As Freep Celebrates 183rd Anniversary We Explore History of State News, LSJ

On May 5th 1831 the Detroit Free Press issued Volume 1 Number 1; Monday marked 183 years that the newspaper has been serving the people of Detroit and beyond.  Check out that paper's front page:

It got me wondering about other local papers... check this out!

State News was first published on March 10th 1909 under the title The Holcad.  In 1925 the name became Michigan State News and in 1962 the title was shortened to State News.  But... did you know this wasn't the only MSU-oriented paper?

On December 3rd 1965, a student-produced newspaper called The Paper was first issued.  In 1969, the name was briefly changed to Goob Yeak Gergibal before changing back to The Paper.  In 1970 the name was changed to Swill & Squeal, published in "East Lansing, Amerikkka."  Later in 1970 the name was again changed, this time to Generation East Lansing.  The newspaper eventually merged with another called Bogue Street Bridge to form Join Issue.  In 1974 Joint Issue became Lansing Star Weekly.  Shortly after the merger, the title was shortened to Lansing Star.  Finally, in 1983 Lansing Star became Lansing Beat and effectively abandoned East Lansing.

Fasssccciinaatttiinnggggg!

What about the Lansing State Journal?  I'm glad you asked!

The "LSJ" has an even longer history of sales and exchanges dating back to January 11th 1848, when the Democratic Free Press, the new state capital's first newspaper, launched.  Shortly after it was first published, the name was changed to The Michigan State Journal (MSJ).  That paper lasted for a little over a decade before suspending publication.  However, a few short years later, a new paper emerged as a continuation of the MSJ, it was called the The Lansing State Democrat.  After being sold in 1872, the new owner changed the name to The Lansing Journal.  In 1911 The Lansing Journal merged with another local newspaper, The State Republican, and after trying out the name The Lansing Journal-Republican for a month, the paper officially became The State Journal.  Though in the decade to follow The State Journal absorbed two other local newspapers containing "Lansing" in their titles, The Lansing State Journal as we know it today wasn't actually born until August 25th 1980!

My birthday is August 30th 1979.

Holy crap.  I'm older than the LSJ!