Interim Editor Jane Curtis casts a gaze over the many awards earned by The Daily Freeman-Journal during its long history. The DFJ is one of Hamilton County's oldest businesses.

When does a news source become the news?

Right now.

The Daily Freeman-Journal has racked up so many awards over the years there is no way to count them. In just the past few weeks, they were the headline story in their own paper, earning 17 awards from the Iowa Newspaper Association.

This is news.

At a time when small town newspapers are disappearing or absorbed into metro areas, The Daily Freeman-Journal has prevailed due to the dedication of the editors, employees, advertisers and team of freelance writers who still believe hometown news is the best news.

Like Interim Editor Jane Curtis. Curtis has retired twice, once as editor of the Fort Dodge Messenger and a previous stint as interim editor of the DFJ. She also served as city editor in the 70s. A graduate of Webster City High School and Iowa State, she did graduate work in creative writing and acting at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. Her first professional journalism job beyond the DFJ was starting a weekly newspaper for the Housatonic Publishing Co. in Connecticut. From that newspaper, The Washington Eagle, she rose to become managing editor of the firm’s flagship paper The New Milford Times. She was the first female managing editor of that then-more than 150-year-old newspaper. She also has authored five books, but her heart is in Webster City and in good quality journalism.

“I’m moved by what I think a good newspaper can do for a community, and that is support,” Curtis said. “Sure, there are going to be bad news stories, but the big role I see local journalism playing is being a part of the puzzle that lifts a town to its highest instead of actively pulling it apart.”

Because of that dedication, Webster City residents can still read a trusted news source about their own community. It’s a news source that is unbiased the way news organizations are supposed to be. The staff cares about the community, and they strive to excel in their reporting and their writing.

That’s the way the DFJ rolls.

It’s a small team.

“I suppose the simplest way to support the newspaper is to read it and advertise,” Curtis said. “It’s important to remember that it, too, is a local business that needs support.”

Very few local businesses have more than 100 years of history in Webster City. The Daily Freeman-Journal has the longest run; its forerunners of the printing company and newspaper were established in 1857. “A Webster City Institution since 1857,” an ad in the City Directory from 1940 proclaims.

A newspaper can make a difference in the way it handles news. That’s likely how Charles Aldrich felt when he first decided to tackle the slavery issue by printing a newspaper to speak out against it in 1857. The Hamilton Freeman published its first edition on June 29, 1857, at a cost of $2 per year. The name of the newspaper is his declaration on slavery: free man.

After owning the paper for five years, Aldrich decided to do more than talk about slavery when he enlisted in the Union Army. The paper was sold to V.A. Ballou in 1862. But Ballou would only own the paper for four years before selling it. The new owner, J.D. Hunter took over from Ballou in 1866. He served both as editor and publisher until he passed away in 1907.

It could have ended at any point along the way. Many businesses do. But the newspaper business began to diversify, not just a news source, but as a printing company.

The Journal Printing Company published The Evening Journal and The Webster City Journal. They produced binders, ruled forms, books and catalogs, blank book makers in addition to commercial printing. They were located at 713 Des Moines Street, Webster City.

That diversification continues today, and that too is news.

The Daily Freeman-Journal presses publish periodicals, magazines and marketing pieces for at least 100 customers each month. Those products are delivered throughout Iowa. The Webster City presses run long hours to insure deliveries on a timely basis.

“We publish a variety of commercial printing jobs in addition to the Ogden customers,” Angie Anderson, plant manager, said.

Some products printed are daily, others are monthly, quarterly or as needed, she explained. Circulation of the DFJ newspaper remains steady at around 1,000 copies sent out Monday through Friday, in addition to an abbreviated digital edition, available online.

“No matter how it is delivered, local news will always be crucial to a community,” Curtis said when asked about the future.

Years ago, when the name changed from the Hamilton Freeman to the Freeman Tribune and George C. Tucker purchased an interest, he served as city editor, business manager and managing editor until 1945.

One of the ways they got through the Depression during the 1930s and the early years of WWI and WWII was to have smaller newspapers. And a small devoted staff.

Tucker maintained the newspaper until 1945, when Charles V. Warren and Jack Bladin purchased the newspaper. Both were sons-in-law of the late editor J.D. Hunter.

People were hungry for news. With the war ending in 1945, it was time for families to reunite and find occupations. Jobs were needed, years of sacrifice had ended, so businesses began to rebuild, and advertising began to bring in needed income. And the papers became more profitable.

Lloyd and Margaret Karr owned the paper for some time in the 1950s. They were the last local owners of The Daily Freeman-Journal before it was purchased by Ogden Newspapers, Inc. It is still owned by Ogden Newspapers of Iowa.

It’s important to recognize that The Daily Freeman-Journal does more than just print newspapers; it’s an industry that has grown and survived through all the challenges that have faced Webster City, Iowa and the entire industrial world.

The people who have kept it going are dedicated.

“I’d love people to come in and tour this place to see how it operates,” Curtis offered. “The people who work here are great folks and chances are they’re your friends and neighbors. Contributors are increasingly what we like to call ‘citizen journalists.’ I am so proud of their work.”

Like Curtis, they are working not just to survive, but to make Webster City better.

That is good news.