Today Newspapers
Encyclopedia
Today Newspapers were a chain of newspapers that served several suburban communities in southern Dallas County
, Texas
(USA
), including Cedar Hill
, DeSoto
, Duncanville
, and Lancaster
(also known as the Best Southwest
region) as well as Grand Prairie
.
. The Duncanville Suburban was started by Royce Brown that flourished into other starts or purchases of small weekly newspapers in joining towns that became a group that included The Cedar Hill Chronicle, The Desoto News and Advertiser, The Midlothian News and Reporter, The Lancaster News, The Ferris Wheel and the Red Oak Rambler. A Print Shop was set up in a building behind the Duncanville Suburban at the 320 N Main location. What became the Suburban Publishers competed against 49 other publications that unsuccessfully tried to move into this area including independent spin offs from Dallas Times Herald and Belo's Suburban News from 1960 until the Browns sold the weekly newspaper chain in 1985. Royce Brown's weekly column "Little 'd'" was his weekly opinions about Duncanville that was a prominent piece of the Duncanville Suburban. It said that many ghost writers on the editorial staff contributed to Little d, especially just after Royce suffered a massive stroke in 1980 that would eventually contribute to the sale of the publications. Royce and his wife Lillian Brown sold the company to Bluebonnet Media in 1985. The new owners sold the company to Sutherland Media in December 1987. Sutherland filed for bankruptcy less than a year later, and operation of the company passed to the Dallas Times Herald
. In December 1991, it was sold to Richard H. Collins, who later acquired a monthly tabloid in 1995 and a religious publication in 2000. The Today identity was launched in January 1992. Robin Gooch and Kim Petty purchased the company from Collins in May 2006.
In recent years, the Today chain faced a combination of pressures common to other newspapers across the country, including a decline in sales and circulation. The national economic downturn also negatively impacted the company. Attempts reverse a loss in advertising revenue by increasing the cost of a single edition from .50 to .75 cents per issue while searching for a new buyer were unsuccessful. The final edition of the Today Newspaper was published on Thursday, July 2, 2009.
Today's closure leaves the Best Southwest region with only one print newspaper, the DeSoto-based Focus Daily News.
Dallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
(USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
), including Cedar Hill
Cedar Hill, Texas
Cedar Hill is a city in Dallas and Ellis Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located approximately sixteen miles southwest of downtown Dallas and is situated along the eastern shore of Joe Pool Lake and Cedar Hill State Park. The population was 32,093 at the 2000 census...
, DeSoto
DeSoto, Texas
DeSoto is a city in Dallas County, Texas . Over the past eleven years since the 2000 U.S. Census Report, the City of DeSoto has grown in population from 37,646 to 49,047....
, Duncanville
Duncanville, Texas
Duncanville is a city in Dallas County, Texas . Duncanville's population was 36,081 at the 2000 census, and estimated at 42,500 in 2008. Duncanville is a suburb of Dallas and is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes Duncanville, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Lancaster.-Geography:Duncanville is...
, and Lancaster
Lancaster, Texas
Lancaster is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 25,894 at the 2000 census.Lancaster is a suburb of Dallas, Texas and is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes Lancaster, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, and Duncanville. Most of the city is in Dallas County. But a...
(also known as the Best Southwest
Best Southwest, Dallas County, Texas
The Best Southwest is a term commonly applied to four Dallas suburbs – Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Lancaster – in southwestern Dallas County, Texas...
region) as well as Grand Prairie
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.- History :The city of...
.
History
Today Newspapers, Inc. was initially known as Suburban Publishers when it was established in 1960. The first issue of the Duncanville Suburban was published on August 5, 1960. In the late 1960s, the company began to expand by either starting or buying newspapers in the neighboring suburbs south of DallasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. The Duncanville Suburban was started by Royce Brown that flourished into other starts or purchases of small weekly newspapers in joining towns that became a group that included The Cedar Hill Chronicle, The Desoto News and Advertiser, The Midlothian News and Reporter, The Lancaster News, The Ferris Wheel and the Red Oak Rambler. A Print Shop was set up in a building behind the Duncanville Suburban at the 320 N Main location. What became the Suburban Publishers competed against 49 other publications that unsuccessfully tried to move into this area including independent spin offs from Dallas Times Herald and Belo's Suburban News from 1960 until the Browns sold the weekly newspaper chain in 1985. Royce Brown's weekly column "Little 'd'" was his weekly opinions about Duncanville that was a prominent piece of the Duncanville Suburban. It said that many ghost writers on the editorial staff contributed to Little d, especially just after Royce suffered a massive stroke in 1980 that would eventually contribute to the sale of the publications. Royce and his wife Lillian Brown sold the company to Bluebonnet Media in 1985. The new owners sold the company to Sutherland Media in December 1987. Sutherland filed for bankruptcy less than a year later, and operation of the company passed to the Dallas Times Herald
Dallas Times Herald
The Dallas Times Herald, founded in 1888 by a merger of the Dallas Times and the Dallas Herald, was once one of two major daily newspapers serving the Dallas, Texas area. It won three Pulitzer Prizes, all for photography, and two George Polk Awards, for local and regional reporting...
. In December 1991, it was sold to Richard H. Collins, who later acquired a monthly tabloid in 1995 and a religious publication in 2000. The Today identity was launched in January 1992. Robin Gooch and Kim Petty purchased the company from Collins in May 2006.
In recent years, the Today chain faced a combination of pressures common to other newspapers across the country, including a decline in sales and circulation. The national economic downturn also negatively impacted the company. Attempts reverse a loss in advertising revenue by increasing the cost of a single edition from .50 to .75 cents per issue while searching for a new buyer were unsuccessful. The final edition of the Today Newspaper was published on Thursday, July 2, 2009.
Today's closure leaves the Best Southwest region with only one print newspaper, the DeSoto-based Focus Daily News.
Today family
Today Newspapers served a total of six communities at one time or the other. Each paper was independent and published weekly in the interest of its city. On Thursday, March 19, 2009, the Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Lancaster Today papers were merged into a single edition. That arrangement lasted up until the closure of Today Newspapers in July 2009. Prior to the merger, the circulation figures for the individual papers were as follows: Lancaster Today (4,200), Duncanville Today (2,450), Cedar Hill Today (1,642), and DeSoto Today (1,133).- Cedar Hill Today
- Duncanville Today
- DeSoto Today
- Grand Prairie Today
- Launched September 7, 2007.
- Lancaster Today
- Ceased publication in December 2006. A Lancaster news section was added to the DeSoto Today paper.
- Publication resumed in January 2008.
- Midlothian Today
- Bought out by Waxahachie Newspapers, Inc. in May 2006 and ceased publication.