Morris Newspaper Corporation Acquires Murfreesboro (TN) SunBack to News

MURFREESBORO, TN, January 17, 2002 – Morris Newspaper Corporation of Savannah, Georgia, today announced the purchase of the 30,000-circulation weekly Murfreesboro Sun. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a newspaper merger-and-acquisition firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico, handled the transaction.

"A strong local weekly newspaper plays a vital role in the community — oftentimes providing coverage which a daily newspaper cannot, " said Charles H. Morris, CEO of the company.

Leaders in community journalism since 1970, the company today publishes 95 publications in eight states as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands — one of which is the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, purchased in 1968. Morris Newspaper Corporation also owns and operates newspapers in Franklin, Smyrna, McMinnville, Brentwood, Springhill, and Smithville, Tennessee.

"We are delighted to acquire the Murfreesboro Sun, " said Michael Sunderman, president of MNC. "Our goal is to build on the solid foundation of community journalism the Sun is known for."

"We’re happy to add the Sun to our media holdings in Murfreesboro and we look forward to working with The Sun and our customers in better serving the needs of the readers and advertisers in Rutherford County, " said Tom Larimer, publisher of the Daily News Journal who has also been named publisher of The Sun.