Talk of the town

The Orlando Area has a rich media history and is served by more than 25 newspapers and magazines, 16 AM radio stations, 21 FM stations, and has stations for each of the major television networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and the CW.

Orlando’s primary newspaper is The Orlando Sentinel, whose earliest precursor was founded sometime in 1876. The Sentinel’s current daily circulation is about 226,000 and 336,000 on Sundays, and although the paper has seen some circulation declines in recent years, its Web site has seen a significant traffic increase.

Orlando’s first newspaper was the Orange County Reporter, and in 1880, the Reporter was purchased by Mahlon Gore, a local businessman who helped rebuild the paper following Orlando’s infamous January 1884 fire. Most of Gore’s offices were destroyed in the fire, but he quickly made an arrangement with the Sanford Journal, the newspaper in Sanford, a city 25 miles north of Orlando. The Reporter’s fire edition on Jan. 17, brought Gore a reward from local business owners and $300 in new subscriptions.

The Reporter was merged with the Evening Star in 1903 to form the Evening Reporter-Star. In 1947, the newspaper changed its name again, this time to the Orlando Evening Star. In 1973, the Evening Star merged with the Orlando Morning Sentinel to form the Orlando Sentinel-Star, and in 1982, “Star” was officially dropped from the name, giving the newspaper its current name, the Orlando Sentinel.

Throughout the decades, the area’s primary newspaper has grown just like the area it covers. The Sentinel now has bureaus in each of the area’s four counties, as well as in several other counties in Central Florida. The newspaper also has reporters in Tallahassee and Washington D.C. The Sentinel launched its Web site in the 1990s and has since increased its online presence by offering video news updates throughout the day, as well as neighborhood blog forums. Readers can also post comments and respond directly to reporters and editors from the Web site.

The area is also served by Orlando Weekly, an independent newspaper that covers the local arts scene and politics. Its circulation is about 47,000, and it is free of charge.