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GateHouse sells 12 Southern Illinois papers to Paddock Publications

GateHouse Media LLC announced Tuesday plans to sell several daily and weekly newspapers in Southern Illinois to Paddock Publications Inc., based in Arlington Heights.

The sale, expected to be finalized Thursday, includes five daily newspapers and seven weekly newspapers in seven counties.

The dailies are the Benton Evening News, Daily Register in Harrisburg, The Daily Republican in Marion, the DuQuoin Evening Call and the Eldorado Daily Journal.

The weeklies are the Ashley News, DuQuoin News, The Gallatin Democrat in Shawneetown, Christopher Progress, The Randolph County Herald Tribune in Chester, Ridgway News and the Steeleville Ledger.

Employees of the newspapers were told of the sale in a staff meeting Tuesday morning in Marion. All staff members are expected to be retained.

"Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, one of the country's most successful corporations, is employing a similar strategy by buying small and medium-sized daily and weekly newspapers," said Douglas K. Ray, chairman, publisher and CEO of Paddock Publications. "He has said and we believe: There is no substitute for local news, and a newspaper that serves the community will remain indispensable. We intend to bring that kind of commitment to Southern Illinois."

Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Paddock Publications is the publisher of the Daily Herald, dailyherald.com, Reflejos, The Business Ledger and an array of niche publications.

The Daily Herald is one of the largest family-owned newspapers in the country and has been published in the suburbs of Chicago since 1872.

GateHouse Media, based in New York, is one of the largest newspaper publishers in the country, with 125 daily and 316 weekly newspapers in 35 states.

"The purchase is in keeping with our corporate strategy to diversify the company into areas where Paddock's brand of journalism and marketing acumen will provide additive revenues and profitability," Ray said. "These newspapers fit that model, and we are confident in our ability to grow the business. Now we take Paddock's newspapering success in the suburbs to downstate Illinois through the purchase of the Southern Illinois newspapers. If other opportunities present themselves, we will grow this community newspaper portfolio."