lee enterprises is a leading provider of local news, information and advertising in primarily midsize markets, with 46 daily newspapers and a joint interest in two others, along with rapidly growing digital products and nearly 300 specialty publications in 21 states. lee was founded in 1890 in iowa, by a.w. lee. most of our papers trace their beginnings to the mid-1800s. among our alumni, teenage sam clemens wrote for the muscatine journal in iowa before becoming world-renowned as mark twain. a reporter from our newspaper in bismarck, north dakota, died with george custer at the battle of the little big horn. in 1973, our newspaper in davenport, iowa, became the first in the world to be produced totally by computer.