The paper was printed at Cox's plant in Franklin, Ohio, and distributed in Butler and Warren Counties.

In September 2013, Cox Media Group Ohio announced that The Middletown Journal would cease to exist effective November 1, 2013, when the paper was merged with the Hamilton JournalNews into a new publication, the Journal-News.

Chew owned the paper until 1978, when the company merged with the Thomson Corporation, the Canadian newspaper giant.

When Thomson decided to exit the newspaper business, it reached a deal to sell the Journal, the Hamilton JournalNews, and several weekly papers in southwest Ohio to Gannett, the parent of The Cincinnati Enquirer.

It has also won first-place awards from the Associated Press for Breaking News, Best Feature Writer and Best Sports Radio.