- Paxton Media Group
Infobox_Company
company_name = Paxton Media Group, LLC
company_| company_type = Family-owned
company_slogan =
foundation = 1896,Paducah, Kentucky
location = 201 South 4th Street,Paducah, Kentucky 42003 USA
origins =
key_people =David M. Paxton , President & CEO
industry =Publishing
num_employees =
products = Newspapers, Media
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
subsid =
homepage =
footnotes = "Sources": cite web|url=http://www.uky.edu/CommInfoStudies/IRJCI/reports/Clemmons.htm|title= Paxton Media Group extends its influence far beyond its Western Kentucky base|first= Laura A. |last=Clemmons|year=2005|work=RuralJournalism.org|publisher= Institute for Rural Journalism & Community Issues, University of Kentucky|accessdate=2007-06-05] [cite web|url=http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/137/137046.html|title= Paxton Media Group LLC Company Profile|publisher=Yahoo! Finance|accessdate=2007-06-05]Paxton Media Group of
Paducah, Kentucky , is a privately held media company with holdings that include newspapers and a TV station,WPSD-TV in Paducah. David M. Paxton is president and CEO.The company owns 32 daily newspapers and numerous weekly newspapers, mostly in the southern United States. Daily circulation totals 350,000. Holdings include "
The Paducah Sun ", "The Herald-Sun" inDurham, North Carolina , " The High Point Enterprise" inHigh Point, North Carolina and the "Jonesboro Sun " inJonesboro, Arkansas . In 1998, the company purchased the Wabash Plain Dealer, located in Wabash, Indiana.In 2007, Paxton Media Group purchased three Indiana newspapers: the "Marion
Chronicle-Tribune " (in July) from theGannett Foundation ; the "Huntington Herald-Press " (in May) from the Quayle family; and the "LaPorte County Herald-Argus" fromSmall Newspaper Group (in September).History
Paxton Media Group traces it roots to 1896, when a group of investors headed by William F. Paxton launched "The Evening Sun" by buying the assets of the failing "Paducah Standard" at 214 Broadway. The cost was $8,900, and the men started with $10,000 capital. The newspaper did not make a profit until 1918. In 1929, Paxton's son, Edwin J. Paxton, who had taken over as editor, bought out the rival "News-Democrat". After the merger, the newspaper became "The Sun-Democrat", and operations were moved to the current location at 408 Kentucky Avenue in 1934. The name changed to "The Paducah Sun" in 1978 at the request of Jack Paxton, editor at the time and grandson of Edwin J. Paxton.
At 4:20 p.m. May 28, 1957, WPSD television, (the PSD stands for Paducah Sun-Democrat) went on the air as the company-owned television station based in Paducah. It is an NBC affiliate.
The company operated only "The Paducah Sun" and WPSD-TV until 1989, when it began acquiring other newspapers.
Criticisms
Political bias
Paxton Media Group's various media outlets have been criticized for promoting conservative viewpoints and Republican Party candidates, while criticizing liberal viewpoints and Democratic Party candidates. CEO and President David Paxton defends the conservative tone of Paxton Media Group's holdings as simply the product "of growing up in Western Kentucky and the socially conservative environment" of the family homestead.. Critics have claimed political bias can be derived from the second cousin of President David Paxton being elected the mayor of Paducah,
William F. Paxton . Paducah was the home of Vice President Alben Barkley (D)and was a Democratic Party stronghold for many years.Reduction in staff
Durham "Herald-Sun"
Paxton Media Group was criticized when it fired nearly 25 percent of the employees of "The Herald-Sun", many of them longtime staples of the newsroom, the day it assumed ownership. Paxton defended the move by claiming that the newsroom was overstaffed and the salaries were causing the Durham, North Carolina paper to post annual losses.cite
La Porte "Herald-Argus"
In September 2007, Paxton purchased the "
