Paxton Media Group, the Paducah-based newspaper chain that owns the Kentucky New Era, announced Wednesday that it is buying another Kentucky newspaper chain, Landmark Community Newspapers.
Landmark, with its headquarters in Shelbyville, had 47 newspapers. Twenty of those are in Kentucky, including papers in Elizabethtown, Shelbyville, Shepherdsville, Lebanon and Bardstown, according to a story in the Paducah Sun newspaper.
With the purchase, Paxton will own 37 Kentucky newspapers and a total of 120 publications in 14 states.
The Rural Blog reported, “The purchase price was not revealed, but the transaction is one of the largest involving community newspapers in some time, said Lewis Floyd of Business Valuation Consulting, a newspaper and business broker who specializes in small papers.”
“We are very excited to add these newspapers into the PMG portfolio,” said Jamie Paxton, Paxton Media Group president and CEO. “PMG believes strongly in the value of local newspapers and the vital role they play in the communities that they serve. We appreciate Landmark choosing us to be the new stewards of these important community assets.”
Paxton bought the Kentucky New Era in late 2018 from the family of publisher Taylor Hayes. At that time, the New Era had been published by the same Hopkinsville family for more than 125 years.
A year after the purchase, Paxton moved the New Era’s newsroom and business office from its East Ninth Street facility into the heart of downtown at Eighth and Main streets in the old J.C. Penney building across the street from city hall.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
