 | |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Rattray family |
| Founder(s) | George Burling |
| Publisher | Helen S. Rattray |
| Editor | David E. Rattray |
| Founded | 1885 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 153 Main Street East Hampton, New York |
| OCLC number | 04954053 |
| Website | easthamptonstar |
The East Hampton Star is a weekly, privately owned newspaper published each Thursday in East Hampton, New York. It is one of the few independent, family-owned newspapers still existing in the United States. The owners live in East Hampton Town.[citation needed]
The newspaper was founded by George Burling in 1885. His naming of the paper, using East Hampton as two words, created the modern spelling of the town's name. (It had been one word, "Easthampton", similar to neighboring Southampton.)[1]
The Boughton family started publishing the paper in 1890 when Edward S. Boughton became publisher.[2] It stayed in that family until 1935 when the Rattray family under Arnold E. Rattray began publishing it. Five members of the Rattray family have run the paper: Arnold, Jeannette, Everett (their son), Helen S. Rattray (who has been publisher since 1980) and David E. Rattray, the current editor.[3] Jennifer Landes is the arts editor.[4]
The broadsheet is regularly filled with several pages of letters to the editor, because of its policy to publish "every letter to the editor it receives exclusively, with the exception of those sent anonymously, or those judged to be proselytizing, an invasion of privacy, libelous, or obscene." It is one of the first and only newspapers in the nation to print all letters received (that meet these requirements). The paper has reported on emerging issues surrounding development, land preservation, and historic preservation, and it contributes to East Hampton's level of civic activism and engagement in these matters.[5]
- ^ The East Hampton Star, Dec. 26, 1985
- ^ Rattray, Jeanette Edwards; Twomey, Tom (2001). Discovering the Past: Writings of Jeannette Edwards Rattray 1893-1974 Relating to the History of the Town of East Hampton. Newmarket Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-1557045218. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
- ^ Aspan, Maria (April 9, 2007). "The Latest Real Estate Drama in the Hamptons Is About Newspaper Turf". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
- ^ "Author Information - Jennifer Landes". East Hampton Star. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
- ^ Williams, Eesha (2007). Grassroots Journalism: A Practical Manual. Dollars & Sense. 2nd edition. p. 21, 164, 8 others. ISBN 978-1878585639.