{{Short description|American monthly magazine}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox magazine | title = Our State<br><small>Celebrating North Carolina</small> | image_file = Our State Magazine logo.svg | image_size = | image_caption = | company = Mann Media | paid_circulation = | unpaid_circulation = | total_circulation = | circulation_year = | frequency = Monthly | language = English | category = | editor = | editor_title = | founded = 1933 | firstdate = | country = United States | based = Greensboro, North Carolina | website = {{URL|http://www.ourstate.com/}} | issn = 1092-0838 }}

'''''Our State''''' (full title: '''''Our State: Celebrating North Carolina''''') is a monthly magazine based in Greensboro, North Carolina, featuring travel and history articles and photographs about North Carolina people, places and events. First published in 1933 as '''''The State''''' magazine, the publication has become "the oldest regional publication of its kind in the country," according to the Associated Press.<ref name="Tuscaloosa News">{{cite news |title=64-year-old regional magazine is N.C.'s best-kept secret |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Vs0yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RaYEAAAAIBAJ&dq=the%20state%20magazine%20changes%20name%20to%20our%20state%20magazine&pg=5732%2C3522074 |access-date=November 30, 2012 |newspaper=The Tuscaloosa News |date=February 17, 1997 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> It is a member of the City and Regional Magazine Association (CRMA).<ref name="crma-members">{{cite web |url=http://www.citymag.org/City-and-Regional-Magazine-Association/Media-Partners/CRMA-Magazines/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531220024/http://www.citymag.org/City-and-Regional-Magazine-Association/Media-Partners/CRMA-Magazines/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 31, 2010 |title=CRMA Magazines |work=City and Regional Magazine Association |access-date=October 14, 2013}}</ref>

==History== Carl Goerch, a journalist known for his newspaper work as well as "Doings of the Legislature" on WPTF radio, told potential advertisers for his new publication that they could drop their ads after the first month if they were not worth the money. On June 3, 1933, ''The State'' printed its first issue, with 2500 copies sold at ten cents each. Goerch said that from the first issue, his magazine "met a very favorable impression and kept right on growing."<ref name=History/> Governor John C. B. Ehringhaus appeared on the earliest cover. Among those first advertisers who did not leave the weekly magazine were Wachovia and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.<ref name=Lopez>{{cite news |url=http://gotriad.news-record.com/content/2008/07/13/article/75_years_of_our_state |title=75 years of Our State |last=Lopez |first=Robert |work=Greensboro News & Record |date=July 13, 2012 |access-date=March 8, 2012}}</ref>

Bill Sharpe succeeded Goerch as publisher in 1951, and W.B. Wright took over in 1970. Shaw Publishing of Charlotte, later the owner of Business Journal Associates, became publisher in 1986 <ref name=History/><ref>Steve Johnston, "Shaw Leads Bidding for Business Journals," ''The Charlotte Observer'', May 23, 1989.</ref> and sold the magazine to Mann Media in 1996.<ref name=Executive>"Executive Completes Magazine Purchase," ''Greensboro News & Record'', March 16, 1996.</ref> At the time, ''The State'' had 20,000 subscribers and published in black and white, with about 40 pages per issue. However, new publisher Bernard Mann,<ref name=Lopez/> former owner of WGLD-AM and WGLD-FM in High Point,<ref name=Executive/><ref>"Arts Briefs," ''Greensboro News & Record'', March 7, 1991.</ref> made a variety of changes, such including color and increasing the page count by six times. By 2008, the number of subscribers had jumped to 156,000.<ref name=Lopez/> The name changed to ''Our State'' in order "to reflect the inclusive nature of the magazine," Mann said.<ref name=History>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourstate.com/about-us/history/|title=Celebrating North Carolina Since 1933|publisher=ourstate.com|access-date=March 8, 2012}}</ref> In March 2018, Mann planned an employee buyout that will reward magazine employees with an employee stock ownership plan.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.greensboro.com/news/local_news/for-employees-our-state-will-soon-become-our-magazine/article_dcc67b33-c5a8-522e-a074-6cd34cf449cf.html |title=For employees, Our State will soon become 'our magazine' |last=Barron |first=Richard |website=Greensboro News and Record |language=en |access-date=2019-01-27}}</ref> Mann is retiring and he and his heirs will be bought out by the employees in 7–8 years.

Founded as a weekly publication in 1933, ''The State'' switched to biweekly issues in May 1954 (published every two weeks), and then to monthly issues starting in January 1973. Contributors over the years have included writer Billy Arthur, photographer Aycock Brown, and photographer Hugh Morton.

As of 2008, ''Our State'' had readers in all 50 states, as well as in 50 countries. Most were well-educated and over 40 years old. In an era when print publications were giving way to the Internet, Mann said his readers preferred seeing the magazine's photos on paper.<ref name=Lopez/>

In 2012, ''Our State'' introduced an app called Travel North Carolina.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thesnaponline.com/regional/x1663463455/Our-State-Magazine-Launches-NEW-Travel-App|title=Our State Magazine Launches New Travel App|work=Stanly News and Press|date=February 20, 2012|access-date=March 8, 2012}}</ref> In addition to great photography and entertaining stories, the magazine also has a store featuring handmade jewelry and pottery as well as local foods from across the state.

In 2018, owner Bernard Mann sold ''Our State'' to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Mann Media Sale to. ESOP| work = ButcherJoseph & Co.| accessdate = 2021-10-05| date = 2018-04-04| url = https://www.butcherjoseph.com/blog/business-sale/butcherjoseph-co-advises-mann-media-inc-on-sale-to-employees}}</ref>

==TV series== UNC-TV airs a monthly TV series called ''Our State,'' which is based on the magazine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unctv.org/ourstate/bscenes.html|title=Behind the Scenes|work=UNC-TV|access-date=March 8, 2012}}</ref> Started in 2004, the show won an Emmy Award in 2008 from The Nashville/Midsouth Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for Best Magazine Series.<ref name=Lopez/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unctv.org/pressroom/institutional/ourstateemmy.html|title=UNC-TV's Our State Wins Emmy Award|publisher=UNC-TV|date=January 28, 2008|access-date=March 8, 2012}}</ref>

==Podcast== ''Our State'' has a podcast available at NPR member station WUNC in Chapel Hill.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wunc.org/term/our-state-magazine|title=Our State Magazine {{!}} WUNC|website=www.wunc.org|access-date=2019-01-27}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== *{{official website|http://www.ourstate.com/}} *[http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/home/ourstate Online Archive of ''The State'' and ''Our State''], between 1933 and three years ago, from the State Library of North Carolina.

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Category:Tourism magazines Category:Magazines established in 1933 Category:Monthly magazines published in the United States Category:Magazines published in North Carolina Category:Mass media in Greensboro, North Carolina Category:1933 establishments in North Carolina