SPRINGFIELD – A newspaper publisher in central and southern Illinois has sold its papers to a Kentucky-based company, testing a new state law designed to keep newspaper ownership local.

The Strengthening Community Media Act took effect on Jan. 1 as part of a package of legislation aimed at boosting local journalism. Its supporters said it was a response to growing news deserts that have been worsened by national media companies purchasing and downsizing local outlets.

The law requires Illinois media companies to provide the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, local county government, the company’s employees and any Illinois nonprofit that might be interested in buying the business with 120 days’ notice before the sale happens.

“The point was, of this law, to create the ability for local stakeholders, anybody who might want to offer up competing bids for a local news organization and maybe want to keep it local,” Matt Pearce, director of public policy at the nonprofit advocacy organization Rebuild Local News, told Capitol News Illinois.

No notice given

But employees and county clerks in several of the areas served by the recently sold newspapers say the buyer did not provide the 120 days’ notice required by the new law.

Instead, some said they learned about it when Better Newspapers Inc. announced earlier this month that they sold their eight newspapers to Paxton Media Group – the fifth-largest newspaper company in the U.S. that is based in Paducah, Kentucky.

But since the law doesn’t include any enforcement mechanisms or penalties for noncompliance, it’s not immediately clear who, if anyone, can force compliance.

“The next question here is if Better Newspapers or Paxton Media didn’t give the 120 days’ notice required by law, does someone file a lawsuit?” Pearce said. “Does the government investigate or pursue a complaint? That’s actually the next step of the question here which is establishing how does this law get enforced. How do you remedy the damage here?”

The Illinois attorney general does not enforce the law and referred questions to DCEO.

State Sen. Steve Stadelman, D-Caledonia, who is a former TV anchor in Rockford, sponsored the law and said media companies may be unaware of the law, meaning the state needs to do more to promote it. He said it’s also possible the General Assembly strengthens it and establishes a way for the department to enforce the law with follow-up legislation.

“I think that’s something I’ll have discussions with over the next weeks and months to see what we need to do to update and review legislation to make sure ... that there are incentives for organizations to follow the law,” Stadelman said.

Paxton’s previous purchase

Paxton Media Group is the same organization that was part of a 2023 sale that helped spur the law. Paxton bought The Southern Illinoisian in Carbondale from Lee Enterprises, then laid off all newsroom employees – prompting concern that the recently sold papers will face the same fate.

The latest sale included The Morning Sentinel in Centralia, Union Banner in Carlyle, Washington County News in Nashville, Greenville Advocate, Salem Times-Commoner, The Breeze Courier in Taylorville, the Robinson Daily News and The Daily Record in Lawrenceville.

Five county clerks in areas served by Better Newspapers Inc. told Capitol News Illinois they did not receive official notice from the company about the sale. That includes the St. Clair County clerk’s office, where Better Newspapers is headquartered.

Todd Marver, a reporter for the Washington County News, told Capitol News Illinois he and his fellow employees were also not notified. DCEO did not respond to questions from Capitol News Illinois, but Marver said the agency told him it also did not receive any notice from Better Newspapers.

“I would also add there have been some layoffs and I’m not part of that but that’s also kind of concerning that’s happened without 120 days’ notice being given because people would have been given more time, four months, to look for somewhere else to work,” Marver said.

Paxton Media Group eventually hired new reporters at The Southern Illinoisian, but Stadelman said he’s generally concerned about the impact newsroom layoffs at any media company have on its community. He said the law isn’t intended to prevent out-of-state or larger companies from buying a newspaper, but to allow a local owner time to make their own offer.

“I really truly believe that local ownership, local involvement leads to better coverage, more of a commitment to covering local news in a community versus a corporation that may have other financial interests and doesn’t necessarily care about what’s happening on the ground locally,” Stadelman said.

Representatives for Better Newspapers and Paxton Media Group did not respond to questions.

The General Assembly’s Local Journalism Task Force released a report last year that one-third of Illinois’ newspapers have closed since 2005, creating an 86% decline in newspaper jobs over that span.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.