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52-421: The company also provides online services, including websites supporting its daily newspapers and other publications. Lee had more than 25 million unique web and mobile visitors monthly, with 209.1 million pages viewed. Lee became majority partner of TownNews.com in 1996; Town News creates software for newspaper publication purposes. The company offers commercial printing services to its customers. Lee Enterprises

104-502: A variable rate of 11.3% to a fixed rate of 9%, and an extension of the debt maturity date of the debt from December 2015 to April 2017. At the time of the announcement Lee Enterprises noted there was $ 893 million left to pay off. Lee paid off and retired its New Pulitzer notes in June 2015, six months before the original maturity date and 22 months before the new maturity date. Lee also refinanced its remaining debt in 2014 in order to extend

156-495: A "poison pill" , in order to ward off the purchase attempt. Then, in early December, the board of Lee unanimously rejected the Alden bid, saying that the Alden proposal "grossly undervalues Lee and fails to recognize the strength of our business today." In November 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged two Iranian nationals had accessed the company's content management system in the fall of 2020, aiming to post false news about

208-610: A 5.9-percent stake in Lee Enterprises in January 2020. In November 2021, Alden made an offer to Lee to purchase the company in its entirety for roughly $ 141 million. In response, the board of Lee Enterprises enacted a shareholder rights plan, colloquially known as a "poison pill" , in order to ward off the purchase attempt. The specific shareholder rights plan adopted by the Lee board forbids Alden from purchasing more than 10% of

260-496: A 9 percent interest rate. The transaction did not include the newspaper's physical property, which Lee entered into an agreement to lease from Berkshire. As of 2020, The World-Herald for the first time since its founding in 1885 is no longer locally owned. Lee is based in Davenport, Iowa. The New York Stock Exchange warned Lee in 2020 that its stock was at risk of de-listing because of its persistently low share price below $ 1.00

312-575: A Nebraska judge, Hugh Stuart, had tried to implement a gag order on reporting the details of a local criminal trial. The Supreme Court decision, which was unanimous, strongly underlined the First Amendment concept of "no prior restraint". World-Herald Editor G. Woodson Howe was head of the association, which was funded in large part by the World-Herald . The case was argued by E. Barrett Prettyman and Floyd Abrams . Chief Justice of

364-527: A practice it ended in March 2016. The World-Herald was the largest employee-owned newspaper in the United States from 1979 until 2011: Omaha construction magnate Peter Kiewit bought the newspaper and its television station, the local ABC affiliate, in 1962 for $ 40.1 million from Omaha-based World Publishing Co. Upon Kiewit's death in 1979, he arranged for the paper to be spun off to its employees. At

416-462: A share; it re-listed its stock on the Nasdaq exchange in 2021 and has said it has a plan for re-focusing its newspapers to digital. The newspaper's newsroom staff has shrunk substantially, from more than 200 in 2015 to 118 at the beginning of 2018 — to 62 by the end of 2020, according to its news staff's union. The newspaper closed its Washington, D.C. bureau in 2020. It was among the first — if not

468-401: A stake in Lee Enterprises (through Berkshire Hathaway Inc. ), buying $ 85 million of the company's debt from Goldman Sachs Group . In June 2012, Berkshire Hathaway filed an amended Form 13F (13F-HR/A) for the period ending March 31, 2012. This document disclosed that Berkshire accumulated $ 2,119,000 or 1,655,125 common shares of Lee Enterprises, or a 3.2 percent stake. The document noted that

520-502: A state that is 430 miles long. It also circulated daily throughout all of Iowa , and in parts of Kansas , South Dakota , Missouri , Colorado , and Wyoming . It retrenched during the financial crisis of 2008, ending far-flung circulation and restricting daily delivery to an area in Nebraska and Iowa within an approximately 100-mile radius of Omaha. The newspaper was the world's last to print both daily morning and afternoon editions,

572-549: Is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area . It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper chain Lee Enterprises by its most recent local owner, Warren Buffett , chairman of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway . For more than a century it circulated daily throughout Nebraska —

