Website Review
What is Star Local Media?
Star Local Media is a local news publisher covering communities across North Texas, with a focus on Denton, Collin, and Dallas counties. Its coverage centers on community news, local events, and high school sports, and it organizes content under sections such as Featured News and Featured Sports.
Its defining feature is a town-by-town structure: rather than one broad regional feed, it runs separate local editions, including the Allen American, Carrollton Leader, Celina Record, Frisco Enterprise, Lewisville Leader, McKinney Courier-Gazette, and Plano Star Courier. That makes it most useful if you live in or follow one of those specific communities and want coverage of local government, schools, and prep athletics rather than national headlines.
Who it suits:
- Residents who want news about their own suburb or school district
- Parents and fans tracking high school sports results and coverage
- Readers comparing how neighboring North Texas towns handle similar issues
A practical next step: find the edition matching your town and read a week of its stories. If the local names, campuses, and events line up with your daily life, it's the right fit; if you need broader state or national coverage, pair it with a larger outlet. Also check whether the sections you care about are free to browse or sit behind a subscription before committing.
How can I subscribe to Star Local Media and what does it cost?
Star Local Media subscriptions are handled through its own site, with several community-specific editions each offering a Subscribe link. The available subscription pages include the main Star Local Media option plus editions for Allen American, Carrollton Leader, Celina Record, Frisco Enterprise, Lewisville Leader, McKinney Courier-Gazette, Plano Star Courier, and Prosper.
What You Get
Coverage centers on community news, local events, and high school sports across Denton, Collin, and Dallas counties in North Texas. The site also presents a "Latest e-Edition," which typically means a digital replica of the print paper.
How to Subscribe
- Go to the Star Local Media site and choose the edition for your town, or use the main Subscribe link.
- Follow the prompts on that edition's subscription page.
- If you want the digital replica, look for the e-Edition option during signup.
Cost
The available information does not list specific prices, so check the current rate on the subscription page for your chosen edition. Costs can differ by edition and by term length, and promotional rates may apply to new subscribers.
Practical Next Step
If you mainly follow one school district or city, subscribe to that specific edition rather than the general one. If you need coverage across several North Texas communities, compare the main subscription against the individual edition pages to see which bundle fits your reading habits.
Which North Texas communities and high schools does Star Local Media cover?
Star Local Media covers a cluster of suburban North Texas communities, mainly in Collin, Denton and Dallas counties, through separate local editions. Based on its own edition names, the coverage footprint includes:
- Collin County: Allen, Celina, Frisco, McKinney and Plano
- Denton County: Lewisville (with the wider Lewisville area)
- Dallas County: Carrollton
Each community gets its own edition — for example, the Allen American, Celina Record, Frisco Enterprise, McKinney Courier-Gazette, Plano Star Courier, Lewisville Leader and Carrollton Leader. The site also groups content under Featured News and Featured Sports, and its stated focus is community news, events and high school sports across the region.
High schools: The site positions high school sports as a core part of its coverage, but the edition names indicate the cities and school districts served rather than a published list of individual campuses. In practice, that means coverage follows the high schools inside districts such as Allen ISD, Frisco ISD, McKinney ISD, Plano ISD, Celina ISD, Lewisville ISD and Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. For a specific school — say a particular Frisco or Plano campus — check that community's edition or its sports section rather than assuming a dedicated page.
Next step: If you only care about one town, go straight to that edition (for example Star Local Media for the network, or the Plano and Frisco editions if those are your areas) instead of reading the combined feed. If you need coverage of a town not named above, treat it as outside this network's core footprint until you confirm otherwise.
How do I submit a news tip, press release, or community event to Star Local Media?
Star Local Media accepts news tips, press releases and community event submissions, but there is no single submission form for all three. The right route depends on what you are sending and which local edition covers your area.
Match your item to the correct channel
- News tips: Send these to the newsroom of the specific local edition covering your community. Tips about something happening now, or a document you can share, get the fastest response.
