The Times (Shreveport)


The Times is a Gannett daily newspaper based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Its distribution area includes twelve parishes in Northwest Louisiana and three counties in east Texas. Coverage focuses on issues affecting the Shreveport-Bossier market and includes investigative reporting, community news, arts & entertainment, government, education, sports, business, and religion, along with local opinion/commentary. Its website provides news updates, videos, photo galleries, forums, blogs, event calendars, entertainment, classifieds, contests, databases and a regional search engine. Local news content produced by The Times is available on the website at no charge for seven days.

History

From 1895 to 1991, The Times had competition from the afternoon Monday-Saturday daily, the since defunct Shreveport Journal. The papers were later printed at the same 222 Lake Street address and shared opposite sides of the building but were entirely separate and independent of the other. Publisher Charles T. Beaird effective March 30, 1991, closed the Shreveport Journal for financial reasons stemming from sharply reduced circulation. Thereafter, the page opposite the editorial page of The Times, commonly called the op-ed page, was reserved as "The Journal Page" for editorial comment until December 31, 1999.
Beginning in October 2017, The Times will no longer be locally published because the distribution center in Shreveport will close in order to reduce production and labor costs. The Times will instead be printed at another Gannett publication, the Longview News-Journal in Longview, Texas, a commute of sixty-five miles one-way. The Monroe News-Star, which had been published in Shreveport will now be printed at the Jackson Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi. The change is not expected to impact delivery schedules.

Community interaction

The Times sponsors political debates, economic summits, forums, leadership awards, and other community-oriented initiatives. The Times also provides community support through Gannett Foundation grants and community partnerships. For more than 30 years The Times "Joy Fund" has provided funds to charitable organizations during the holidays through donations provided by readers with funds exceeding $100,000 annually. In addition, The Times presents the Regional Spelling Bee and supports local events including the Red River Revel, Mudbug Madness, the State Fair of Louisiana, Boutique de Noel, among others. Support is also provided to the Shreveport Symphony, the Opera Guild, Sci-Port, Shreveport Regional Arts Council, Alliance for Education, American Red Cross, Shreveport Green, Community Renewal, Providence House, and the United Way of Northwest Louisiana.

Sections