaning theFree Press actually printed two editions per day. During that periodThe Detroit News was sold and delivered as an afternoon newspaper.
In 1989, the paper entered into a one hundred-yearjoint operating agreement with its rival, combining business operations while maintaining separate editorial staffs. The combined company is called theDetroit Media Partnership. The two papers also began to publish joint Saturday and Sunday editions, though the editorial content of each remained separate. At the time, theDetroit Free Press was the tenth-highest circulation paper in the United States, and the combinedDetroit News and Free Press was the country's fourth-largest Sunday paper.
On July 13, 1995,Newspaper Guild-represented employees of theFree Press andNews and the pressmen, printers and Teamsters working for the "Detroit Newspapers" distribution armwent on strike. By October, about 40% of the editorial staffers had crossed the picket line, and many trickled back over the next months while others stayed out for the two and a half years of the strike. The strike was resolved in court three years later, and the unions remain active at the paper, representing a majority of the employees under their jurisdiction.
In 1998, theFree Press vacated itsformer headquarters in downtown Detroit and moved to offices intoThe Detroit News' building and began to operate from its new offices in that building on June 26 of that year.[11]
On August 3, 2005, Knight Ridder sold theFree Press to theGannett Company, which had previously owned and operatedThe Detroit News. Gannett, in turn, soldThe News toMediaNews Group; Gannett continues to be the managing partner in the papers' joint operating agreement.[12][13]
TheFree Press resumed publication of its own Sunday edition, May 7, 2006, without any content fromThe News, other than thatThe News would print its editorial page in the SundayFree Press.[14]
On December 16, 2008, Detroit Media Partnership (DMP) announced a plan to limit weekday home delivery for both dailies to Thursday and Friday only. On other weekdays the paper sold at newsstands would be smaller, about 32 pages, and redesigned. This arrangement went into effect March 30, 2009.[15]
TheFree Press entered a news partnership withCBSowned-and-operated stationWWJ-TV channel 62 in March 2009 to produce a morning news show calledFirst Forecast Mornings. Prior to the partnership, WWJ aired absolutely no local newscast at all.[16]
In February 2014, the DMP announced its offices along with those of theFree Press andThe Detroit News would occupy six floors in both the old and new sections of the formerFederal Reserve building at 160 West Fort Street. The partnership expected to place signs on the exterior similar to those on the former offices.[17][18] The move took place beginning in October 2014.[19]
In June 2015, Gannett split itself into two companies. The company's television broadcasters and digital publishers became part of a new company known asTegna Inc. while its traditional print publishers became part of a new Gannett.[20]
In November 2019, the newspaper announced it would cut four staff positions ahead of theGateHouse Media conglomerate completing its purchase of Gannett. The Gannett board finalized the purchase agreement on November 19, 2019.[21][22]
In December 2024, the newspaper moved from West Fort Street after receiving notice from the building owner that it was planning to redevelop the structure.[23]Free Press offices moved to a facility on Clifford Street in theGrand Circus Park Historic District.[24]The Detroit News moved its offices to a historic building at 6001 Cass Avenue.[25]
In January 2025, Gannett announced it would close the paper's printing facility inSterling Heights, Michigan with 115 jobs lost. The production of the 32 newspapers it produces will be transferred to other plants.[26] About six months later Gannett announced it would not renew the joint operating agreement withThe Detroit News which is set to expire at the end of the year.[27]
