Commonwealth-Journal

Although we haven't always been called by the same name, the Commonwealth Journal has been an integral part of the history of Somerset and Pulaski County since the Civil War.
The first newspapers surfaced in Pulaski County between 1850 and 1860. These first papers contained mostly national news, although portions of their pages were dedicated to steamboat and stagecoach schedules. Advertisements were mainly from Nashville and New Orleans firms because the Cumberland River was the main artery of commerce in those days.
During the Civil War, Robert Barron began publishing a paper known as The Reporter.
The Commonwealth Journal's legacy had begun.
By the 1870s, ownership of The Reporter had been transferred to Joseph B. Rucker. Rucker, known for his outspoken editorials, was shot and killed as he headed to work on Sept. 19, 1892. His assassin was never apprehended. A monument in his memory stands in the Somerset Cemetery.
In the late 1890s, Flavius Josephus "Seph" Campbell took over The Reporter and merged it with a smaller publication to form the Somerset Journal. A few years later, 17-year-old Cecil Williams began his career there. Within two years, he would purchase the paper, becoming the youngest editor in Kentucky.
Williams experienced success in the county as an editor with Democratic persuasions. He had little competition until around 1912, when William Schooler launched The Commonwealth, a Republican paper.
The Commonwealth and the Somerset Journal utilized the same production space and equipment for many years, occupying different offices in the same South Main Street building. Each newspaper held so closely to its own political philosophies that often when a candidate of the opposing party would win an election, headlings would not mention the winner's name.
George A. Joplin Jr. purchased The Commonwealth in 1925, and within a few years, the publication was named "best all-around weekly newspaper in the state." Perhaps in celebration of the paper's success, the offices of both The Commonwealth and the Somerset Journal were moved to the Commonwealth Journal's current location at the corner of East Mt. Vernon and North Maple streets.
Cecil Williams would remain the sole owner of the Somerset Journal until his death in 1942. Joplin controlled The Commonwealth until his death in 1957. Mae Berry Williams Rogers and Barthenia Joplin, the mens' widows, continued their husbands' work for many years after their deaths.
On Jan. 3, 1966, the two papers finally merged and began a Monday through Friday publication schedule. The newspaper became known as the Commonwealth-Journal. (The hypen would later be removed.)
In the 1970s, Bill Mardis, who had been a reporter for the newspaper since the 1960s, was named editor - a position he would hold until the late 1990s. Mr. Mardis is now employed as the newspaper's editor emeritus.
Mrs. Joplin died in 1979. Mr. Williams' widow remained at the Commonwealth Journal until 1988.
Following Mrs. Joplin's death, George Joplin III, who had been helping his parents in the newspaper business since 1954, became president and co-publisher of the Commonwealth Journal.
A Sunday edition was added in October of 1982. The Commonwealth Journal has continued to be a six-day-a-week publication ever since.
In 1988, the Commonwealth Journal was sold to Park Newspapers of the Cumberlands. It was the first time in its 100-plus year history that the newspaper was not locally owned. The paper was sold three more times during the 1990s. It was purchased by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., the newspaper's current owner, in June of 1998.
Current publisher Rob McCullough began his tenure at the Commonwealth Journal in 2012, joining two other seasoned CJ employees, managing editor Ken Shmidheiser and news editor Jeff Neal, as the newspaper's management staff.