The Fresno Bee front page

The Fresno Bee is the daily newspaper serving Fresno, California and surrounding counties in that U.S. states San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and ranks fourth in circulation among the companys newspapers.

The Fresno Bee was founded in 1922 by the McClatchy brothers Charles Kenny (Charles Kenny McClatchy) (C.K.) and Valentine Stuart (V.S.), sons of The Sacramento Bees second editor James McClatchy. C.K.s only son Carlos McClatchy became The Fresno Bees first editor. The two Central Valley newspapers, closely linked by family ownership and editorial philosophy, formed the core of what later grew into The McClatchy Company. In 1926, the McClatchys purchased an older Fresno newspaper, The Republican. The Fresno Republican had been founded in 1876, by Dr. Chester A. Rowell and a group of investors that included inventor and entrepreneur Frank Dusy. In 1932, The Bee took over the subscription lists of The Fresno Republican and merged the newspapers.

The paper launched its website in 1996; in November 2005, the paper integrated its online operations into the papers other departments. The Bee was following the example of The New York Times and other newspapers hoping to combine the creative strengths of the worlds of digital and print journalism.