Johnson Newspaper Corp. is a family-owned multimedia company with local news coverage of the north country, Hudson Valley and Batavia, N.Y.
The story of the Watertown Daily Times as a newspaper dates back to 1861, evolving from the weekly New York Reformer, which had been established in Watertown eleven years before. With the advent of the Civil War, and the necessity of getting news quicker being an urgent matter, a daily paper was created.
The original daily Reformer of 1861 was a four-page publication of about 1,500 circulation during the Civil War and less in the years following. It was edited from offices at the east end of the Paddock Arcade and moved into a new location on Arcade Street in 1861. The paper took its present name in 1870.
The paper has the largest news gathering staff in the north country, and covers news in Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, and Oswego counties. It is Northern New York’s leader in reporting and advertising in print and online.