Paxton Media Group Acquires Kentucky and Tennessee Newspapers from Civitas MediaBack to News

Paducah, KY – August 9, 2017 – Paxton Media Group has acquired a group of three newspapers in Kentucky and Tennessee from Civitas Media. The newspapers include the Grayson County News-Gazette in Leitchfield, Kentucky; the News-Democrat & Leader in Russellville, Kentucky; and the Macon County Times in Lafayette, Tennessee.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Civitas Media in the transaction.

Paxton Media Group, a family-owned company headquartered in Paducah, Kentuckly, owns more than 30 daily newspapers and numerous weekly publications across Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee.

The Grayson County News-Gazette has been Grayson County’s premier source for local news for more than a century and publishes every Wednesday and Saturday. The News-Democrat & Leader has roots dating back to Russellville’s first newspaper published in 1806. It publishes every Tuesday and Friday. The Macon County Times, the county’s longtime newspaper of record, publishes every Thursday.

The papers will join other surrounding Paxton publications in a group managed by Group Publisher Bob Morris. That group includes four dailies – the Messenger-Inquirer in Owensboro, Kentucky, The Messenger in Madisonville, Kentucky, the Daily Clarion in Princeton, Indiana, and the Sun-Commercial in Vincennes, Indiana – and five additional bi-weekly and weekly publications.

“Representing five generations of family ownership, Paxton Media Group is proud and honored to have the opportunity to acquire these newspapers,” Morris said. “For more than 100 years we have had one goal in mind and that is to publish a great newspaper. We are proud to continue this tradition and look forward to being a strong advocate for these communities and to provide local news and information in a newspaper the community will be proud of.”