Capital Newspapers

Infobox Company
company_name = Capital Newspapers
company_type = Corporation
foundation = 1948
location_city = Madison, Wisconsin
location_country = United States
services = Publishing
revenue = $121.5 million (loss -0.4% FY '05 to '06)cite web
title = 2006 Annual Report
publisher = Lee Enterprises
url = http://www.lee.net/financial/06annual/lee2006ar.pdf
format = PDF
accessdate = 2007-03-29 ]
operating_income = $25.1 million (loss -14.8% FY '05 to '06)
net_income = $15.7 million (loss -13.1% FY '05 to '06)
num_employees = 940
owner = Lee Enterprises and The Capital Times Company
homepage = [http://www.capitalnewspapers.com/ www.capitalnewspapers.com]

Capital Newspapers is a partnership between Lee Enterprises and The Capital Times Company that operates 27 publications and several web sites in Wisconsin.cite web| title=Madison, WI |url=http://www.lee.net/walk/visit/madison.htm |accessdate=2007-03-28 |publisher=Lee Enterprises ] cite web | title=Capital Newspapers Products | url =http://www.capitalnewspapers.com/about/jobs/products.php | accessdate = 2007-03-28] The corporate name of the company is Madison Newspapers Inc. Capital Newspapers has more than 940 employees. [cite press release
title = Ellen Foley becomes editor of "Wisconsin State Journal"
publisher = Lee Enterprises
date = 2004-03-31
url = http://www.lee.net/newsreleases/news-2004-03-31-foley.shtml
accessdate = 2007-03-28 ]

History

The "Wisconsin State Journal" was first published on December 2, 1839 as "The Madison Express", an afternoon weekly in Madison. It changed its name in 1852 to the "Wisconsin Daily Journal" in 1852 and to its current name in 1860. In 1919, the newspaper was sold to Lee Newspaper Syndicate (now Lee Enterprises) by publisher Richard Lloyd Jones.

"The Capital Times" was founded in 1917 by the former managing editor of the "Wisconsin State Journal", William T. Evjue. He quit the State Journal in the summer of 1917 after the newspaper abandoned support for Robert La Follette and his opposition to World War I. By December that year, he had raised enough funds to begin his own newspaper, an afternoon daily first published on December 13, 1917.

Lee Enterprises and Evjue's The Capital Times Company began discussing a partnership that would operate both newspapers in 1947. The new partnership began on November 15, 1948 as Madison Newspapers, Inc. On February 1, 1949, the "Wisconsin State Journal" moved from afternoons to mornings and was the sole newspaper published on Sunday in the partnership. [cite web|url=http://www.capitalnewspapers.com/about/jobs/ |title=History |accessdate=2007-03-28 |publisher=Capital Newspapers]

Central Wisconsin Acquisitions

Madison Newspapers and Lee Enterprises acquired Independent Media Group, Inc.'s newspapers in Nebraska and Wisconsin on July 1, 2000. Of the purchased newspapers, Lee Enterprises purchased 18 in both states and Madison Newspapers acquired 11 in Wisconsin. The newspapers purchased the "Portage Daily Register", the "Baraboo News Republic", the "Shawano Leader", "Reedsburg Times Press", the "Juneau County Star-Times", the "Wisconsin Dells Events", the "Sauk Prairie Eagle", the "Shopper Stopper", and the "Wisconsin Reminder". Central Wisconsin Newspapers, Inc., a subsidiary of Madison Newspapers, was created to manage the newspapers. [cite press release
title = Lee completes acquisition of Nebraska and Wisconsin papers
publisher = Lee Enterprises
date = 2000-07-01
url = http://www.lee.net/newsreleases/news-2000-07-01-img.shtml
accessdate = 2007-03-28 ]

