Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin–based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the Milwaukee Journal, and expanded into broadcasting with the establishment of WTMJ radio and WTMJ-TV, and the acquisition of other television and radio stations.
On April 1, 2015, the E. W. Scripps Company acquired Journal Communications, and spun out the publishing operations of both Scripps and Journal into a new company known as Journal Media Group. It is led by Timothy E. Stautberg—the former head of Scripps' newspaper business, joined by previous Journal CEO Stephen J. Smith as a chairman. In 2016, Journal Media Group was acquired by Gannett.
History The Milwaukee Journal was started in 1882, in competition with four other English-language, four German- and two Polish-language dailies. It launched WTMJ-AM (620) in 1927, and WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) in 1947. The Journal Company, until then primarily owned by local interests, introduced an employee stock trust plan in 1937, and as a result most Journal stock was eventually held by its employees (under certain restrictions). A small bloc of Journal stock was given to Harvard to fund the Nieman Fellowship program for promising journalists, and another bloc was still held by the original owning families until the IPO.
The Milwaukee Sentinel, begun in 1837 as a weekly published by city co-founder Solomon Juneau, passed through the hands of several owners before being sold to the Hearst Corporation in 1924. Hearst operated the Sentinel until 1962, when, following a long and costly strike, it abruptly announced the closing of the paper. Although Hearst claimed that the paper had lost money for years, The Journal Company, concerned about the loss of an important voice (and facing questions about its own dominance of the Milwaukee media market), agreed to buy the Sentinel name, subscription lists, and goodwill associated with the name. In 1995 the Journal and Sentinel were consolidated. The new Journal Sentinel then became a seven-day morning paper. In 1964, Journal Communications bought a part interest in Perry Printing, a commercial printer specializing in printing magazines, catalogs and free-standing inserts for publications.About Perry Printing , perryjudds.com; accessed January 22, 2015. A decade later, in 1974, it purchased the remaining shares of the company. In 1995, it sold the operation (which by then had about 1000 employees and sales of $123 million) to the Milhous Group of California.
In 1968, the Midwestern Relay cable transmission division of the Journal Company was developed out of broadcast-related expertise; in 1991, Midwestern Relay acquired Norlight, a fiber-optic private carrier, and adopted the Norlight name. On February 26, 2007, Journal Communications sold the regional telecommunications provider to privately held Q-Comm Corp of Delaware. Upon closing the transaction, Q-Comm terminated Jim Ditter, who had been president of Norlight since 1995, and chief financial officer Phillip Garvey. What is now known as the Journal Community Publishing Group began in Waupaca, Wisconsin, in 1972 as a publishing and printing company called Add Inc. A majority interest was purchased by Journal Communications in 1981, and the remainder in 1986. In June 2007, Journal Communications sold off its JCP interests in Louisiana, Ohio, Connecticut and Vermont. The sales brought in a combined $30 million.
The company sold 11 community newspapers, five shoppers and two printing plants in Connecticut and Vermont to Hersam Acorn Newspapers. In Ohio, Journal sold eight shoppers, numerous specialty print products and the Advantage Press commercial printing business to Gannett Company. It also sold its Louisiana-based publishing business to a Target Media Partners affiliate. In 1999 Journal Communications acquired the Great Empire radio group (13 radio stations in 4 states). The corporation had its initial public offering of Class A shares in 2003. For decades, Journal Communications was criticized"Duel in Milwaukee", time.com, January 3, 1972.Hoffmann, Gregg. "WisBiz In-Depth: Newspaper chain ownership explodes in state" , wisbusiness.com, January 31, 2005. with concerns about being a media monopoly in the Milwaukee area. It created the now-defunct alternative papers MKE and ¡Aqui! Milwaukee to regain advertising dollars lost to local independents like the Shepherd Express and the Milwaukee Spanish Journal.Miranda, Robert. "Taking Sides: What ¡Aquí! Milwaukee Really Represents" , hispanicvista.com, June 6, 2005.
