{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = Delaware State News | image = | caption = | type = Daily newspaper | format = Tabloid | founded = {{start date|1902|05|24}} | owners = Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA | president = Charlene Bisson, President & CEO | chief_editor = Andrew West | circulation = 9,000 Daily (digital and print)<br/>13,000 Sunday (digital and print) | circulation_date = 2023 | circulation_ref = <ref name=About/> | headquarters = 110 Galaxy Drive,<br/>Dover, Delaware 19901, {{nowrap|United States}} | oclc = | ISSN = 0745-8096 | website = {{URL|baytobaynews.com}} }}
'''''Delaware State News''''' is an American daily newspaper published in Dover, Delaware. It is owned by Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA and prints seven days a week.
It bills itself as "The Capital Daily" and "downstate Delaware's dominant daily newspaper", primarily covering Dover and the state's two southern counties, Kent and Sussex. It is one of two dailies based in the state of Delaware; the other is ''The News Journal'' in New Castle County, at the state's northern end.
==History== The ''Delaware State News'' debuted as a four-page weekly newspaper in Dover in May 1902. Thirty years later, the paper said it aimed to deliver "a live, readable newspaper at all times. While Democratic in politics, we shall not swerve from our policy of many years' standing to maintain an independent attitude at all times. ..."<ref>{{cite news |title=Dover Newspaper Celebrates |newspaper=Every Evening |location=Wilmington, Del. |page=8 |date=May 13, 1932 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66473839/del-news-1932/ |via=Newspapers.com }}</ref>
The paper was founded by Robert H. Wilson, who owned it from May 24, 1902, to June 28, 1908. He sold it to James C. Wickes, who owned it until his death August 1, 1945.<ref name=Sold>{{cite news |title=State News Sold to Devon Veteran |newspaper=Wilmington Morning News |location=Wilmington, Del. |page=10 |date=July 5, 1946 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66474429/del-news-1946/ |via=Newspapers.com }}</ref>
Wickes, who had cut his teeth in journalism as a printer's devil at a previous Dover paper in the early 1880s, was on the inaugural staff of the ''Delaware State News''. Under his leadership, the paper championed the progressive politics of the day. He supported Woodrow Wilson and, in a series of editorials, was the first Delaware publisher to push for the presidential nomination of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was affectionately known as the dean of Delaware publishers and as "Colonel Jim", having been appointed a Kentucky Colonel in 1935.<ref>{{cite news |title=State's Oldest Publisher Dies |newspaper=Journal-Every Evening |location=Wilmington, Del. |page=3 |date=August 2, 1945 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66471903/del-news-1945/ |via=Newspapers.com }}</ref>
George Willets Parker purchased the paper from Wickes' estate in January 1946, then sold it half a year later to J. Hampton Barnes Jr.<ref name=Sold/>
Bernard "Jack" Smyth, a newspaper owner in Renovo, Pennsylvania, purchased the ''Delaware State News'' and a competing weekly in 1953 for $40,000 ({{Inflation|US|40000|1953|fmt=eq}}), with the intention of turning it into a daily newspaper, after learning that Dover was the only state capital without one. The ''Delaware State News'' became the first daily newspaper in Delaware outside of Wilmington, starting with its edition of September 14, 1953.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obituary: Bernard J. Smyth, State News Founder |newspaper=The News Journal |location=Wilmington, Del. |page=B4 |date=April 30, 1996 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66478708/obituary-for-bernard-j-smyth-aged-80/ |via=Newspapers.com }}</ref>
Smyth moved to Arizona for health reasons in 1969, selling the paper to his children. His son Joe Smyth bought out his siblings' shares in the 1970s, establishing Independent Newspapers Inc. and expanding his holdings into Arizona and Florida. In 1991, he transferred ownership of the company to a nonprofit trust, INI Holdings Inc., to ensure that the papers remain independent.<ref name=History>{{cite web |title=About Us |work=Independent Newsmedia Inc. |url=https://newszap.com/ |accessdate=December 31, 2020 }}</ref>
In May 1997, the ''Delaware State News'' announced it would merge with the ''Daily Whale'' of Lewes, Delaware. The Lewes paper had been purchased by Independent Newspapers in March 1996.<ref>{{cite news |title=Newspapers Set to Merge in Early June |newspaper=The News Journal |location=Wilmington, Del. |page=B2 |date=May 19, 1997 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66473559/del-news-1997/ |via=Newspapers.com }}</ref>
Independent Newspapers Inc. changed its name to Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA in 2011.<ref name=History/>
==Sister papers== The ''Delaware State News'' is the East Coast flagship publication of Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA, a company founded by the Smyth family and now owned by a nonprofit trust. The company owns newspapers in Arizona, Delaware, Florida and Maryland, including the ''Daily Independent'' of Sun City, Arizona.<ref name=About>{{cite web |title=From Bay to Bay Media Kit 2020 |publisher=Independent Newsmedia Inc. |location=Dover, Del. |url=https://newszap.com/delmarvamediakit/ini-delmarva-media-kit.pdf |date=2020 |accessdate=December 31, 2020}}</ref>
The Dover newsroom publishes four monthly community papers covering specific cities and regions in Delaware:<ref name=About/> * ''Milford Chronicle'' of Milford, Delaware * ''Smyrna Extra'' of Smyrna, Delaware * ''Sussex Post'' of Sussex County, Delaware
Independent Newsmedia also owns three weekly newspapers nearby on the Delmarva Peninsula:<ref name=About/> * ''Dorchester Banner'' of Cambridge, Maryland, published Wednesdays * ''Crisfield-Somerset County Times'' of Crisfield, Maryland, published Wednesdays * ''Salisbury Independent'' of Salisbury, Maryland, published Thursdays == References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website|https://baytobaynews.com/}}
Category:Newspapers published in Delaware Category:Dover, Delaware Category:Companies based in Kent County, Delaware Category:Newspapers established in 1902 Category:1902 establishments in Delaware