Clarity Media Acquires the Journal Newspapers in Suburban Washington, DCBack to News

ALEXANDRIA, VA, October 1, 2004 – Clarity Media Group, owners of the San Francisco Examiner, has acquired The Journal Newspapers, a group of primarily free-distribution dailies serving suburban Washington, D.C. communities.

Founded in the late 1930s, The Journal Newspapers currently publish three editions – The Northern Virginia Journal, Montgomery County (MD) Journal and Prince Georgexs (MD) Journal – Sunday through Friday, with a combined daily distribution of 115,000. The Journal Newspapers had been owned by the Phillips family of Destin, Florida.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger-and-acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented the Phillips family in the transaction.

Clarity Media Group is the print media arm of the Anschutz Company, a privately held diversified investment firm. The Anschutz Company owns or has major investments in approximately 100 companies in the fields of newspaper publishing, radio broadcasting, energy, pipelines, railroads, agriculture, real estate, film production, movie theaters, telecommunications, as well as sports and entertainment. Clarity bought the San Francisco Examiner and the Independent newspapers in California earlier this year.

Jim McDonald, the president and publisher of The Journal Newspapers, and Editor-in-Chief John Wilpers were retained in their current positions by Clarity Media.

For further information contact Philip Murray at Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, phone 505/820-2700 or fax 505/820-2900.