As Journal Media Group On July 30, 2014, it was announced that Journal would be acquired by the E. W. Scripps Company in an all-stock transaction. Scripps would retain the two firms' broadcasting properties, while both the Scripps and Journal print properties would be spun off as Journal Media Group. The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014, and it was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015. The merger and spin-off were finalized on April 1, 2015; Stephen J. Smith was replaced as CEO by Timothy E. Stautberg—the former head of Scripps' newspaper operation. Although Journal Media Group was based at Journal Communications' old headquarters in Milwaukee, the latter company was legally defunct, having been absorbed into Scripps and renamed "Desk BC Merger, LLC".
On October 7, 2015, it was announced that Gannett would acquire Journal Media Group for $280 million. The deal was finalized on April 8, 2016.
Former assets Newspapers Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Ventura County Star (Camarillo, California) Redding Record Searchlight (Redding, California) Naples Daily News (Naples, Florida) Treasure Coast Newspapers: The Stuart News (Stuart, Florida) Indian River Press Journal (Vero Beach, Florida) The St. Lucie News-Tribune (Fort Pierce, Florida) Evansville Courier & Press (Evansville, Indiana) The Gleaner (Henderson, Kentucky) The Anderson Independent-Mail (Anderson, South Carolina) The Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tennessee) The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee) The Abilene Reporter-News (Abilene, Texas) Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, Texas) San Angelo Standard-Times (San Angelo, Texas) Times Record News (Wichita Falls, Texas) Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, Washington) (daily newspaper)
Community Publishing Group Florida Clay Today, Orange Park Clay County Leader, Clay County Ponte Vedra Recorder, Ponte Vedra Beach St. John's Recorder, Fruit Cove Wisconsin
The Bay Viewer, Milwaukee Brookfield News, Brookfield Clintonville Tribune-Gazette, Clintonville Cudahy-St. Francis Reminder-Enterprise, Cudahy Elm Grove Elm Leaves, Elm Grove Franklin Hub, Franklin Germantown Banner-Press, Germantown Greendale Village Life, Greendale Greenfield Observer, Greenfield Hales Corners Village Hub, Hales Corners Iola Herald, Iola Kettle Moraine Index, Dousman Lake Country Reporter, Hartland Manawa Advocate, Manawa Merrill Foto News, Merrill Menomonee Falls News, Menomonee Falls Mequon-Thiensville Courant, Mequon Mukwonago Chief, Mukwonago Muskego Sun, Muskego New Berlin Citizen, New Berlin New London Press Star, New London North Shore Herald, Fox Point The North Star Journal, Rhinelander Oak Creek Pictorial, Oak Creek Oconomowoc Focus, Oconomowoc South Milwaukee Voice Graphic, South Milwaukee Sussex Sun, Sussex Wauwatosa News-Times, Wauwatosa West Allis Star, West Allis
Other holdings IPC Print Services PrimeNet
Television stations Stations are arranged alphabetically by city of license. (**) – Indicates station was built and signed on by Journal.
Media market State Station Purchased Sold NotesTucson–Sierra VistaArizona KGUN-TV 2005 2015 KWBA-TV 2008 2015 Palm Springs California KMIR-TV 1999 2014 KPSE-LP 2008 2014 Cape Coral–Fort Myers–Naples Florida WFTX-TV 2005 2015 Boise–Caldwell–Nampa Idaho KIVI-TV 2002 2015 KNIN-TV 2009 2015 Twin Falls KSAW-LD 2002 2015 Lansing Michigan WSYM-TV 1985 2015 Omaha Nebraska KMTV-TV 2007 2015 Las Vegas Nevada KTNV-TV 1979 2015 Nashville Tennessee WTVF 2012 2015 Green Bay–Appleton Wisconsin WGBA-TV 2004 2015 WACY-TV 2012 2015 Sturgeon Bay WLWK-CD 2004 2015 Milwaukee WTMJ-TV ** 1947 2015
