Grand Island Independent

The Grand Island Independent is a newspaper published in Grand Island, Nebraska. The Independent is published every day of the year but Christmas Day.^[1] Its daily circulation is 20,500^[2] in eleven counties of central Nebraska.^[3] The newspaper is owned by the Omaha World-Herald Co.^[2]

History

In 1869, Maggie Eberhart and Seth Mobley founded the Platte Valley Independent in North Platte. Eberhart, whose parents had immigrated from Ireland in her infancy, had been a teacher;^[4] Mobley had begun working in a newspaper office in Iowa at the age of 10, and had briefly published the Fort Kearney Herald^[5] while stationed at Fort Kearny, Nebraska in 1865.^[6] In 1870, Eberhart moved the Independent to Grand Island; she married Mobley the following year. The newspaper, described as "decidedly Republican", was published daily for a short time in late 1873, in connection with a political campaign of that year, but resumed weekly publication after the election.^[7]

In 1883, the Mobleys, who had alienated most of their advertisers, sold the newspaper to J. A. McMurphy; a week later, McMurphy sold it to Friedrich (Fred) Hedde.^[8] Hedde had been a lawyer and journalist in his native Holstein.^[9] After immigrating to the United States in 1854,^[10] he was one of the original settlers of Grand Island in 1857.^[9] He had served as County Judge and as a member of the Nebraska Territorial Legislature.^[10] Beside the Independent, he owned a lumberyard and a general store.^[11] Hedde converted the Independent from a weekly to a daily in 1884;^[9] in 1885, he changed its name to the Grand Island Daily Independent.^[12]

In 1900, the octogenarian Hedde's health was failing, prompting him to turn the newspaper over to a group of Grand Island businessmen,^[8] who formed the Independent Publishing Company. A. F. Buechler served as president of the company and editor of the newspaper until 1930,^[13] when it was sold to Oscar S. Stauffer; he continued as editor until 1939.^[13]

Stauffer Communications owned the Independent from 1930 to 1994.^[12] In 1974, the newspaper made the conversion from letterpress to offset printing. In 1979, it began printing a Sunday edition, initiating seven-day publication.^[14] In 1989, the "Daily" was dropped, leaving the newspaper with its present name.

The newspaper was acquired by the Morris Publishing Group in the course of their 1995 purchase of Stauffer.^[15] It introduced its website in 1996.^[14] In 2007, the Independent was bought by GateHouse Media.^[12] in 2008, GateHouse sold the newspaper to its present owner, the Omaha World-Herald Co.^[2]

The Independent today

The publisher of the Independent is Don Smith;^[16] Before his appointment to the position in 2003, he had served as publisher of the Morris-owned Juneau Empire.^[17] The managing editor is Jim Faddis; he had worked for the Independent for 25 years before being promoted from editorial page editor to managing editor in 2007.^[18]

Beside the daily newspaper, the Independent publishes a free-circulation weekly titled Trade West, with a circulation of about 20,000, focusing on "rural and agricultural readers".^[19]

References