Independent Record

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Independent Record
A sample front page of the Independent Record
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner	Lee Enterprises
Publisher	Pat Schlauch
Editor	Dave Shors
Founded	1867 (as the Independent)
Headquarters	317 Cruse St. Helena, MT 59601 United States
Website: HelenaIR.com

The Independent Record (often abbreviated to IR) is a daily paid-for newspaper printed and distributed in Helena, Montana. Its has a daily and Sunday circulation of approximately 14,000, according to a September 30, 2005 Audit Bureau of Circulations Publisher Statement. The newspaper is part of the Lee Enterprises group which owns 58 newspapers in 23 states, making Lee Enterprises the fourth largest newspaper company in the United States in terms of dailies owned.[1]

[edit] History

The roots of today's IR lie in two newspapers founded in 1867, the weekly Independent in Deer Lodge, and the daily Herald in Helena. The Independent soon moved to Helena and began daily publication in 1874. The Herald later merged with the Montana Daily Record, which was founded in 1900. This merged publication, named the Montana Herald-Record, eventually entered another merger in 1943, this time with the Independent, to become today's Independent Record.

After over thirty years of ownership by the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, the IR was bought by Lee Enterprises in 1959. The IR converted from hot metal to phototype in 1973, and in 1975 installed one of the first newsroom computer systems. In the summer of 2002 a new press plant was opened, housed in a new 30,000-square-foot printing and distribution center. [2]

[edit] Features

The IR is known for its Friday editorial, "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down," in which it gives its stamp of either approval or disapproval to both local and national/global events.

[edit] External links

• Independent Record website
• Lee Enterprises profile of the Independent Record