Virginia

Although the Crown forbade the establishment of a printing press in Virginia Colony, William Parks was publishing the Virginia Gazette at Williamsburg in 1736. Three newspapers were published regularly during the Revolutionary period, and in 1780 the general assembly declared that the press was "indispensable for the right information of the people and for the public service." The oldest continuously published Virginia daily, tracing its origins to 1784, is the Alexandria Gazette. The first Negro newspaper, The True Southerner, was started by a white man in 1865; several weeklies published and edited by blacks began soon after. By 1900 there were 180 newspapers in the state, but the number has declined drastically since then because of fierce competition, mergers, and rising costs.

USA Today, the nation's largest daily newspaper in 2001, is based in Arlington, Virginia. In 2002, the Arlington Journal and the Fairfax Journal merged to form the Northern Virginia Journal. In 2002, Virginia had 22 morning dailies, 4 evening, and 17 Sunday papers. Leading dailies and their approximate circulation rates were:

The newspaper group, Gannett Co, Inc, is based in Virginia. This group owns about 96 daily newspapers nationwide, including USA Today, as well as over 300 non-daily papers and shoppers bulletins. Gannett's UK subsidiary, Newsquest PLC, publishes 15 daily newspapers.