The "Daily Citizen" of Beaver Dam, two weekly newspapers, and five other publications were acquired by Central Wisconsin Newspapers, Inc., a subsidiary of Madison Newspapers, from Conley Publishing Group on April 1, 2002. [cite press release
title = Lee family expands again as MNI adds Daily Citizen in Beaver Dam
publisher = Lee Enterprises
date = 2002-03-14
url = http://www.lee.net/newsreleases/news-2002-03-14-beaverdam.shtml
accessdate = 2007-03-28 ] [cite press release
title = Lee completes acquisition of 17 daily newspapers
publisher = Lee Enterprises
date = 2002-04-01
url = http://www.lee.net/newsreleases/news-2002-04-01-closing.shtml
accessdate = 2007-03-28 ]

Name Change

One year after completing the purchase of the "Daily Citizen", Madison Newspapers changed its name to Capital Newspapers and integrated its two subsidiaries—Central Wisconsin Newspapers and Citizen Newspapers—in name only into the renamed company. The name change was strategic in order to identify itself as a regional newspaper company. According to the press release, the "change does not signal a significant reorganization and no job losses will occur because of this change. The newsrooms will remain separate and independent ...." [cite press release
title = New name in Wisconsin: Capital Newspapers
publisher = Lee Enterprises
date = 2003-02-28
url = http://www.lee.net/newsreleases/news-2003-02-28-capitalnewspapers.shtml
accessdate = 2007-03-28 ]

ales to BlueLine

On October 3, 2006, Capital Newspapers completed the sale of the "Shawano Leader" and its commercial printing operations near Shawano to BlueLine Media Holdings LLC of Neenah. The Leader had a circulation of 6,500 daily and 7,200 on Sundays. [cite press release
title = BlueLine Media Holdings will buy 2 newspapers in northern Wisconsin
publisher = Lee Enterprises
date = 2006-09-26
url = http://www.lee.net/newsreleases/news-2006-09-27-rhinelander-shawano.shtml
accessdate = 2007-03-30 ] [cite press release
title = Lee completes sales in Pacific NW, N. Wisconsin
publisher = Lee Enterprises
date = 2006-10-03
url = http://www.lee.net/newsreleases/news-2006-10-03-divestitures.shtml
accessdate = 2007-03-30 ]

Printing Press

The Capital Newspapers printing press also inks numerous publications in the Dane County region that are not owned by the corporation. Press room clients include various University of Wisconsin student-led newspapers, such as The Badger Herald which has a Monday-Friday circulation of 16,000 during the school year [cite web
title = Colophon
publisher = The Badger Herald
url = http://www.badgerherald.com/about/colophon.php
accessdate = 2007-03-30 ] and The Daily Cardinal which distributes 10,000 newspapers on the same schedule. [cite web
title = Contact Us
publisher = The Daily Cardinal
url = http://www.dailycardinal.com/contact-us.html
accessdate = 2007-03-30 ]

Publications

* "Agri-View" WS|agri-view.com
* "Apartment Showcase" ( [http://aptshowcase.madison.com web site] )
* "Baraboo News Republic" WS|wiscnews.com/bnr/
* "Capital Region Business Journal" WS|madison.com/crbj/
* "City & Country Homes"
* "Columbus Journal"
* "Daily Citizen" WS|wiscnews.com/bdc/
* "Juneau County Star-Times" WS|wiscnews.com/jcs/
* "Marketplace" WS|madison.com/cls/
* "Marketplace Rentals" WS|madison.com/rentals/
* "Monday Marketeer"
* "Monday Mini"
* "Neighbors"
* "Nursingmatters" WS|nursingmattersonline.com/
* "Portage Daily Register" WS|wiscnews.com/pdr/
* "Reedsburg Times-Press" WS|wiscnews.com/rtp/
* "Shopper Stopper"
* "Shopper's View"
* "Shopping Reminder"
* "The Capital Times" WS|madison.com/tct/
* "The Sauk Prairie Eagle" WS|wiscnews.com/spe/
* "Tri County"
* "Weekend Citizen"
* "Wheels For You" ( [http://autos.madison.com/ web site] )
* "Wisconsin Dells Events" WS|wiscnews.com/wde/
* "Wisconsin Reminder"
* "Wisconsin State Journal" WS|wiscnews.com/wsj/

References