It was founded as the ''Farmers' Friend'' in 1887, and was part of several mergers and name changes. In its early history, it was aligned with the
Democratic Party. The first edition of the newspaper as the
Weekly News and Review, appeared on March 18, 1922. Thomson worked to expand the newspaper from a Florence-focused newspaper to more regional coverage. It was extensively redesigned in 1992, and again in 1998, to emphasize coverage of the nine-county
Pee Dee region of South Carolina. On June 14, 2000, the Thomson Corporation sold the
Morning News, as well as associated newspapers in the Pee Dee to
Media General for approximately $237 million. The acquisition by Media General made the newspaper a partner with CBS affiliate
WBTW, a station MG gained after an acquisition of
Spartan Communications earlier in the year. In 2012,
Berkshire Hathaway acquired the
Morning News as part of an acquisition of Media General's newspaper group. The
Morning News serves as the regional hub for four weekly newspaper publications also owned by Lee Enterprises:
The Hartsville Messenger,
The Lake City News and Post,
The Marion Star & Mullins Enterprise, and
The (Hemingway) Weekly Observer. The
Morning News operates online through scnow.com. That website houses not only the
Morning News, but also the
Hartsville Messenger,
Weekly Observer,
The Lake City News and Post, and the
Marion Star & Mullins Enterprise. Until Media General sold its entire newspaper division to Berkshire Hathaway, it also housed WBTW as well. Starting June 6, 2023, the print edition of the newspaper will be reduced to three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Also, the newspaper will transition from being delivered by a traditional newspaper delivery carrier to mail delivery by the U.S. Postal Service. ==References==