The Lincoln Journal Star is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in Nebraska (after the Omaha World-Herald). The paper also operates a commercial printing unit.

History

The Lincoln Journal Star is the result of a 1995 merger between the city's two historic longtime daily newspapers. The Lincoln Star, established in 1902 / 1905, was Lincoln's longtime morning newspaper while the Lincoln Journal was distributed in the afternoon / evenings. The Journal was itself the conglomeration over the decades of several previous Lincoln daily newspapers, dating back to 1867 and they beginnings of the change of Nebraska from the old Nebraska Territory (1854-1867) to the 37th state admitted to the federal Union on March 1, 1867, following its southern neighbor of the state of Kansas as the 35th in 1861.

The Lincoln Journal

On September 7, 1867, Charles Henry Gere founded the Nebraska Commonwealth. A member of the prominent Gere family, Gere was a New York state native and American Civil War (1861-1865) veteran of the United States Army / Union Army. The following year, the newspaper adopted a more frequent publication schedule and become a daily. As his publication grew, Gere later retired from practicing law to take a more active part of his newspaper publishing work.

The Lincoln Star

In 1902, Lincoln gas and electric power utilities tycoon and millionaire D.E. Thompson established the Lincoln Daily Star. The final separate editions of the Journal and Star were published on August 4, 1995; the first edition of the merged Lincoln Journal Star rolled off the presses on August 7.

In November 2025, The Lincoln Journal Star moved to a six day printing schedule, eliminating its printed Monday edition.

Awards and alumni

  • In 1949, the Nebraska State Journal was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service "for the campaign establishing the "Nebraska All-Star Primary" presidential preference primary which spotlighted, through a bi-partisan committee, issues early in the presidential campaign."
  • Mari Sandoz served as proofreader for the Nebraska State Journal.