Founded in 1895 by Hugh Ike Shott and two partners, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph began when they bought an existing paper called the Bluefield Telegraph and renamed it. The newspaper started publishing under its new name on January 16, 1896. Shott, who had experience as a linotype operator, saw a chance to build a strong daily newspaper for Bluefield and the nearby coalfield communities. A few months later, on May 1, 1896, he bought out his partners and became the paper’s main owner. Today, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph is owned by CNHI, LLC. Today, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph covers local and regional news for Bluefield, West Virginia, and nearby areas in southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. Its coverage includes local news, politics, crime, courts, business, coal and energy, education, health, weather, sports, entertainment, community events, obituaries, and comics. The paper serves counties such as Mercer, Monroe, Wyoming, and Summers in West Virginia, as well as Tazewell, Buchanan, Bland, and Giles in Virginia. One interesting fact: Hugh Ike Shott’s family did more than run the newspaper. His sons later helped start a radio station whose call letters, WHIS, came from their father’s initials, and the family also helped launch a television station that later became WVVA-TV.