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624-815: Is a digital media and online publishing company based in Moline, Illinois . The company's products include the BLOX Content Management System , which is commonly used by American newspaper websites. In February 2023, TownNews rebranded as BLOX Digital. The company was founded by Marc Wilson, Virginia R. Wilson, and Robert P. Dalton as the International Newspaper Network (INN) in 1989 to help newspapers deal with developing technology. As of 2017, over 1,600 newspapers, magazines, radio stations , and TV stations use TownNews.com's products. The company's lead product

676-553: Is currently the fourth largest newspaper group in the United States of America. The company acquired Howard Publications (16 daily newspapers) for $ 694 million in 2002 and Pulitzer, Inc. (14 daily, over 100 non-daily), for $ 1.5 billion in 2005. From January 2012 to April 2017, the company's executive chairman, Mary Junck, was chairman of the Associated Press . In December 2018, Lee Enterprises announced that Mary Junck would transition from Executive Chairman to Chairman of

728-841: Is the BLOX CMS (content management system), which is widely used to produce online and print products. Customers include Lee Enterprises , Berkshire-Hathaway Media , Digital First Media , Adams Publishing Group , Pioneer Newspaper Group , the Evening Post Publishing , and many other groups and independent publications. BLOX Digital is headquartered in Moline, Illinois . Executives added since 2000 include CEO Brad Ward, head programmer Patrick O'lone, systems chief Chris Murley, controller Darcy Heist, and national sales VP Rick Rogers. Marc Wilson became executive chairman in October 2016 after serving as chief executive since

780-586: The Arizona Daily Sun to Wick Communications . In October 2023, Lee sold The Southern Illinoisan to Paxton Media Group . Other publications Lee has formerly owned include the North County Times , The Garden Island , The Provo Daily Herald , Daily Chronicle , Rhinelander Daily News , Shawano Leader , and The Ledger Independent of Maysville, KY Source: TownNews.com BLOX Digital (formerly TownNews.com )

832-585: The Omaha World-Herald , Richmond Times-Dispatch , Tulsa World , and Winston-Salem Journal . Lee entered into a 10-year lease for BH Media's real estate as part of the agreement. To finance the acquisition, Berkshire Hathaway provided $ 576 million in long-term financing to Lee at 9% per annum. Lee Enterprises used the funds to pay for the Berkshire properties and to refinance its roughly $ 400 million in existing debt. Much of this remains from

884-800: The Waco Tribune and the Bryan-College Station Eagle , both in Texas, for an undisclosed price. In 2012 the company now under Berkshire Hathaway ownership purchased all of the assets of the Media General company, including the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Tulsa World , for $ 142 million in cash; the deal did not include Media General's Tampa Tribune property. The company also purchased WPLG -TV,

936-556: The ABC affiliate in Miami, under Berkshire Hathaway ownership. In January 2020, Lee Enterprises announced an agreement with Berkshire Hathaway to acquire BH Media Group's publications and The Buffalo News for $ 140 million. The deal did not include the WPLG-TV television station in Miami, which Berkshire continues to own as of 2021. The Omaha World-Herald operates the website Omaha.com ,

988-620: The KETV television station in 1976 to St. Louis-based Pulitzer Inc. , the parent company of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, for $ 9 million in cash. Pulitzer eventually spun its broadcast division off to Hearst Communications , KETV's current owner. The newspaper operated the KOWH and KOAD -FM radio stations from their founding in 1941. On KOWH, the Top 40 radio format was invented by Todd Storz , who had bought

1040-703: The Omaha area's most popular website by all measures of traffic. In April 2021, it saw monthly unique visits to its website of 2.51 million. The company dubs its downtown Omaha print production center the John Gottschalk Freedom Center , named after a former publisher of the newspaper who also was national president of the Boy Scouts of America from 2008 to 2010. The Freedom Center also houses its three printing presses, which can each print 75,000 papers per hour, and are considered to be some of

1092-503: The United States Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion of the court. "Prior restraints on speech and publication are the most serious and least tolerable infringement on First Amendment Rights," he wrote. "The press does not simply publish information about trials, but guards against the miscarriage of justice by subjecting the police, prosecutors, and judicial processes to extensive public scrutiny and criticism," he said in

