Suburban Journals
Encyclopedia
Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis is a group of publications in the St. Louis region owned by Lee Enterprises
. The chain serves St. Louis and St. Louis and St. Charles counties in Missouri and Madison County in Illinois.
It publishes community newspapers, the Ladue News, Savvy Family, St. Louis' Best Bridal and Feast.
Editions are distributed each Wednesday to nearly 550,000 households in greater St. Louis. More than 420,000 homes also receive a Sunday Journal.
Publications are grouped in regional offices in Town and Country, Mo., and Collinsville
, Ill.
The Suburban Journals were acquired by Pulitzer
in 2000; Pulitzer was purchased by Lee in 2005.
The chain for years was distributed to homes for free. The papers became subscription-only in November 2008.http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2008/10/06/daily54.html
It is by some counts the largest chain of community newspapers in the country.
The chain's main competition are the Post-Dispatch and community-focused Webster-Kirkwood Times and South County Times in Missouri and Alton Telegraph, Edwardsville Intelligencer, Troy Times-Tribune and Belleville News Democrat in Illinois.
, but share some resources, such a technical assistance and printing.
The companies, which were previously owned by Pulitzer Inc., also have a common website, stltoday.com.
The papers are printed at the Pulitzer Publishing Center in Maryland Heights,Mo.
By the 1930s, the big adversaries in south St. Louis were the South Side Journal -- renamed from the Cherokee News after Frank X. Bick bought it in 1933 — and 39th Street Neighborhood News, launched in the summer of 1922 ex-Post Dispatch composing room worker Bernard H. Nordmann.
The two competed against each other until 1970, when the operations merged into St. Louis Suburban Newspapers. Bick's son, Frank C. Bick, helped shape the fledgling chain, which grew to include 10 publicans in St. Louis and St. Louis, Jefferson and Franklin counties.
Meanwhile in northern St. Louis, Arthur M. Donnelly in 1935 bought the Wellston Local and rebranded it the Wellston Journal, focusing more on west and central areas of the city. Donnelly later shifted attention to norther St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Madison County in Illinois, eventually creating 25 papers.
All three operations were eventually merged into the Suburban Newspapers of Greater St. Louis. Circulation topped 820,000.
In the early 1980s, the group was snapped up by Ingersoll Publications Co., a firm headed by Ralph Ingersoll II, whose father
lead the innovative PM newspaper
in 1940s New York City.
Ingersoll, who wanted to compete with the Post Dispatch and now defunct St. Louis Globe-Democrat
, used high-risk junk bonds to finance his acquisitions and eventually launched the failed St. Louis Sun
.
Ingersoll was bought out by his partner and financier, E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co., which formed a the Journal Register Co., the owner of 25 daily
newspapers, including the New Haven Register and Alton Telegraph. The chain became the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis.
In 1997, it bought the Ladue News.
The company in 1999 had revenues of $151 million.
Pulitzer, which owned the Post Dispatch and 11 other daily newspapers, in June 2000 bought the company, which then had 38 papers. It cost $165 million.
Pulitzer then sold the group to Lee in summer 2005 for $1.46 billion.
In early 2007, Lee reorganized the chain's management and eliminated publisher positions in the eight offices.
When the chain was acquired as part of Pulitzer's purchase out by Lee in 2005, the Suburban Journals published 35 papers.
The bad economy, the effect of the Internet on the newspaper business and the weight of the debt Lee took on in the purchase of Pulitzer combined to force major layoffs and consolidation in the chain. Since 2009, the chain has had 10 editions.
Feast was launched in August 2010.http://www.stltoday.com/business/article_329f22ba-9195-5685-bb1c-e7cda84a9e04.html
Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 54 daily newspapers in 23 states, and more than 300 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by A.W. Lee and is based in Davenport, Iowa....
. The chain serves St. Louis and St. Louis and St. Charles counties in Missouri and Madison County in Illinois.
It publishes community newspapers, the Ladue News, Savvy Family, St. Louis' Best Bridal and Feast.
Editions are distributed each Wednesday to nearly 550,000 households in greater St. Louis. More than 420,000 homes also receive a Sunday Journal.
Publications are grouped in regional offices in Town and Country, Mo., and Collinsville
Collinsville
There are a number of cities or towns named Collinsville:Australia*Collinsville, QueenslandUnited States*Collinsville, Alabama*Collinsville, California*Collinsville, Connecticut*Collinsville, Illinois*Collinsville, Mississippi*Collinsville, Oklahoma...
, Ill.
The Suburban Journals were acquired by Pulitzer
Pulitzer, Inc.
Founded by Joseph Pulitzer , Pulitzer Inc., owned 14 daily newspapers across the United States, and one weekly chain. Its papers included the St...
in 2000; Pulitzer was purchased by Lee in 2005.
The chain for years was distributed to homes for free. The papers became subscription-only in November 2008.http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2008/10/06/daily54.html
It is by some counts the largest chain of community newspapers in the country.
The chain's main competition are the Post-Dispatch and community-focused Webster-Kirkwood Times and South County Times in Missouri and Alton Telegraph, Edwardsville Intelligencer, Troy Times-Tribune and Belleville News Democrat in Illinois.
Relationship with St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The newspapers are independent of the Lee-owned St. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
, but share some resources, such a technical assistance and printing.
