The Top 10 Tennessee Daily Newspapers by Circulation
The first newspaper to ever appear in Tennessee, the Knoxville Gazette, started up in 1791 and ceased publishing by 1818.
Updated February 2020
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1. The Commercial Appeal
Also known as the “Memphis Commercial Appeal”, the Commercial Appeal is published by Gannett and covers the Memphis metro area. It was founded in 1841 as The Appeal and has won one Pulitzer Prize.
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2. The Tennessean
Published in Nashville and serving 39 counties throughout the state (and eight in Kentucky), the Tennessean was founded in 1907 and has also won one Pulitzer Prize.
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3. Knoxville News Sentinel
Founded in 1886, the newspaper gets its current name from a 1926 merger between The Knoxville News and The Knoxville Sentinel.
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4. Chattanooga Times Free Press
The Times Free Press can trace its roots back to 1869, with the founding of the Chattanooga Times. It serves southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia.
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5. Kingsport Times News
Founded in 1916, the Times News serves six counties in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia.
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6. The Greeneville Sun
Published seven days a week in Greeneville by Adams Publishing Group.
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7. The Lebanon Democrat
Founded in 1888 and published in Lebanon, the Democrat originally featured President Cleveland and his wife on the newspaper’s masthead.
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8. Herald-Citizen
Founded in 1903, the Herald-Citizen is published in Cookeville.
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9. Daily Herald
Published in Columbia six days a week, the Daily Herald serves six counties, including Maury County.
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10. The Leaf-Chronicle
Founded in 1808 as the Clarksville Chronicle, the Leaf-Chronicle is published in Clarksville and got its name after the Clarksville Chronicle merged with The Tobacco Leaf (not a typo) in 1890.
Newspaper circulations and rankings are determined by Fullintel’s media intelligence analysts in combination with data supplied by LexisNexis.
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