Media: Copley News Service sold
Granted, this news is of more interest to local newsies (especially Journal Star alumi) than it is the general public, but here it is anyway:
Los Angeles-based Creators Syndicate announced it will buy the Copley News Service, a 53-year-old wire service that distributes news, political cartoons and opinion columns.
The agreement is the latest sale by The Copley Press Inc., which has been shedding newspapers and other assets to focus resources on its flagship publication, the San Diego Union-Tribune, which cut 10 percent of its staff in December.
Copley, which is family owned, sold nine newspapers in Illinois and Ohio to GateHouse Media Inc. for $380 million in March 2007.
And thus, the consolidation of American journalism continues at breakneck speed.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:44 am
For those really interested in why the deal happened, here’s a piece from E&P:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003809716
May 30th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Speaking of the consolidation of American journalism, did anyone notice that the Kewanee Star Courier, a GateHouse publication, is eliminating its Monday edition? You can look for more stuff like that. GateHouse stock is now down more than 50 percent for the year, bringing its dividend yield to 18.4 percent. Any company attempting to maintain a yield that high is probably in deep doo doo.