The Northwest Florida Daily News is a daily newspaper published in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It was founded in 1946 and is one of 65 newspapers owned by Freedom Communications. According to Ulrich's Periodical Directory, its paid circulation is 38,122 daily and 49,086 Sunday.
In 1957, Hunter S Thompson, then an airman at Eglin Air Force Base, wrote a sports column under a pseudonym for the News.
A group of local businessmen met on Jan. 9, 1946, to organize a weekly newspaper for Okaloosa County's southern region. They gathered at a downtown Fort Walton bar which had the only available meeting room. Present were Clyde Meigs, Fred McCaully, Paul Roberts, Ray Folmar, R.L. Odom, Howard Gill, L. Ferrin, George Klosterman, Lee Courter, Frank Bizelle, Braden Ball, W.R. Cummings, DeWitt Lamb (the first editor), Andy Anderson, Leon Bishop, Toopey Work, Bill Williams and Bill Folb.[1]
Perry Publications, a group of about 30 papers, began publication of the Playground News Feb. 7, 1946. The first issue contained 24 pages, about 65 percent of which was paid display advertising. The paper was sold to Freedom Newspapers, Inc., now Freedom Communications, on July 1, 1969.[2]
Over its history, the paper has gone by three names:
Due to the close ties between the Fort Walton Beach community and Eglin Air Force Base, the Playground/Northwest Florida News supplanted the Okaloosa News-Journal, published in Crestview, Florida, as the county paper of record.
Hunter S. Thompson wrote a sports column for the Northwest Florida Daily News (then called the Playground News) while stationed at nearby Eglin Air Force Base. Thompson landed the job in early February 1957. Hired by Publisher Wayne Bell, Thompson wrote under the pseudonyms Thorne Stockton and Cubley Cohn.[4]
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