The newspaper was founded as the
East St. Louis Journal in 1888. The paper's name was changed to the
St. Clair and Madison Counties Evening and Sunday Journal in 1958 and the
Metro-East Journal in 1964. When
Decatur, Illinois-based Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers, which had owned the paper since 1932, was sold to
Lee Enterprises in 1979, the
Journal was not included in the purchase. Attempts to find another buyer failed, and the
Journal published its last edition on March 30, 1979. Several factors reportedly contributing to the demise of the
Journal included changing demographics in East St. Louis, failure to upgrade newspaper facilities and competition from the
Belleville News-Democrat for many of the same readers. ==References==