Type Daily newspaper Owner(s) Lee Enterprises Editor Dave Bundy | Format Broadsheet Publisher Ava Thomas Founded 1995 (merger) | |
The Lincoln Journal Star is a daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska. Owned by Lee Enterprises, the Journal Star was created by the 1995 merger of Lincoln's morning newspaper (the Lincoln Star, established in 1905) and its evening newspaper (the Lincoln Journal, established by Charles H. Gere in 1867 as the Nebraska Commonwealth and later renamed the Nebraska State Journal, under which it won the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service). Lee Enterprises, which had owned the Star since 1930, bought the Journal from its local owners, the Seacrest family, and merged it with the Star. The Journal and Star had already merged some of their operations under a joint operating agreement formed in 1950, sharing offices and production facilities while maintaining separate newsrooms.
As of 2016, the Journal Star has a circulation of 76,374 daily and 83,674 on Sunday in its primary circulation area in 17 southeast Nebraska counties but not Douglas and Sarpy counties (the Omaha metro area). It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and the second-largest in Nebraska (after the Omaha World-Herald). The paper also operates a commercial printing unit.