Herald-Argus " ofLa Porte, Indiana amidst rumors that the paper would either be moved, merged, or have its staff severely cut, due to the recent acquisition of a number of rural newspapers in northernIndiana .cite web|url=http://irjci.blogspot.com/2007/09/paxton-media-group-buys-another.html|title=Paxton Media Group buys another Northern Indiana paper, getting monopoly on dailies in county|accessdate=2007-12-21|date=2007-09-09|work=The Rural Blog]High Point "Enterprise"
On
15 November ,2007 , reports indicate that Paxton dramatically cut the staff of the "High Point Enterprise " inHigh Point, North Carolina , which Paxton took control of in 2004. [cite web|url=http://jonathanjones.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/has-paxton-media-group-struck-again/ |title=Has Paxton Media Group struck again?|date=2007-11-15|work=JonathanJones.wordpress.com|accessdate=2007-12-21] [cite news|url=http://blog.news-record.com/staff/jrblog/2007/11/layoffs_in_high.shtml |title=Layoffs in High Point|first=John|last=Robinson|work=Greensboro News & Record |date=2007-11-15|accessdate=2007-12-21] This is the third round of layoffs since 1999, when Paxton first purchased a stake in the paper. Senior "Enterprise" staff frequently criticized Paxton's management of the paper, arguing that there was a quantifiable reduction in local coverage. [cite news|url=http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A23240|first=Fiona|last=Morgan|title="Herald-Sun" becomes a link in chain|work=The Independent Weekly|date=2004-12-08 ]"The Messenger"
Within the last year, "The Messenger" has had two rounds of layoffs, eliminating the entire press-room staff along with the some circulation employees. In addition, the most recent cuts have eliminated most of the newsroom managers, consolidating printing and pagination duties to the Owensboro "Messenger-Inquirer" offices.fact|date=February 2008
Properties
Newspapers
Daily
* "The Courier" -
Russellville, Arkansas
* "The Daily Citizen" -Searcy, Arkansas
* "The Jonesboro Sun" -Jonesboro, Arkansas
* "Paragould Daily Press" -Paragould, Arkansas * "Douglas County Sentinel" -
Douglasville, Georgia
* "Griffin Daily News" -Griffin, Georgia
* "Times-Georgian" -Carrollton, Georgia * "Connersville News-Examiner" -
Connersville, Indiana
* "The Courier-Times" -New Castle, Indiana
* "The News-Dispatch" -Michigan City, Indiana
* "Peru Tribune" -Peru, Indiana
* "The Shelbyville News" -Shelbyville, Indiana
* "The Times" -Frankfort, Indiana
* "Vincennes Sun-Commercial" -Vincennes, Indiana
* "Wabash Plain Dealer" -Wabash, Indiana
* "TheChronicle-Tribune " -Marion, Indiana
* "Huntington Herald-Press " -Huntington, Indiana
* "LaPorte County Herald-Argus" -LaPorte County, Indiana
* "The Messenger" -Madisonville, Kentucky
* "Messenger-Inquirer" -Owensboro, Kentucky
* "The Paducah Sun" -Paducah, Kentucky
* "The Daily Star" -Hammond, Louisiana
* "The Herald-Palladium " -St. Joseph, Michigan
* "The Daily Corinthian" -Corinth, Mississippi
* "The Daily Courier" (Closing Press and News Rooms in August 2008)fact|date=July 2008 -Forest City, North Carolina
* "The Enquirer-Journal" -Monroe, North Carolina
* "Henderson Daily Dispatch" -Henderson, North Carolina
* "The Herald-Sun" -Durham, North Carolina
* "High Point Enterprise " -High Point, North Carolina
* "News-Topic " -Lenoir, North Carolina
* "The Sanford Herald " -Sanford, North Carolina * "The Mountain Press" -
Sevierville, Tennessee Weekly
"List is incomplete"The Haralson Gateway-Beacon- Bremen, GeorgiaThe Tallapoosa Journal= Tallapoosa, Georgia
* "Marshall County Tribune-Courier" -Benton, Kentucky
* "The Cadiz Record " -Trigg County, Kentucky
* "Herald-Ledger" -Eddyville, Kentucky
* "Post-Dispatch" -Dardanelle, Arkansas
* "Waxhaw Exchange" -Waxhaw, North Carolina
* "Indian Trail Trader" -Indian Trail, North Carolina
* "The Metropolis Planet" -Metropolis, Illinois Other
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WPSD - Paducah, Kentucky
* Sun Publishing [http://www.guttproductions.com/www2/sunpubky/content.html] - Paducah, KentuckyReferences
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* - Mayoral candidate alleges discrimination by the La Porte "Herald Argus" in an online blog posted by the Michigan City "News Dispatch", another Paxton Media Group paper.
* - List of Paxton Media Group's daily newspapers
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