Radio stations (**) – Indicates station was built and signed on by Journal. AM Station FM Station City of license / Market Station Years owned Current status Boise, ID KGEM 1140 1998–2009 Owned by Salt & Light Radio KSRV 1380 1998–2000 Defunct, ceased operations in 2019 as KBXN KCID 1490 1998–2009 Owned by Salt & Light Radio KRVB 94.9 –2015 Owned by Lotus Communications KSRV-FM 96.1 1998–2000 Owned by Iliad Media Group KQXR 100.3 1998–2015 Owned by Lotus Communications KJOR/KJOT 105.1 1998–2015 Owned by Lotus Communications KCID-FM/KTHI 107.1 1998–2015 Owned by Lotus Communications Kansas City, MO KCWV/KRVK/KQRC-FM 98.9 1989–1997 Owned by Audacy, Inc. Knoxville, TN WQBB/WKTI 1040 1998–2012 WJBE, owned by Joe E. Armstrong WWST/WMYU/WCYQ/WNOX 93.1 1997–2015 Owned by SummitMedia WNOX/WCYQ 100.3 2013–2015 Owned by SummitMedia WMYU/WWST 102.1 1997–2015 Owned by SummitMedia WQBB-FM/WQIX/WBON/WKHT 104.5 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia Milwaukee, WI WTMJ 620 1927–2015 Owned by Good Karma Brands WTMJ-FM/WKTI-FM/WLWK-FM 94.5 ** 1959–2015 WKTI, owned by Good Karma Brands Omaha, NE WOW/KOMJ/KXSP 590 1998–2015 WOW, owned by Steven Seline KBBX/KHLP 1420 1998–2005 KXCB, owned by Steven Seline KEZO/KOSR/KOMJ 1490 1995–2005 KIBM, owned by Steven Seline KEZO-FM 92.3 1995–2015 Owned by SummitMedia WOW-FM/KSSO/KMXM/KQCH 94.1 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KOSJ/KEZY/KQCH/KBBX-FM 97.7 1996–2006 Owned by Flood Communications KSRZ 104.5 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KKCD 105.9 1995–2015 Owned by SummitMedia Springfield, MO KTTS/KTTF/KSGF 1260 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KTTS-FM 94.7 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KLTQ/KMXH/KSPW 96.5 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KZRQ/KSGF-FM 104.1 1999–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KRVI 106.7 1999–2015 Owned by SummitMedia Tucson, AZ KNND/KFFN 1490 1995–2018 Owned by Lotus Communications KMXZ-FM 94.9 1995–2015 Owned by Lotus Communications KKHJ/KZPT/KQTH 104.1 ** 1994–2015 KFLT-FM, owned by Family Life Broadcasting KLQB/KIXD/KGMG/KTGV 106.3 1998–2015 Owned by Bustos Media Tulsa, OK KVOO/KFAQ 1170 1998–2015 KOTV, owned by Griffin Communications KBEZ 92.9 2012–2015 KRQV, owned by Griffin Communications KVOO-FM 98.5 1998–2015 KXBL, owned by Griffin Communications KCKI/KXBL 99.5 1998–2015 KVOO-FM, owned by Griffin Communications KHTT 106.9 2012–2015 Owned by Griffin Communications Wichita, KS KFDI/KFTI/KLIO 1070 1998–2015 KFKB, owned by SummitMedia KMXW/KFTI-FM 92.3 1999–2015 KKGQ, owned by Union Broadcasting KICT-FM 95.1 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KFDI-FM 101.3 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KLLS/KFXJ 104.5 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia KYQQ 106.5 1998–2015 Owned by SummitMedia Wausau, WI WSAU 550 1985–1996 Owned by Midwest Communications WSAU 1400 1947–1951 WRIG (), owned by Midwest Communications WSAU-FM 95.5 ** 1947–1950 Defunct, ceased operations in 1950 WIFC 95.5 1985–1996 Owned by Midwest Communications
Controversies Before its merger with Journal, the papers of E. W. Scripps were known for having several controversies within the newspapers it ran.
Hugo Zacchini performed a human cannonball act in 1972 at the Geauga County Fair in Burton, Ohio. Scripps television station WEWS-TV recorded and aired the entire act against his wishes and without compensating him, as was required by Ohio law. In Zacchini v. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did not shield the broadcaster from liability from common law copyright claims.
The Commercial Appeal posted a controversial database listing Tennessee residents with permits to carry handguns in 2008. The database is a public record in Tennessee, but had not previously been posted online.