The Robesonian traces its heritage back to 1870,[4] when it was established by W.S. McDiamid, a Baptist preacher.[5]The Robesonian was previously owned by Heartland Publications. In 2012 Versa Capital Management merged Heartland Publications, Ohio Community Media, the former Freedom papers it had acquired, and Impressions Media into a new company, Civitas Media.[6] Civitas Media sold its properties in the Carolinas to Champion Media in 2017.[7]
Notable events
The newspaper attracted national attention when on February 1, 1988, when two Native Americans entered the newspaper's offices armed[8] and took 20 hostages.[9] The stand-off lasted ten hours; Timothy Jacobs and Eddie Hatcher[10] hoped to attract attention to the plight of American Indians, and later, after their arrest, had a local civil rights attorney deliver a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev in anticipation of a summit between Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev.[11]
The newspaper attracted more attention in August, 2018, when it stopped providing its 8-page Sunday color comics section.[12] An editorial on July 28, 2018 entitled "Trump’s newsprint tariffs force not-so-funny decision" blame the cost of newsprint from Canada, a target "in Trump's Tariff Wars."[13]
The Robesonian is a member of the North Carolina Press Association.[2]