Categories: OLD Media Moves

Dow Jones sells community papers to focus on biz journalism

News Corp., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch.com and Barron’s, has sold a collection of community newspapers called the Dow Jones Local Media Group to an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC for an undisclosed amount.

Nathalie Tadena of Dow Jones Newswires writes, “Dow Jones Local Media, which was formerly known as the Ottaway community newspapers, operates 33 publications mainly on the East Coast. The Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corp, reported in April that the company was exploring the group’s sale.

“Dow Jones Local Media’s operations will be managed by GateHouse Media, one of the largest publishers of locally-based print and online media in the U.S.

“‘We are confident that the papers will prosper under the new owners, but they were not strategically consistent with the emerging portfolio of the new News,’ News Corp Chief Executive Robert Thomson said.

“The Dow Jones Local Media Group daily newspaper franchises include the Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y.; the Cape Cod Times in Hyannis, Mass.; and The Record in Stockton, Calif.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.