News & Tech: Champion Media Buys Herald-Advocate

October 4, 2021

Article by: News & Tech

Champion Media Buys Herald-Advocate

Champion Media, a family-owned company in Mooresville, North Carolina, has bought the Herald-Advocate (Bennettsville, South Carolina), a community paper, the paper reported. CEO Scott Champion and President Corey Champion own Champion Media. “We are excited to become part of this community,” Scott Champion said. “The Herald-Advocate fits with our current North Carolina properties and we know this acquisition will help our South Carolina business partners to expand their current advertising reach.”

Champion Media owns more than 20 papers in six states. The seller of the Herald-Advocate was Marlboro Publishing Company, owned by Elisabeth McNiel and her husband, Dan. Also in the sale is the regional magazine Pee Dee Life. The Herald-Advocate will go on offering a print edition and online content.

Capital Gazette Killer Sentenced

A judge in Maryland sentenced Jarrod Ramos, 41, who murdered five Capital Gazette (Annapolis) staff members to the maximum penalty allowable under law: six terms of life in prison, five with no possibility of parole, plus 345 years. All the time is to be served consecutively, reports the paper.

Five died in the attack on June 28, 2018. They were Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters. “The impact of this case is simply immense,” circuit court Judge Michael Wachs said. “To say the defendant showed a callous and cruel disregard for the sanctity of human life is simply an understatement,” the judge said as he sentenced Ramos on Sept. 28. Read more about the victims and the sentencing here.

USPS has New Delivery Standards

On Oct. 1, the Postal Service made changes to the delivery of certain mail. Most First-Class Mail (61 percent) and Periodicals (93 percent) will be unaffected by the new service standard changes, says USPS. Standards for single-piece First-Class Mail traveling within a local area will continue to be two days.

The Postal Service will increase time‐in‐transit standards by 1 or 2 days for certain mail that is traveling longer distances. “By doing so, the Postal Service can entrust its ground network to deliver more First-Class Mail, which will lead to greater consistency, reliability, and efficiency that benefits its customers,” says USPS. The changes are part of the Postal Service’s Delivering for America Strategic Plan. The changes are a “necessary step towards achieving our goal of consistently meeting 95 percent service performance,” says USPS.  Read more at cleveland.com.

Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise Printing Going to Tulsa

Printing of the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise (Oklahoma) is moving to the Tulsa World and the Examiner-Enterprise’s printing press will be shuttered, the paper reported. The printing in Tulsa will start on Oct. 25. Gannett owns the paper. Nine Examiner-Enterprise production staff members have been told they’ll lose their jobs and will receive severance packages, says the paper.

Chicago Sun-Times May Become Subsidiary of Chicago Public Media

The Chicago Sun-Times and the parent company of public radio station WBEZ are considering a partnership that could form one of the biggest local nonprofit news organizations in the U.S., says the paper.  The arrangement would have the Sun-Times as a subsidiary of Chicago Public Media. The target date to finish the merger is the end of this year, Chicago Public Media CEO Matt Moog said in an interview. Moog also said there are no plans for job reduction. A joint news release said support for the plan has come from Sun-Times investor Michael Sacks, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Pritzker Traubert Foundation. Chicago media blogger Robert Feder first broke the story.

More News

  • Sun Chemical has partnered with GMG Color to provide customers with a new digital drawdown solution for color swatch production. GMG’s solution, GMG ColorCard, is available globally as part of the SunDigiProofservice, available within Sun Chemical’s SunColorBox.
  • Gannett announced today that Gannett Holdings LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, has commenced an offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2026. Gannett Holdings intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, together with the proceeds of a new credit agreement, to repay its existing term loan under its senior secured credit facilities. The company also is seeking to enter into a new senior secured term loan in a principal amount up to $550 million. The completion of the credit agreement is contingent upon the successful offering of the senior notes.

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