Wikipedia

Community Newspapers Inc.

Community Newspapers, Inc. is an American publisher of newspapers and advertising-related publications throughout the southeastern United States. The company was formed in 1967 by Newton Jerue Babb, and is based in Athens, Georgia. It owns and operates about 25 newspapers.[2] As of 2023, approximately ten employees work at the company's headquarters in Athens. Another 500 work at other locations.[1]

Community Newspapers, Inc.
IndustryNewspaper publishing
Founded1967; 59 years ago (1967)
FounderN.J. Babb
Headquarters
Athens, Georgia
,
USA
Key people
Revenue$ 55,043,466[1] (2023)
Number of employees
510[1] (2023)
Websitecninewspapers.com

History

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Babb founded the company in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and helped it grow to control nearly 50 newspapers.[3] The first newspaper in its portfolio was the Cherokee Scout.[4] On January 1, 1985, Babb and his wife (who served as president of CNI) were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in a Holiday Inn hotel room in Tuxedo, North Carolina.[5][6] In March 1989 William J. Bresnan, Jeff DeMond, Thomas H. Wood and W.H. 'Dink' NeSmith purchased the company.[2][7]

In 1999, CNI sold the Lake City News & Post and The Weekly Observer of Hemingway to Thompson Newspapers Inc.[8] In 2006, Bresnan and DeMond were bought out and today the company is owned by Wood and NeSmith.[2][3] NeSmith is a past chairman of the Georgia Telecommunications Commission and former president of the Georgia Press Association.[3][9] In 2021, chief financial officer Mark Major replaced NeSmith as president and NeSmith took Wood's place as chairman of the board.[3]

In April 1977, CNI sold the Tribune-Times in Mauldin to Tri-City Media.[10] In March 1999, CNI agreed to acquired The Hartwell Sun, The News-Leader of Royston, and The Elberton Star (all of which were owned by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.) in exchange for The Herald Independent of Winnsboro, The Dispatch-News of Lexington, S.C., and the Marion Star & Mullins Enterprise of Marion.[11] Later that month, CNI bought The Elbert County Examiner and combined it with the Star.[12] In September 2000 the company purchased the Lake City Reporter, Nassau County Record, the Palatka Daily News, and the Fernandina Beach News-Leader.[2] Those papers were formerly owned by The New York Times Company.[13]

By August 2001, CNI had moved its headquarters into a former Coca-Cola bottling plant built in 1928 in Athens, Georgia.[14] As of 2003, the company owned 36 weekly and three daily newspapers, as the company was pursuing the emphasis on weeklies as a differentiation strategy.[15] By 2004, CNI owned 174 weekly newspapers, more than any other company in the U.S.[16] A centralized approach to printing operations ("clustering"), where the multiple newspapers are printed in the same shop, saved costs.[17]

In 2006, CNI sold the Richmond County Daily Journal (Rockingham, N.C.), the Sylvania Telephone (Sylvania, Ga.), and The Citizen News (Edgefield, S.C.). In 2014, CNI sold the Dawson News & Advertiser (Dawsonville, Ga.).[2] In 2019, it closed the Andrews Journal and merged it with the Cherokee Scout.[18] In 2024, CNI sold the Palatka Daily News.[19]

In 2026, CNI sold nine newspapers to Paxton Media Group. The sale included The Franklin Press, The Highlands Highlander, Mitchell News-Journal, Smoky Mountain Times, Clay County Progress, Cherokee Scout, The Graham Star, The Blue Ridge News Observer, and Ellijay Times-Courier.[20]

CNI newspapers

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Community Newspapers, Inc". Buzzfile. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "History of Community Newspapers". Community Newspapers, Incorporated. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "CNI announces new leadership". The Graham Star. 2021-07-22. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  4. ↑ Brown, David (2026-04-01). "A new era begins". Cherokee Scout. Murphy, NC: Paxton Media Group. p. 4A.
  5. ↑ "Deaths of Publisher, Wife Called Murder-Suicide". The Columbus Ledger. 1985-01-02. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  6. ↑ "Publisher held part-ownership in three local newspapers". The Columbia Record. 1985-01-02. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  7. ↑ "Community Newspapers bought". The Greenville News. South Carolina. 1988-12-31. p. 26. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  8. ↑ "Thomson and its Florence paper buy weeklies". The Times and Democrat. 1999-02-05. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  9. ↑ NeSmith, Dink. "Biography". Dink NeSmith. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  10. ↑ "County paper sold". The Greenville News. South Carolina. 1977-04-07. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  11. ↑ "Community Newspapers Inc. buying three Georgia papers". The Greenville News. South Carolina. 1999-03-26. p. 21. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  12. ↑ "Firm to buy Elbert newspaper". Anderson Independent-Mail. 1999-04-01. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  13. ↑ Staff Writer. "CNI buys three North Florida newspapers". The Ledger. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  14. ↑ McCarthy, Rebecca (2001-08-26). "In Athens, unbottling of an old brick beauty". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. pp. E1. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  15. ↑ Martin, Hugh J. (2007). "Weekly Newspapers in the Millenium". Advances in Communications and Media Research. Nova Science Publ. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-60021-188-1. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  16. ↑ "Research of the Institute for Rural Journalism & Community Issues". www.uky.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  17. ↑ Lauterer, J. (2006). Community Journalism: Relentlessly Local. H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman series. University of North Carolina Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-8078-5629-1. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  18. ↑ "Cherokee Scout". Andrews NC Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  19. ↑ Oliver, Brandon D. (June 13, 2024). "Attorney, business owner to purchase Daily News". Palatka Daily News. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Paxton Media Group acquires nine titles from Community Newspapers, Inc". Editor & Publisher. April 1, 2026. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
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