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1144-473: The acquisition of BH Media Group's publications in early 2020, including the Omaha World-Herald , Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch and Tulsa World . In January 2020, Lee Enterprises sold its newspaper and digital media operations in southern Oregon to Country Media, Inc. The sale included The World (Coos Bay) , the Bandon Western World and The Umpqua Post . Lee had purchased

1196-713: The business, which it purchased in 1986, in 2011 for an undisclosed amount. On November 30, 2011, the Omaha World-Herald Company announced that Berkshire Hathaway , headed by Omaha native Warren Buffett , would buy the newspaper for $ 200 million, including debt. Also included in the sale were the World-Herald subsidiary newspapers in Council Bluffs, Iowa , Kearney, Nebraska , Grand Island, Nebraska , York, Nebraska , North Platte, Nebraska and Scottsbluff, Nebraska . In 2012 it purchased

1248-438: The call letters KETV . KETV was marketed as "Omaha World-Herald Television," and was owned by Herald Corp., a fully owned subsidiary of The World-Herald 's publisher, World Publishing Co. It was the Omaha area's third television station, behind WOWT and KMTV-TV . Peter Kiewit and Sons , Inc., the construction and mining company that had bought The World-Herald 's holding company in 1962 for $ 40 million, sold

1300-504: The company's founding. Lee Enterprises , the fourth-largest newspaper group in the United States is an 82.5% stakeholder of BLOX Digital. The Wilsons and Keenan remain minority partners. Lee Enterprises became the majority partner in 1996. Over the years, TownNews.com has acquired various organizations, most notably ZWire, AdQuest, Anytime News, and DotConnect Media. Omaha World-Herald The Omaha World-Herald

1352-462: The company, and will be in force for one year. The rationale offered by the board was, "Consistent with its fiduciary duties, Lee's Board has taken this action to ensure our shareholders receive fair treatment, full transparency and protection in connection with Alden's unsolicited proposal to acquire Lee." In early December, the board of Lee unanimously rejected the Alden bid, saying that the Alden proposal "grossly undervalues Lee and fails to recognize

1404-432: The company. In January 2020, Lee Enterprises announced an agreement with Berkshire Hathaway to acquire BH Media Group's publications and The Buffalo News for $ 140 million in cash. In November 2021, global hedge fund Alden Global Capital made an offer to acquire Lee Enterprises for $ 24 per share, or about $ 141 million. In response, the board of Lee Enterprises enacted a shareholder rights plan, colloquially known as

1456-575: The company." In mid-February 2022, the Delaware court found in favor of Lee Enterprises. In the face of that setback, Alden said it would turn to the tactic of filing a proxy statement asking the company's shareholders to vote no on board members Mary Junck and Herbert Moloney during the March 2022 board elections. This attempt also failed, as shareholders returned both directors to the Lee board despite Alden's opposition. In May 2022 Lee Enterprises reportedly laid off roughly 400 staffers, roughly 10% of

1508-586: The confidentiality of this transaction was requested but denied by the SEC on May 25, 2012. In April 2013, Lee Enterprises announced that Berkshire Hathaway refinanced the remaining Pulitzer acquisition debt equating to $ 94 million, at no cost. The collateral involved was the TNI Partner stake including the Arizona Daily Star and azstarnet.com . The result of this was a reduction in interest from

1560-399: The exterior are glass, allowing downtown traffic to see the storage facility and presses. The storage facility/press hall is connected by a tunnel than runs underneath 13th Street in Omaha. Most newspaper facilities of this size have been built on greenfield sites: The Omaha World-Herald was dedicated to keeping its newspaper facilities downtown, which required a more vertical structure, and

1612-432: The fate of many major metropolitan newspapers during the 1970s through the 1990s: Its ownership structure was called "the most bullet-proof in the industry" when it came to corporate takeovers. In 2011, Omaha native Warren Buffett purchased the paper for $ 200 million through his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway . The newspaper's stock had clocked a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent from 1985 through 2007, but

