Along with The Detroit News, the Detroit Free Press is one of the two major metro Detroit newspapers, sometimes informally called the "Freep". It is owned by Gannett. A winner of eight Pulitzer Prizes, the Free Press is the larger and more politically liberal of Detroit's two major dailies.

It was first published as the Democratic Free Press and Michigan Intelligencer on May 5, 1831. In 1940 it was sold to the Knight Newspapers (later Knight Ridder) chain.

In 1987, the paper entered into a 100-year joint operating agreement with its rival, combining business operations while maintaining separate editorial staffs. The combined company is called the Detroit Newspaper Agency. The two papers also began to publish joint Saturday and Sunday editions, though the editorial content of each remained separate. At the time, the Detroit Free Press was the 10th highest circulation paper in the U.S., and the combined Detroit News and Free Press was the country's fourth-largest Sunday paper.

On July 13, 1995, Newspaper Guild-represented employees of the Free Press and News and the pressmen, printers and Teamsters working for the "Detroit Newspapers" distribution arm went on strike. A handful of staffers crossed the picket line after a month, including Mitch Albom, but the majority stayed out for the two and a half years of the strike. The strike was resolved in court three years later, and the unions remain active at the paper, representing a majority of the employees under their jurisdiction.

In 1998, the Free Press vacated its former headquarters in downtown Detroit and moved to offices inside the News building.

On August 3, 2005, Knight Ridder sold the Free Press to the Gannett company, which had previously owned and operated the News. The News, in turn, was sold to MediaNews Group; Gannett continues to be the managing partner in the papers' joint operating agreement.

On May 7, 2006, the Free Press resumed publication of its own Sunday edition, without any content from the News. A quirk in the operating agreement, however, allows the News to continue printing its editorial page in the Sunday Free Press.

External link

• Official website

Newspapers of Detroit | Gannett | Pulitzer Prize winning newspapers