Thomaston (GA) Times Acquired by Crescent Media GroupBack to News

THOMASTON, GA, October 4, 2004 – The Thomaston (GA) Times has been acquired by Spartanburg, South Carolina-based Crescent Media Group. The 6,000-circulation newspaper, published three times per week, had been owned by Heartland Publications.

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

Crescent Media is owned by Andrew Babb, who also serves as president of Mid-South Management. Mid-South Management, which owns or operates 18 newspapers primarily in the Southeast, will operate the newspaper.

In a separate transaction, Crescent acquired the Upson Citizen Weekly, which had been started three years ago by Debbie Lord-Black in Thomaston. The Times is 134 years old. Crescent announced that it would combine the two newspapers, with Lord-Black as publisher.

The Times will continue as a tri-weekly, paid circulation newspaper. The Citizen Weekly will be converted to a free-distribution shopper available throughout Upson County. The combined Thomaston newspaper will be printed in La Grange, where Mid-South operates the daily newspaper.

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