The Wakefield Daily Item is an American independent weekday daily newspaper published in Wakefield, Massachusetts, with issues published Mondays to Fridays.
Fred W. Young printed the first Item on May 7, 1894, running the paper until selling to printer Alstead W. Browne in March 1900; he sold out to Harris M. Dolbeare, who established the Wakefield Item Company April 1, 1900.
[2] The Item is famous for the "Looking Backward" column, detailing events that took place in Wakefield and around the country 25, 50, 75, and 100 years ago from the date of the newspaper.
The paper has had seven editors: Harris Dolbeare (1900–his death in 1938), Gardner Campbell (1938–1953), Robert C. Reed (1953–1966), Kendall Dolbeare (1966–1986), Janet Constantakes (1986–1988) and Peter Rossi (since 1988).
On January 27, 2009, the Item changed its format from broadsheet to tabloid.