[2] A group of local businessmen met on January 9, 1946, to organize a weekly newspaper for Okaloosa County's southern region.

As the southern communities of Fort Walton, Destin, Shalimar, Cinco Bayou, Mary Esther, Ocean City, Wright, Valparaiso and Niceville expanded, so did the need for local coverage.

Odom, Howard Gill, L. Ferrin, George Klosterman, Lee Courter, Frank Bizelle, Braden Ball, W.R. Cummings, DeWitt Lamb (the first editor), Andy Anderson, Leon Bishop, Toopey Work, Bill Williams and Bill Folb.

[6] Over its history, the paper has gone by three names: Due to the close ties between the Fort Walton Beach community and Eglin Air Force Base, the Playground/Northwest Florida News supplanted the Okaloosa News-Journal, published in Crestview, Florida, as the county paper of record.

Hired by Publisher Wayne Bell, Thompson wrote under the pseudonyms Thorne Stockton and Cubley Cohn.