La Jolla, Calif.-based Copley Press Inc. is looking for a buyer for seven of its Midwest daily newspaper properties, including the State Journal-Register.
Company CEO David C. Copley, whose family has run Illinois’ oldest newspaper since the 1920s, said Tuesday that the exploration of these “strategic alternatives” is designed to protect the company’s most valuable asset and flagship paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune.
SJ-R publisher Sue Schmitt, who joined the Springfield daily in September, says she expects the sale process to take “at least six months.”
Rumors about a possible sale have been circulating for some time now, particularly in recent years since Copley — who underwent heart-transplant surgery last year — took over after the death of his mother, former Union-Tribune publisher Helen K. Copley, in 2004. Copley cited inheritance taxes as a factor in the decision to sell the papers.
But daily newspapers have been under pressure for years, as indicated by declining circulation, and the industry is continuing to consolidate with fewer owners.
The SJ-R hasn’t been immune to industry trends. Its Sunday circulation, which averaged 61,330 copies in the six-month period that ended Sept. 30, was down by nearly 3 percent in a year, and its weekday and Saturday circulation was off by about 4 percent, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Among the possible suitors for the Copley papers is Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises, which acquired Pulitzer Inc. in January 2005, and already owns six daily newspapers in Illinois.
“We never comment on the possibility of acquisitions or divestitures,” says Dan Hayes, Lee vice president of corporate communications.
Schmitt is optimistic that a new owner won’t make many changes.
“If the paper is sold, the new owners will still need people to cover the news, edit it, sell the ads, make the ads, print the paper, and deliver it,” Schmitt says.
“Someone will have to pay the bills, debug the computers, and clean the building. For many employees, it may just come down to having a different owner’s name on the paycheck.”
Contact R.L. Nave at rnave@illinoistimes.com.
This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 1, 2006.
