The Rockford Register Star is the main daily paper for the Rockford, Illinois, area, and by circulation it ranks fifth in the state. The name is a product of 1979, when two older papers merged: the Register Republic, founded on February 15, 1855, and the Morning Star, which began on March 20, 1888. The Register Republic had gone daily on January 6, 1873.
The paper works out of the Register Star Tower at 99 East State Street downtown. The tower dates to 1930 and was designed to resemble the Tribune Tower in Chicago. It is still counted among the better-looking buildings in the city centre.
Ownership and printing
Gannett owned the paper and its predecessors from 1967 to 2007. It came back under the same umbrella in 2019, when GateHouse Media merged with Gannett, and the paper is now owned by USA Today Co.
The presses have moved more than the newsroom has. In April 2020 printing went to West Milwaukee, on the press that produces the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. WIFR marked the occasion with a headline noting that after 165 years the paper would be printed out of town. Then, on March 14, 2022, Gannett shut the West Milwaukee plant and production shifted to the Journal Star press in Peoria.
What is in the paper
The layout is what most American dailies use: a front page and an “A” section, then local and state news, sports and business through the working week. Sundays bring the Sunday Register Star, carrying advertising from national chains in the area, comics, the “Go” section and USA Weekend magazine.
Since 2003 the paper has had an alliance with WREX-TV. Its reporters appear on the station’s newscasts every day to promote stories in the paper, and the paper’s website carries many videos of stories the station has broadcast.
In January 2024 the Register Star announced that it was dropping carrier delivery in favour of mail delivery through the U.S. Postal Service.