- Press releases: Send them to the editor of the relevant edition, ideally with a short headline, the key facts in the first paragraph, and a contact name and phone number.
- Community events: These usually need a date, time, location, cost, and a one-line description. Submit well ahead of the event, since community calendars are often compiled days or weeks in advance.
Pick the edition that covers you
Star Local Media publishes separate local editions across Denton, Collin and Dallas counties, including the Allen American, Carrollton Leader, Celina Record, Frisco Enterprise, Lewisville Leader, McKinney Courier-Gazette and Plano Star Courier. Sending your item to the edition whose town matches your news is the single biggest factor in whether it gets used. A Frisco fundraiser sent to the Plano desk may sit unread.
A practical next step
Open the page for your local edition on Star Local Media, look for a "Contact" or "Submit news" link in the site footer or menu, and use the email address listed there. If no address is listed, call the edition's main office and ask for the newsroom.
What improves your odds
- Put the most important fact in the subject line and first sentence.
- Include names spelled correctly, plus titles and affiliations.
- Attach one or two good photos with a caption and credit; avoid sending large batches.
- Send it early in the week and early in the day for time-sensitive items.
- For high school sports results, include final scores, standout players and a coach's contact.
One caveat
Community papers run on limited staff, so not every submission becomes a story, and paid notices may be offered for items that read like advertising, such as business promotions or job postings. If your item is essentially a promotion, ask whether it belongs in a paid placement rather than the news pages.
How can I post a job opening on Star Local Media's job board?
Use the "Post a Job" link on Star Local Media's site: Star Local Media points employers to a separate hiring portal at hiring.starlocaljobs.com, where you purchase and publish the listing. You do not post a job opening by submitting a news story or emailing an editor.
What you can expect
- A self-service flow: choose a posting package, create the listing, pay, and it goes live on the job board.
- The audience is local to North Texas — Denton, Collin and Dallas county readers — which suits roles filled by people already in or moving to the area.
- Listings are typically time-limited, so note the expiration date and plan to refresh if the role stays open.
- Because it is a paid posting rather than editorial coverage, the wording is yours to control; write a specific title, pay range and location so the right candidates self-select.
Practical next step
Before you buy, draft the listing and check it against these criteria:
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is the role location-bound to North Texas? | A local job board converts best when commuting or relocation is realistic |
| Is the title the one candidates actually search? | Vague internal titles get fewer clicks |
| Have you included pay, schedule and how to apply? | Missing basics generate unqualified enquiries |
| Is the posting period long enough? | Short windows can expire before your hiring loop closes |
If your opening is remote and nationwide, a general job board will likely reach more candidates; if you need someone who knows the local market, a community-focused board is the better fit. For roles tied to a specific suburb, also check whether that community's own edition or local chamber offers a listing, since readers there may be more targeted than the regional feed.
Where can I find the e-edition of my local Star Local Media newspaper?
The e-edition is available on the Star Local Media website itself. Start at Star Local Media, where the homepage includes a "Latest e-Edition" link, then choose the edition for your specific community paper.
How the editions are organized
Star Local Media publishes separate community papers rather than one single North Texas edition. Each has its own section and e-edition, for example:
- Allen American
- Carrollton Leader
- Celina Record
- Frisco Enterprise
- Lewisville Leader
- McKinney Courier-Gazette
- Plano Star Courier
What to do next
- Go to the Star Local Media homepage.
- Look for the e-edition link near the top of the page or in the "Latest e-Edition" area.
- Select your town's paper from the list.
- If you cannot reach the full e-edition, open that paper's own section page, where its subscribe/e-edition entry point is listed.
A practical note on access
Some e-edition content may sit behind a subscription, so if your edition does not open fully, that is usually why rather than a broken link. If you mainly want high school sports scores and community events, the free article pages may be enough; if you want the page-by-page paper as printed, the e-edition is the right destination.
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