# Cheney Free Press

The Cheney Free Press is a weekly newspaper published in Cheney, Washington since in 1896. It was not the first newspapers there; the North-West Tribune was published in Cheney from June 1880 to about 1886, and was the second in Spokane County.

## History

The Cheney Free Press was established by three Northwest newspaper veterans, H. H. Hubbard, Dr. D. J. Turner and A. L. Ames. It first published in April 1896. The paper's first editor was George H. Wallis. It was originally delivered by horseback riders and the press stood underneath a tree as there was no building to house it. The paper was launched in opposition to the Cheney Sentinel.
In May 1896, Wallis entered a post office to get his mail when he was assaulted by Richard A. Hutchinson in the lobby. The two fought and Wallis ended up with a large gash across his temple and a tracked skull. Hutchinson was upset about an article in the paper accusing him of corruption. Witnesses alleged Hutchinson attacked Wallis with a billy club or a slungshot, but no weapon was found. At trial, the defence argued Wallis actually hurt his head after falling against a desk. The jury convicted him of simple assault.
In May 1898, Spencer L. Alexander purchased the paper. Brothers Furman and Merrill Alexander bought the Union Printing Co. Soon after the purchase, it was announced in a neighboring paper that the Free Press had deserted the Republican party and endorsed the People's Party and the fusion movement.
In 1912, the Free Press began dedicating one of its six pages to the local high school, whose students assumed editorial control of the page's contents. In that same year the Free Press lost a libel suit worth $1,250, and was joined by other Washington newspapers in its call for the state to update its libel laws.
In 1915, Willis Swank bought the paper. He sold it in 1926 to Vernon Frost and M. L. Spencer, dean of the school of journalism at the University of Washington.
In 1932, the paper was part of Medical Lake Press. In 1936, Harry N. Beall and Max Schafer bought the paper. In 1953, it was acquired by Guyel T. Frost.
In 1989, Jeff Fletcher, owner of the Grant County Journal, purchased the Free Press from the Wilbur and Jantz families. At the time the paper has a circulation of 3,200. Journal News Publishing was controlled by majority partner Jeff Fletcher, owner of the Grant County Journal.
In 2007, Fletcher's sold his company, Journal News Publishing, to Bill Ifft. He renamed the company Free Press Publishing; at the time the company owned several weekly newspapers in eastern Washington, including the Spokane Valley News Herald (its largest paper), the Davenport Times, and several specialty publications, and owned 70% of the Ritzville Journal.
The company had previously had an ownership stake in the Newport Miner and the Grand Coulee Star, but had sold its interest to the local owners. The company planned to buy an additional press to support its own publications and also to serve other publications such as the Adams County Journal, the Wilbur Register, and the Miner.
In Mach 2020, Free Press Publishing acquired the Odessa Record and The Whitman County Gazette. Both newspapers are published weekly.