Behind the success of today’s Times-Shamrock Communications is over a century of family tradition — a tradition of progress born of a man who combined his love of journalism with his exceptional foresight to build the solid foundation of today’s media company. In 1895, E.J. Lynett, who had blackened his hands as a breaker boy in the coal mines of Northeastern Pennsylvania, put aside early ambitions of law and politics to purchase a 3,200-circulation, two-cent afternoon publication. Challenging a history of six unsuccessful owners since the paper’s birth in 1870 and battling several other established publications, he earned the respect of journalism professionals across the state. Through his efforts, the newspaper became the third-largest daily in Pennsylvania, and he would be one of the first inductees in the Pennsylvania Newspaper Hall of Fame. E.J. Lynett personally schooled his children in the business and profession to ensure that his standards of excellence would not be lost in future generations. When he died in 1943, William R., Edward J., and Elizabeth R. Lynett took the helm of the Times-Shamrock flagship—under Edward J. Lynett’s guidance as publisher, The Scranton Times earned national recognition with a 1945 Pulitzer Prize. Edward J. Lynett guaranteed continued progress by creating the blueprint for a Sunday newspaper worthy of The Times’ name. He died shortly before the first edition of The Sunday Times rolled off the presses in 1966. His children were determined that The Sunday Times would thrive. Edward J., George V., William R. Lynett, and their sister, Cecelia L. Haggerty, have made today’s Sunday Times the best-read newspaper in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The success of The Sunday Times heralded a new era of growth and progress at The Times. The afternoon paper — which once had a circulation of less than 4,000 — became the cornerstone of Times-Shamrock Communications. From 1891 to 1990, The Times’ strongest daily competition had been the morning Scranton Tribune. When it and its Sunday paper, The Scrantonian, ceased publication, The Times purchased their nameplates and continued the morning paper, serving readers accustomed to a two-newspaper city. The publishers’ devotion to progress and the community’s needs became evident on June 27, 2005, when, after more than 250 years of combined service recording the life and times of the region, Scranton’s two newspapers became one — The Times-Tribune. The transition to a single morning newspaper came after investing more than $6 million in newsroom and printing plant technology and equipment.
In addition to The Times-Tribune and the Standard-Speaker, which Times-Shamrock purchased on May 1, 2007, the company owns The Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre and the Republican and Herald of Pottsville. The Voice was founded in October 1978 by newspaper employees in Wilkes-Barre who sought working conditions better than those offered at the Wilkes-Barre Publishing Co. The newspaper was sold by its employee shareholder-owners to The Scranton Times on May 1, 2000. The Pottsville newspaper, founded in 1884, serves Schuylkill County and surrounding areas. In 1979, the paper was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for an investigative series. It was purchased by Times-Shamrock in 2003 and moved from an afternoon newspaper to a morning edition a year later.
The newspaper division was sold in 2023. Today, the broad-based media company has three radio stations in Northeastern Pennsylvania, over ten radio stations in three markets, numerous websites, and a billboard company in PA and NJ. Times-Shamrock’s radio stations reach many thousands of listeners each month.