The Journal, the daily newspaper serving Martinsburg and surrounding areas, was established in 1907 as the Evening Journal by 19-year-old Harry F. Byrd, future U.S. senator and governor of Virginia and that state's political boss for much of the 20th century. Byrd sold the paper to associate Max von Schlegell in 1912. Von Schlegell sold the newspaper to H. C. Ogden in 1923. The Journal remains part of the powerful Ogden Newspapers of Wheeling to the present.

Published as the Evening Journal until 1913, the title was changed to the Martinsburg West Va. Evening Journal. In 1920, the name was again changed, to the Martinsburg Journal. That title remained until 1978, when the newspaper became known as the Evening Journal again. In 1990, the newspaper switched from an afternoon to a morning newspaper and added a Sunday edition, becoming the Morning Journal. The title was changed in 1993 to the present name, The Journal.

In 1953, a fire damaged the Martinsburg Journal building, but the newspaper was able to publish a four-page issue and maintained a regular schedule. Operating from another location for several days, the Journal never missed a day of publication, and the building was renovated. G. Ogden Nutting, the present publisher of Ogden Newspapers, started his newspaper career in 1956 as a reporter and news editor for the Journal.

The Journal is published mornings seven days a week. The 2010 circulation was just over 18,000 daily.