The State Journal

What The State Journal does

The State Journal is a privately held daily local newspaper serving Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky, and Franklin County. Founded in 1902 and operated under the Carpenter Media Group umbrella, the publication is described in its own branding as "First in local news since 1902" and functions as the newspaper of record for city and county government, local high school sports, crime and justice, education, business, opinion, and obituaries in its small Kentucky market. Its coverage is consumed by residents of Frankfort and Franklin County across multiple formats.

The product portfolio is delivered through three subscription tiers (digital-only, print-only, and combined print+digital) on a monthly billing cadence, supplemented by a digital e-edition replica hosted at digital.state-journal.com, a daily email newsletter, a WordPress-based news portal at state-journal.com, and community engagement programs including a scholarship contest and an Athlete of the Week poll. The underlying technology is essentially third-party/open-source: WordPress CMS, Dirxion e-edition (under Carpenter Media Group), and standard email newsletter distribution - with no proprietary technology or AI capabilities disclosed.

Revenue is generated through two streams: recurring subscription revenue across the three print/digital tiers and advertising revenue encompassing display ads in print/website plus a sponsored-content native advertising product (sponsored-content partners include Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Kentucky). Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer via the website, e-edition, and newsletter, with sponsored content partnerships as a parallel local-advertiser motion. The newspaper has 51-100 employees, is headquartered at 227 West Main Street in Frankfort (relocated back there from Wilkinson Boulevard around 2025-2026), and serves a market limited to the Frankfort/Franklin County area in Kentucky.

Name

The State Journal

Legal name

The State Journal

Website

https://state-journal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1902

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The State Journal is a privately held daily local newspaper founded in 1902, serving residents of Frankfort and Franklin County, Kentucky through print, digital, e-edition, and email newsletter subscriptions, operated under Carpenter Media Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJADAB

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

Keywords

• Local newspaper
• Print subscription
• Digital news
• Community journalism
• Daily news

Headquarters

HQ city

Frankfort

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: The newspaper generates revenue through subscription plans including digital-only, print-only, and combined print+digital subscriptions. Special group or corporate programs are available for new customers.
2. Advertising: The newspaper generates advertising revenue through sponsored content and display advertising on its website and in the print edition.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The State Journal is a daily local newspaper serving Frankfort and Franklin County, Kentucky. It sells subscriptions in digital-only, print-only, and combined print+digital formats, plus a digital E-Edition replica, an online news portal, and an email newsletter. Content covers local news, sports, crime, education, business, opinion, and obituaries for the Kentucky capital region.

Product overview

The State Journal is a local newspaper serving Frankfort, Kentucky since 1902, operating as a single unified publication with multiple content delivery formats. The product portfolio includes a core newspaper offering (available via print subscription, digital subscription, or combined packages), an E-Edition digital replica, an email newsletter service, and an online news portal. Content categories span local news, sports, opinion, obituaries, crime, business, and education. The publication also runs community engagement initiatives through contests such as the Athlete of the Week poll and scholarship programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Subscription Provides full digital access to The State Journal's online content including articles, breaking news, and multimedia content for individual subscribers in Frankfort and Franklin County, Kentucky.
• Print Subscription Traditional physical newspaper delivery service providing daily or weekly printed editions to subscribers' homes in Frankfort and Franklin County, Kentucky.
• Combined Print + Digital Subscription Bundled subscription offering both print newspaper home delivery and full digital access to The State Journal's online content for subscribers.
• E-Edition Digital replica version of the printed newspaper accessible online through digital.state-journal.com, featuring the same layout and content as the physical printed edition.
• Email Newsletter Daily email newsletter delivering local news headlines and summaries directly to subscribers' inboxes covering Frankfort and Franklin County news.
• Online News Portal Website (state-journal.com) providing 24/7 access to local news, sports, opinion, obituaries, crime, business, and education content for the Frankfort, Kentucky area.
• Contests and Giveaways Community engagement programs including the Athlete of the Week poll, the Promote Your School Scholarship Contest, Frankfort's Faves, and other promotional giveaways for local readers.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Carpenter Media GroupminorOthersThe State Journal appears to be operated under Carpenter Media Group, based on the copyright notice '© 2026 State-Journal' and links to Carpenter Media Group privacy policy and terms of service.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Gannett: Largest U.S. local newspaper operator (USA TODAY Network). Broad incumbent that competes in overlapping local-news categories across many markets including Kentucky, though it does not serve Frankfort directly with a dedicated title of comparable focus.
• Lee Enterprises: Major U.S. community-newspaper chain operating dailies and weeklies across multiple states. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the local/community newspaper space, competing for advertisers and digital subscription dollars in overlapping Kentucky markets.

Others

• Carpenter Media Group: Parent conglomerate that owns and operates The State Journal. Comparable as the controlling parent — relevant for benchmarking shared infrastructure, back-office economics, and portfolio-level strategy that directly affect the subject company.

Direct peers

• The Sentinel-News: Community newspaper serving Shelbyville and Shelby County, Kentucky. Comparable as a small Kentucky local daily with print and digital subscription tiers, sponsored content, and community engagement programming.
• The Anderson News: Community daily newspaper serving Lawrenceburg and Anderson County, Kentucky. Comparable as a small-market Kentucky local paper with print/digital subscriptions and sponsored-content advertising under a similar community-newspaper business model.
• The Richmond Register: Daily newspaper serving Richmond and Madison County, Kentucky. Comparable as a Kentucky community daily with print and digital subscriptions, local sports coverage, and advertiser-sponsored content.
• The Georgetown News-Graphic: Local newspaper serving Georgetown and Scott County, Kentucky. Comparable in scale, geography (Central Kentucky), and product mix — local news, sports, opinion, and digital/print subscriptions for a single mid-size county.
• The Jessamine Journal: Community newspaper serving Nicholasville and Jessamine County, Kentucky. Direct comparable as a small Kentucky county-level paper with hybrid print+digital distribution and subscription-based monetization.
• The Morehead News: Community newspaper serving Morehead and Rowan County, Kentucky. Comparable as a small-market Kentucky local paper with print/digital editions and community-oriented content.
• The Winchester Sun: Daily newspaper serving Winchester and Clark County, Kentucky. Comparable as a Central Kentucky local daily with print and digital editions, classifieds, and subscription-based revenue.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/statejournal
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheStateJournal
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-state-journal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The State Journal