The owner of the Newark Post is expanding its chain of newspapers and related websites.
Adams Publishing Group has purchased the Athens News, a twice-weekly in the same city where Adams owns the Athens Messenger daily newspaper in the city that is the home of Ohio University.
The two newspapers will operate separately, according to a story in the Athens News.
Last spring, Adams purchased a large chunk of American Consolidated Media. The purchase included ACM Chesapeake papers that include the Post, Cecil Whig, Elkton and Star Democrat in Easton, Md. For Minnesota-based Adams, the main attraction were small daily and weekly newspapers in its home state and Wisconsin.
Also part of the deal was the Athens Messenger and other Ohio papers, as well Minnesota and Wisconsin weeklies and small dailies owned by ACM.
The remainder of American Consolidated Media, small newspapers in Texas, Oklahoma and Texas , was sold to a company that controls Gatehouse newspapers. Delaware Gatehouse papers include the Dover Post, Middletown Transcript and the Community News, Hockessin.
ACM had a brief and a rocky history that started with the purchase of dozens of community papers at hefty prices. That led to a heavy debt load piled up by its Australian owners with control of the company going to its lenders.
Management focused on a “Digital First, Print Best” strategy while cutting staff and other costs as advertising sales fell. At the same time, ACM had to upgrade outdated equipment, especially at its Texas properties.
Since the spring ACM deal, Adams has added to those holdings with newspapers and related websites in southern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.
With the purchase of the Minnesota papers, the Adams holdings are beginning to rival those of American Consolidated.
Adams has retained top managers and reportedly the staffs of the acquired newspapers. Operations have been decentralized, a marked contrast to the centralized management style of American Consolidated, which was based in the Dallas suburb of Irving.
It remains unclear as to whether Adams will invest in digital technology at newspapers that face continued downward pressure on advertising revenues.
Adams, based near Minneapolis, is controlled by Stephen Adams, by some accounts a billionaire whose family holdings have included billboard companies, magazines, wineries and services for recreational vehicles.
He is best known as the son of Cedric Adams, a radio personality and newspaper columnist in Minneapols – Doug Rainey. Rainey is former Editor of the Newark Post.