The companies, which were previously owned by Pulitzer Inc., also have a common website, stltoday.com.
The papers are printed at the Pulitzer Publishing Center in Maryland Heights,Mo.
Notable staff
- Comedian Kathleen MadiganKathleen MadiganKathleen Madigan is an American comedian.-Early life:Kathleen Madigan grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Florissant as one of seven children in a large Irish-American family...
worked for the Suburban Journals for approximately 18 months in the late 1980s after graduation from SIU-Edwardsville.
- Steve Pokin, a reporter and columnist for the St. Charles Journal, in November 2007 broke the story of Megan MeierSuicide of Megan MeierMegan Taylor Meier , was an American teenager from Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, who committed suicide by hanging three weeks before her fourteenth birthday. A year later, Meier's parents prompted an investigation into the matter and her suicide was attributed to cyber-bullying through the social...
, a Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, teen who committed suicide after being scorned by a fictitious friend on the social networking site MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
.
- Todd Smith, a reporter for the Kirkwood-Webster Journal, was shot in the hand during the February 2008 shooting inside City Hall in Kirkwood, Mo.Kirkwood City Council shootingThe Kirkwood City Council shooting occurred on February 7, 2008, in Kirkwood, Missouri, United States; a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri in St. Louis County. A gunman went on a shooting rampage at a public meeting in the city hall, leaving six people dead and two others injured...
He was later laid off as part of cutbacks.http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/04/suburban_journals_fires_reporter_who_took_bullet_during_kirkwood_massacre.php
History
Most of the publications currently owned by Suburban Journals date to the early 1900s as independent newspapers. Many were in direct competition with one another.By the 1930s, the big adversaries in south St. Louis were the South Side Journal -- renamed from the Cherokee News after Frank X. Bick bought it in 1933 — and 39th Street Neighborhood News, launched in the summer of 1922 ex-Post Dispatch composing room worker Bernard H. Nordmann.
The two competed against each other until 1970, when the operations merged into St. Louis Suburban Newspapers. Bick's son, Frank C. Bick, helped shape the fledgling chain, which grew to include 10 publicans in St. Louis and St. Louis, Jefferson and Franklin counties.
Meanwhile in northern St. Louis, Arthur M. Donnelly in 1935 bought the Wellston Local and rebranded it the Wellston Journal, focusing more on west and central areas of the city. Donnelly later shifted attention to norther St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Madison County in Illinois, eventually creating 25 papers.
All three operations were eventually merged into the Suburban Newspapers of Greater St. Louis. Circulation topped 820,000.
In the early 1980s, the group was snapped up by Ingersoll Publications Co., a firm headed by Ralph Ingersoll II, whose father
Ralph Ingersoll (PM publisher)
Ralph McAllister Ingersoll was an American writer, editor, and publisher...
lead the innovative PM newspaper
PM (newspaper)
PM was a leftist New York City daily newspaper published by Ralph Ingersoll from June 1940 to June 1948 and bankrolled by the eccentric Chicago millionaire Marshall Field III....
in 1940s New York City.
Ingersoll, who wanted to compete with the Post Dispatch and now defunct St. Louis Globe-Democrat
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat was originally a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri from 1852 until 1986...
, used high-risk junk bonds to finance his acquisitions and eventually launched the failed St. Louis Sun
St. Louis Sun
The St. Louis Sun was a short lived daily newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri published by Ingersoll Publications. The Sun began publishing on September 25, 1989, and was never as competitive as the much-established St. Louis Post-Dispatch...
.
Ingersoll was bought out by his partner and financier, E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co., which formed a the Journal Register Co., the owner of 25 daily
newspapers, including the New Haven Register and Alton Telegraph. The chain became the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis.
In 1997, it bought the Ladue News.
The company in 1999 had revenues of $151 million.
Pulitzer, which owned the Post Dispatch and 11 other daily newspapers, in June 2000 bought the company, which then had 38 papers. It cost $165 million.
Pulitzer then sold the group to Lee in summer 2005 for $1.46 billion.
In early 2007, Lee reorganized the chain's management and eliminated publisher positions in the eight offices.
When the chain was acquired as part of Pulitzer's purchase out by Lee in 2005, the Suburban Journals published 35 papers.
The bad economy, the effect of the Internet on the newspaper business and the weight of the debt Lee took on in the purchase of Pulitzer combined to force major layoffs and consolidation in the chain. Since 2009, the chain has had 10 editions.
Feast was launched in August 2010.http://www.stltoday.com/business/article_329f22ba-9195-5685-bb1c-e7cda84a9e04.html
Sources
- A 2001 Riverfront TimesRiverfront TimesThe Riverfront Times is a weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri that consists of local politics, music, arts and dining news in the print edition and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its website...
article about the relationship between the Post-Dispatch and Suburban Journals reporters http://news.riverfronttimes.com/2001-07-18/news/news-hole/ - An article about Ingersoll http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3246
External links
- Suburban Journals website
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/10903227@N06/Suburban Journals FlickerFlickerFlicker may refer to any of the following:* Flickers, woodpeckers of the subgenus Colaptes* Flicker , a fading between frames that occurs on a cathode-ray screen at low refresh rates...
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