a newspaper. The Mercury was published regularly up to the time the British Army occupied Newport in December 1776, when the press and types were buried. (The press, also used by Solomon Southwick to print copies of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, can be seen in the Museum of Newport History in downtown Newport.) After the British evacuated Newport in November 1779, the Mercury was issued again. The Mercury was the first paper to publish poetry by an African American woman, Phillis Wheatley. The Mercury was acquired by Edward A. Sherman, owner of the Newport Daily News in 1928. It continued as a subscription weekly published by the Newport Daily News until March 2005, when it was relaunched as a free alternative newsweekly under the editorship of Janine Weisman. The current iteration of the paper covers arts, entertainment, food and culture in Newport County. Since the Mercury ceased publication during the Revolutionary War, and was acquired by Sherman in 1928, Hartford Courant and the Mercury's publisher have a longstanding debate over which is older. The Courant has long identified itself as the longest "continuously published" newspaper in the United States and most scholarly articles attribute it as such. In April 2018, it was announced by editor Janine Weisman that the Mercury would no longer publish a weekly print edition, effective with the April 27 issue. The paper would continue as a monthly insert of the Newport Daily News. The first of these new monthly Mercury editions was published on June 7, 2018 as both an insert in the Newport Daily News and as a stand-alone free newspaper. This monthly edition of the Mercury was no longer being published by the time Weisman left the Daily News in August 2019. Prices , The Newport Daily News prices are: Digital edition – $9.99 monthly or $59.99 per year Print edition delivery and digital edition $32 for eight weeks References External links The Newport Daily News Online Newspapers published in Rhode Island Newport County, Rhode Island