The first newspaper in Arkansas, the Arkansas Gazette, established at Arkansas Post in 1819 by William E. Woodruff, ceased publication in 1991. In 2002, there were 15 morning dailies, 13 evening papers, and 16 Sunday papers. In 1992, Little Rock's two major dailies, the Arkansas Democrat and the Democrat Gazette, merged. The following table shows the 2002 circulations of the leading dailies:
AREA NAME | DAILY | SUNDAY |
Ft. Smith Southwest Times Record (m, S) | 42,201 | 44,444 |
Little Rock Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (m, S) | 182,609 | 282,795 |
Jonesboro Jonesboro Sun (m, S) | 25,560 | 30,220 |
Springdale-Rogers Morning News (m, S) | 36,295 | 37,718 |