# Messenger-Inquirer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Messenger-Inquirer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Messenger-Inquirer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger-Inquirer > Source revision: 1332392252 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Newspaper in Owensboro, Kentucky}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = The Messenger-Inquirer | image = | caption = | type = Daily [newspaper](/source/newspaper) | format = [Broadsheet](/source/Broadsheet) | founded = 1875 | ceased_publication = | price = | owners = [Paxton Media Group](/source/Paxton_Media_Group) | publisher = Mike Weafer{{cite web |title=Contact Us |url=https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/our_newspaper/contact_us/ |website=Messenger-Inquirer |publisher=Paxton Media Group |access-date=17 August 2021}} | editor = Matt Francis | language = English | circulation = 15,087 Monday-Saturday
20,383 Sunday | headquarters = 1401 Frederica St.
[Owensboro, Kentucky](/source/Owensboro%2C_Kentucky) 42301
[United States](/source/United_States) | ISSN = | website = {{URL|messenger-inquirer.com}} }} The '''''Messenger-Inquirer''''' is a local newspaper in [Owensboro, Kentucky](/source/Owensboro%2C_Kentucky). ''The Messenger-Inquirer'' serves 15,087 daily and 20,383 Sunday readers in five counties in western [Kentucky](/source/Kentucky).{{cite web|title=Messenger Inquirer|url=http://www.kypress.com/directory/daily_detail.php?id=19|publisher=Kentucky Press Association|accessdate=25 March 2019}} ==History== The newspaper's roots trace back to 1875, when Lee Lumpkin founded The Examiner.{{cite web |last1=Dooley |first1=Karla |title=Messenger-Inquirer marks 125th anniversary |url=http://www.kypressonline.com/z_2000-07/articles/story_1.php |website=KYPressOnline.com |publisher=Kentucky Press Association |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070244/http://www.kypressonline.com/z_2000-07/articles/story_1.php |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}} The newspaper's name was later changed to the Messenger. The Messenger was purchased by the Hager family, owners of the competing Owensboro Inquirer, in 1929. By 1864, when [Thomas S. Pettit](/source/Thomas_S._Pettit) purchased the paper, it had changed its name to ''The Monitor''.Connelley and Coulter, p. 158 Immediately after taking control of the paper, Pettit published a series of items vigorously criticizing the [Republican Party](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) and its policies during the [Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War).''Biographical Cyclopedia'', p. 141 On November 17, 1864, Pettit was arrested on orders from General [Stephen G. Burbridge](/source/Stephen_G._Burbridge) on charges of being "notoriously disloyal" to the Union. He was taken to [Memphis, Tennessee](/source/Memphis%2C_Tennessee), and transferred into [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_of_America) territory. In May 1865, he returned to Owensboro and found his print shop and printing press had been destroyed by federal authorities. He traveled to [Cincinnati, Ohio](/source/Cincinnati%2C_Ohio) to purchase replacement equipment and, on hearing the story of his arrest and subsequent travels, the equipment dealer extended him a generous line of credit, allowing him to purchase more sophisticated equipment than had ever before been used in Owensboro. With this new equipment, Pettit revived the ''Monitor'' and published his stories of wartime banishment, bringing him significant acclaim in Kentucky. Moreover, he also published editorials by future [U.S. Senator](/source/United_States_Senate) [Thomas C. McCreery](/source/Thomas_C._McCreery), giving the ''Monitor'' further credibility and increasing its readership.[http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2000/11/20/daily19.html Belo sells Kentucky daily] The newspaper was purchased by [A.H. Belo Corp.](/source/A.H._Belo_Corp.) (then-owner of the [Dallas Morning News](/source/Dallas_Morning_News)) in 1997 for an undisclosed sum.{{cite web |title=A.H. Belo Corp. to acquire The Gleaner newspaper |url=https://apnews.com/article/f330e301cae6b1538d621b4cd76f6a90 |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=17 August 2021}} Belo sold the newspaper to [Paxton Media Group](/source/Paxton_Media_Group) in 2000.{{cite web |title=Selected Group Sellers of Newspapers Represented by DV&M |url=http://dirksvanessen.com/selected_transactions/ |website=Dirks, VanEssen & April |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817133348/http://dirksvanessen.com/selected_transactions/ |archive-date=17 August 2021 |language=English |url-status=live}} ==References== {{reflist}} *{{cite book |title=Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky |publisher=J.M. Gresham Company |location=[Chicago, Illinois](/source/Chicago%2C_Illinois) |year=1896 |url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028804122}} *{{cite book |last=Connelley |first=William Elsey |author2=Ellis Merton Coulter |authorlink2=E. Merton Coulter |title=History of Kentucky |year=1922 |publisher=American Historical Society |url=https://archive.org/details/historykentucky01coulgoog}} ==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/}} {{Paxton Media Group}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Messenger-Inquirer, The}} Category:Newspapers published in Kentucky Category:Owensboro, Kentucky Category:Newspapers established in 1875 Category:1875 establishments in Kentucky Category:1997 mergers and acquisitions Category:2000 mergers and acquisitions --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Messenger-Inquirer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger-Inquirer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messenger-Inquirer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.