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The Logan Banner is a weekly newspaper in Logan County. Founded by Henry Clay Ragland in 1889, the newspaper is Logan County’s oldest commercial business still in existence.

Ragland edited the Logan Banner as a weekly publication until his death in 1911. It was a Democratic newspaper under his ownership. The Brazie brothers, Charles and William, published the newspaper after Ragland but changed its political affiliation to Republican. The Banner continued to represent the GOP through the ownership of Clarence Frey, who came to Logan County in 1921. When Frey took over, the newspaper was saddled with debts, but it began a steady growth. Frey was publisher of the Logan Banner until his death in 1960. With the help of Frey’s partner, Robert O. Greever, Frey’s widow continued the newspaper under her ownership until 1965, when it was sold to a publishing company located in Tennessee. The new company sent publisher Jim Muscia to Logan. He later purchased the paper and operated it for several years before selling it to the Smith Newspapers in 1975 with Tom George as publisher. For a few years Tom Schmitt was publisher after George. Richard Osborne was promoted to the position of publisher in 1988.

Frey expanded the previously weekly Logan Banner into an afternoon daily in 1935, publishing five days a week until 1981, when it went to Monday through Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings. After HD Media acquired the paper in 2017, it reduced the publication schedule to three days per week. In 2019, the Banner again became a weekly, published each Wednesday.

The Logan Banner serves Logan, Boone, Mingo, Lincoln, and Wyoming counties. In 2016, its circulation was 3,592; according to the newspaper, its circulation had increased to 6,800 by 2023.

Last Revised on October 31, 2023

Cite This Article

e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia "Logan Banner." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 31 October 2023. Web. 27 April 2024.