
The Sentinel began as the Twin City Daily on May 4, 1885, serving both Winston and Salem. Gannett of the New York newspaper chain, in 1927. Owen Moon bought the Journal in 1925, and the Sentinel, owned by Frank A. The elder Leslie, an artist and the son of an engraver, made the Journal the state's first newspaper to have photographs. Later that summer, the Journal began publishing on Sundays, after which Fawcett's church removed him from its membership. Fawcett made it a morning paper starting January 2, 1902. Knight moved out of the area and the Journal had several owners before publisher D.A. The area's other newspaper, the Twin City Sentinel, also was an afternoon paper. The Winston-Salem Journal, started by Charles Landon Knight, began publishing in the afternoons on April 3, 1897. In 2017, the paper won the Hugh Morton Photographer of the Year award (Allison Lee Isley), Beat News Reporting, Best Community Coverage, and more. In 2018, the paper won a Media and the Law Award of Excellence for Best Daily Article (Scott Sexton) the Henry Lee Weathers Freedom of Information Award and a General Excellence award for their website.

The Winston-Salem Journal has won several N.C. It also publishes a monthly city magazine called Winston-Salem Monthly, which started in 2006 and several special editions, including Carolina Weddings, City Guide, and WS Works. The newspaper produces several weekly sections, including Business, Food, Journal West, and Relish. The Journal's television partner is WGHP of High Point, North Carolina. The newspaper has an online presence called JournalNow. However, the paper also is distributed in Alleghany County, Ashe County, Davidson County, Davie County, Stokes County, Surry County, Wilkes County, Watauga County, and Yadkin County.

The Journal is primarily distributed through Forsyth County and the county seat of Winston-Salem.
