FeedGateHouse buys up Peoria-area weeklies, eliminating the competition
June 28, 2007 in Watchdog Tags: DeWayne Bartels, Jim Glassman, TimesNewspapers
GateHouse Media has bought out TimesNewspapers, the chain of local weeklies for which I once worked as editor of the Peoria Times-Observer. The other newspapers that have been snatched up include the Chillicothe Times-Bulletin, the Morton Times-News, the East Peoria Times-Courier and the Washington Times-Reporter. These papers had a combined circulation of 31,000 (one can never be completely sure these numbers are real or the result of creative mathematics).
When I worked there, I fantasized that someone would come along and buy them out and infuse some capital into equipment and salaries. The owner, Jim Glassman, constantly pleaded poverty. Out of all the bosses I’ve ever worked for, he was probably the least concerned knowledgeable about the news business, so naturally, he ran it with a heavy hand and a bunch of incredibly stupid “rules” he insisted be followed to the letter.
Despite management preference for a charity-function-of-the-week newspaper, we took perverse pride in getting news and information into the Peoria Times-Observer before it appeared in the Peoria Journal-Star or the other media. DeWayne Bartels is a grreat reporter, and I hope that he still employed when the dust settles.
Unfortunately, they’ve been bought out by a company not really all that concerned with newspaper quality as much as consolidating operations, sharing resources and generally trying to establish a print monopoly through vast regions. This acquisition adds to the massive number of newspapers GateHouse suddenly owns in West Central Illinois. I’m trying to think of what non-GateHouse newspapers still exist in the immediate Peoria area where someone can go to buy an add. The Community Word is one. The Chillicothe Independent competes against the Times-Bulletin. A few counties away, the Daily Pantagraph in Bloomington and the Herald-Review in Decatur are non-GateHouse.
TimesNewspapers employs about 30 people (all of whom I can only assume will be added to the list of people who are not allowed to post on this blog or talk to me on the record). I’m not going to guess how many folks will lose their jobs, but I have to assume some of them will. And I have to think GateHouse will eventually close their office on Pioneer Parkway.
It’s ironic, because one of the things Glassman did was close offices in East Peoria, Morton and Washington and move operations to Peoria. Gotta save pennies, you know.
June 28th, 2007 at 11:17 am
I will be watching with a wary eye, having worked at three Central Illinois papers pre-GateHouse.Washington currently has another non-GateHouse paper, the Washington Courier.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Hi Bill! Thanks for pointing out that The Community Word is still an independent newspaper! I appreciate it. But, for some reason, when I click on the paper's link in your article, the paper doesn't pop up. Can you check it out? Thanks again!
June 28th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Weren’t you fired from there?
June 28th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Anonymous: Yes. And in the interest of full disclosure, I should have mentioned it, as I have several times in other posts mentioning TimesNewspapers.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Other than an occassional good article from Dwayne that addresses an issue not seen elsewhere (or a different angle)….what does the Observer offer the reader that they can't get anywhere else? In my experience, not much….maybe cheaper ad rates for my yard sale advertisement. If the damn thing weren't thrown on my driveway for free, I'd never buy or read it.
June 29th, 2007 at 4:36 am
Didn't there used to be laws against one company owning all the newspapers in a city???