Record-Journal Publishing Company
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
| Format | Broadsheet |
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| Owner | The White Family |
| Publisher | Eliot C. White |
| Founded | 1867 (as The Weekly Visitor) |
| Headquarters | 11 Crown Street Meriden, Connecticut 06450  United States |
| Circulation | 26,000 Daily 27,000 Sunday |
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| Website: myrecordjournal.com | |
Record-Journal Publishing Company is a family-owned, 140 year-old business entity that owns Meriden, Connecticut's Record-Journal and Westerly, Rhode Island's The Westerly Sun among other business interests in Florida. Eliot C. White currently mans the helm.
The Record-Journal dates back to a weekly newspaper called the Weekly Visitor established in 1867. In 1892, E.E. Smith and Thomas Warnock bought the weekly and converted it to a daily. Co-founder Thomas Warnock was editor of the paper for almost half a century. E.E. Smith was the first of four generations to lead the Record-Journal as Publisher. E.E. Smith was followed by his son, Wayne C. Smith, who served as Publisher until his death in 1966. Carter White took over for his stepfather and was Publisher until his retirement in 1988. Carter's son Eliot is the current Record-Journal Publisher, and Liz White, the fifth generation of the venerable family, is poised to take the reins once emerging from graduate school.
Over the last ten years, the Record-Journal has doubled in size with seven acquisitions and seventeen startups, expanding into new markets, and currently employing another 100 people in Westerly, Rhode Island and Orlando, Fla. combined. Today, the Record-Journal daily publication comprises 45% of total business. 2006 marked the company's 140th birthday, and found itself shifting again, this time embracing the future of the Internet and introducing a fifth generation of family ownership. "We are an important ingredient for a healthy democracy," Publisher and Editor Eliot C. White said. "There have been tremendous changes in our industry over the past 10 years. Our goal for the last 140 years continues to be constant - To provide relevant information to our community."
White's daughter, Elizabeth White, was named New Media Director for the company last fall to market and launch Myrecordjournal.com, the Record-Journal's community news and advertising web site. Since its launch on December 6, 2006, the number of site visits has tripled to over 700,000 view per month. "This new business and Internet focus is shifting everyone in our company to contribute to the success of the overal company," White said. "The Record-Journal believes there is a future in a community newspaper and a web site."