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1664-474: The first — metropolitan newspapers from outside the capital area to open its own Washington bureau, with archives dating back to at least 1893 carrying bylines from The World-Herald 's bureau in the capital. The World-Herald brought the ABC network to Omaha in 1957 when it opened its television station. The ABC affiliate, which the newspaper brought to air on Sept. 15, 1957, was broadcast on Channel 7 under

1716-458: The full content of the White House tapes became known. The newspaper, whose conservative editorial page had endorsed Nixon three times, called for his resignation under the headline: "A Matter of Morality: Nixon Should Resign." Time magazine 12 days later called the World-Herald 's editorial "startling" and labeling it seeming "apostasy." Throughout the mid to late 20th Century,

1768-486: The global financial crisis of 2008 hammered it financially. Employees were said to be ready to cash out, with the blessing of the Kiewit Foundation: Even as the newspaper had been able to maintain a circulation penetration rate in its home market that ranked as the U.S.'s seventh-highest, its circulation by the time of the sale had fallen to 170,455 daily and 228,344 on Sunday. Buffett's BH Media Group

1820-737: The maturities from 2015 and 2017 to 2019 and 2022. Lee retired its 1st Lien Term Loan in November 2018, four months before its scheduled March 2019 maturity. On June 27, 2018, Lee Enterprises and Berkshire Hathaway reached a five-year agreement to allow Lee Enterprises to manage Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper and digital operations. On January 29, 2020, Lee Enterprises announced an agreement to buy Berkshire Hathaway's BH Media Group publications and The Buffalo News for $ 140 million cash. The acquisition comprised 30 daily newspapers in 10 states plus 49 paid weekly publications with digital sites, as well as 32 other additional print products. Daily papers include

1872-497: The most advanced in the world. The facility was opened in August 2001, and cost almost $ 125 million to build. It consists of three structures designed by HDR, Inc. They include a five-level, 321,000-square-foot (29,800 m ) press hall featuring three MAN Roland presses from Germany; a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m ) paper-storage facility capable of storing 3,000 rolls of newsprint and a 600-stall parking garage . Large portions of

1924-528: The newspaper in 2004 to Dow Jones , publisher of The Wall Street Journal , for $ 144 million. In 1999, it purchased the Ames Tribune in Iowa for an undisclosed price from former NBC News President Michael Gartner . The newspaper also partially owned the world's largest elections equipment maker and election operations servicing company, Omaha-based Election Systems and Software . It sold its share of

1976-669: The newspaper was a major force for press freedom: Former publisher Harold Andersen, who ran the company from 1966 until 1989, was chairman of the World Press Freedom Committee , chairman of the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers and chairman of the American Newspaper Publishers Association . He also was a longtime board member of The Associated Press . Most significantly, the newspaper

2028-735: The opinion. The World-Herald Co. during the 1980s and 1990s substantially expanded its business from its sole newspaper: In 1990 it purchased the Brookings Register and Huron Plainsman in South Dakota for an undisclosed price. In 1993 it purchased the Carlsbad Current-Argus in New Mexico for an undisclosed price. In 1994, it purchased The Record in Stockton, California, for an undisclosed price; it sold

2080-718: The papers as part of its acquisition of Pulitzer, Inc. in 2005. In March 2020, Lee sold the Santa Maria Times , The Lompoc Record , The Hanford Sentinel and the Santa Ynez Valley News , all in California, to Santa Maria News Media Inc., a newly-formed company led by a group of Canadian newspaper executives. In June 2023, Lee Enterprises sold the Daily Journal and three other newspapers to Better Newspapers Inc. In September 2023, Lee sold

2132-463: The presidential election. Lee operated a broadcasting division, which it sold in 2000 to pay off debt and in order to focus on newspaper publishing. Most of the TV stations were sold to Emmis Communications , and have all been sold, as of 2007, to other companies. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. It emerged from bankruptcy less than two months later. In April 2012, Warren Buffett took

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2184-425: The purchase of Pulitzer Inc. for $ 1.5 billion in 2005. Berkshire became Lee's sole lender after the deal closed on March 16, 2020. "We had zero interest in selling the group to anyone else for one simple reason: We believe that Lee is best positioned to manage through the industry's challenges," Warren Buffett said in a statement. The acquisition was completed on March 16, 2020. Alden Global Capital purchased

2236-621: The radio stations from The World-Herald and operated them under the Mid-Continent Broadcasting Co. name. The World-Herald has won three Pulitzer Prizes , including the esteemed Pulitzer Prize for Public Service , awarded in 1943. The newspaper was founded in 1885 by U.S. Sen. Gilbert M. Hitchcock , as the Omaha Evening World . The first issue was published on August 24, 1885. It purchased George L. Miller 's Omaha Herald in 1889. The paper

2288-422: The strength of our business today." Shortly thereafter, Alden Global, through its operating unit Strategic Investment Opportunities, filed a lawsuit in state court in Delaware against Lee Enterprises. The Alden lawsuit asserts that the members of the Lee board "have every reason to maintain the status quo and their lucrative corporate positions" and that they are "focused more on [their] own power than what's best for

2340-515: The time, the newspaper reported daily circulation of 235,589 and Sunday circulation of 301,682. Upon his death, Kiewit, who had run a Fortune 500 construction and mining company, also had arranged to keep 20 percent of the resulting Omaha World-Herald Co. in the hands of the Peter Kiewit Foundation. The foundation's hold of 20 percent of the company's shares kept the newspaper from being easily sold to an out-of-town competitor —

2392-533: The tunnel. Transfer Vehicle System (TVS) robotic vehicles are used to deliver newsprint to the press. The presses weigh 1,661 U.S. tons and can produce 75,000 newspapers per hour. The John Gottschalk Freedom Center produces four editions of the Omaha World-Herald daily, in addition to a Sunday edition and daily editions of the Daily NonPareil for neighboring Southwest Iowa. Construction of

2444-574: The workforce. The reduction was spread across about 19 of the chain's 75 newspapers and included roles in corporate headquarters. Some of the layoffs included the editor of The Eagle in Bryan, Texas and the publisher of The Bismarck Tribune in Bismarck, North Dakota . Lee Enterprises owns 77 daily newspapers and approximately 350 specialty publications in 26 states. The company's portfolio grew substantially, nearly doubling its audience size, with

2496-620: Was a more objective voice than the Omaha Bee , which tended to sensationalize news to drum up sales. Hitchcock's son-in-law, Henry Doorly , took control of the paper after his death in 1934. The editorial page began leaning Republican after Hitchcock's death. Over his lifetime, Doorly served 58 years at the paper. In 1962, the World Publishing Company, owned solely by heirs of the Hitchcock/Doorly families,

2548-556: Was established as an independent political voice but quickly moved to the Democratic Party column. Former U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Rep. and three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan , a Democrat and onetime member of the Populist Party, was its editor in 1894–1896. Hitchcock, meanwhile, served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and, starting in 1911, two Senate terms. The World-Herald

2600-488: Was on the verge of selling The World-Herald to the Newhouse chain , but instead accepted an offer from local construction magnate Peter Kiewit . When he died, Kiewit left provisions in his will to ensure that the paper would remain locally owned, with a large part of the plan securing employee ownership. On May 8, 1974, the World-Herald was the first paper in the United States to call for Richard Nixon to resign after

2652-475: Was the lead in the landmark 1976 Supreme Court case Nebraska Press Association vs. Stuart , which was seen as one of the "Big Three" cases pertaining to the press and freedom of speech: The others were New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan and New York Times Co. vs. the United States . As for its case, The World-Herald was said to be "adamant " about taking the issue all the way to the Supreme Court after

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2704-458: Was unable to turn around the precipitous fall in circulation and advertising revenue, and Buffett eventually threw in the towel, selling The World-Herald and its other stable of newspapers to Lee Enterprises for $ 140 million in cash in January 2020. Buffett had said the previous year that newspapers were "toast." Buffett financed the Lee purchase, which also refinanced Lee's debt so that Berkshire would become its sole lender, for $ 576 million at

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