Uneasy Partners: The Coming Together of Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers

Abstract

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, the owners, editors, and managers of the Decatur Review and Decatur Herald could not have dreamed of a future that would make them wealthy and influential. It was enough just to survive the publishing challenges that claimed so many rivals and competitors in the 1800s.Their stories are in many ways reflective of the downstate newspaper fortunes that developed across the state of Illinois in such locations as Springfield, Kankakee, Rockford, and Peoria. The Decatur newspapers story is important in terms of the personalities involved, their willingness to bury individual pride and ambition to stay in business, not to mention their impact on communications across the lower half of the state.Most newspaper companies serving large downstate Illinois communities began in the 1800s as independently owned operations published weekly or less frequently. One study of the business states the first print edition, named the Illinois Herald, occurred before statehood in 1814, at Kaskaskia, the state's first capital.1 By 1827, the Sangamo Spectator appeared in Springfield. In the mid-nineteenth century, there were about three hundred newspapers in Illinois. The number grew rapidly. The 1880 census recorded 1,017 newspapers.2Similar patterns of development followed: weekly papers came and went; survivors started publishing daily before 1900; early in the twentieth century, more stable operations took shape as communities grew in population and technology improved profits. After World War I, survivors soon found merger or consolidation necessary to survive changing economic conditions and reader interests.The Great Depression of the 1930s further reduced the number of locally owned papers, with the first national newspaper conglomerates snatching up weakened local companies. By mid-century, further ownership changes occurred, leading to the growth of small family-owned chains. Those chains were purchased by even larger chains in the 1960s and 1970s, leading to a trend of decline in the number of papers, with most all owned by national companies headquartered outside Illinois.Throughout this evolution in publishing, the Decatur Herald and Decatur Review progressed in similar fashion, echoing developments throughout downstate Illinois. However, one distinction sets it apart from others. Eventually, through purchases beginning in 1932, Decatur Newspapers, later named Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers, Inc., at one point owned newspapers in five separate central and southern Illinois cities.In Springfield by the early 1920s, competition thrived between the Illinois State Register and the Illinois State Journal under separate ownerships. Copley Press, headquartered in California, purchased the morning State Journal in 1927. Copley bought the afternoon State Register in 1942, ending local ownership in the state capital city. Gannett is the owner today of the Journal-Register.The family of Len Small, governor of Illinois from 1921 to 1929 and owner of the Kankakee Journal, purchased the Moline Daily Dispatch in 1969 and added the nearby Rock Island Argus in 1986.3 The Argus was founded in 1851. The Dispatch traced its beginnings to 1878. Both papers passed through a succession of local owners until purchased by Small. The two were published separately, with almost identical content until purchased in 2017 by Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa.4In Peoria, the eventual Journal-Star began as the Daily Transcript in 1855, and the Peoria Journal in 1877.5 After several iterations and owners, financial difficulties led to joint printing operations in 1944, but the papers remained separately owned until their merger as the Journal-Star in 1949. Copley purchased the paper in 1996. Gannett is the owner today.The roots of the Rockford Register-Republic date from 1855 for the Republic and 1888 for the Morning Star.6 The familiar story of local ownership and merger occurred until 1967 when Gannett purchased the paper, then published as the Register-Star. That corporate media power sold Rockford in 2007 to Gateway Publications, which in 2019 merged with Gannett. Thus, the Register-Star again is a property of Gannett.The corporate empire that steered newspaper and broadcast coverage across large expanses of central and southern Illinois for half a century had its roots in the ambitions of two men who competed for survival in Decatur.Frank Merrill Lindsay Sr., majority owner of the Decatur Herald, and Howard Churchill Schaub, majority owner of the Decatur Review, had by the early years of the twentieth century navigated the once crowded field of dailies and weeklies—at one time there had been five daily papers in Decatur—that fought for community acceptance in the 1800s and led their papers to survival.7The professional paths of Frank Lindsay and Howard Schaub had actually crossed in the early years of the 1900s.Ironically, the Lindsays were involved in the Review before the Schaubs came to Decatur. Frank Lindsay's father, John, started his family newspaper tradition by leasing and operating the Decatur Review in 1874, two years after its founding. He left that paper and started the Labor Bulletin in 1885.8 Frank, one of eleven children, attended Decatur schools and graduated from the University of Illinois. After two years as circulation manager of the Shawnee, Oklahoma, Herald he started work as classified advertising manager of the Review in 1906, and later became its advertising manager. In 1912, he left that paper and became general manager of the Herald. In 1920, Lindsay purchased controlling interest in the business and became president and general manager.9Howard Schaub, a Charleston, Illinois, native, went to work in a printing shop at the age of eleven and became hooked on the newspaper printing business. He attended Illinois College in Jacksonville, where he made friends with Jerry Donahue and John Drennan, who became owners of the Roodhouse, Illinois Eye. Schaub joined them as composing room foreman. In 1888, Donahue and Drennan purchased interests in the Decatur Review, and Schaub followed his friends to the paper as a reporter.10 After a shuffling of ownership interests in 1891, Schaub was chosen president of the Review, a position he continued in until he died in 1947.By 1912, two daily newspapers served Decatur: The Herald published in the morning, afternoon, and on Sundays, and the Review also in the morning, afternoon, and on Sundays. Frank Lindsay and Howard Schaub faced each other in “friendly but hard competition,” setting in motion events that brought them together in an unexpected partnership.At the end of World War I in 1918, the costs of competing for readers and advertisers, along with persistent inflation, had reduced profits of both newspapers. The final push to merge began in the late 1920s as the national economy sank into depression and profit vanished for both parties. A mutual desire for survival brought the two families to the negotiating table for months before reaching an agreement. The merger was announced on September 1, 1931, creating Decatur Newspapers, Inc. In the eight months prior to the merger, both papers had operated at a loss. Cost-cutting began immediately, but most employees were retained.On the morning of September 1, 1931, readers of the Decatur Herald learned of the merger from a story on page 1, which stated: “Herald and Review Consolidated.”11An outlined box added details.An explanation of reasons for the merger appeared under the heading “Consolidation in Line with Trend of Times/Costly and Uneconomic Duplication Ended by New Move/Plan Better Papers.”12 It mentioned increased costs of equipment and machinery in the production and distribution processes, and the financial pressures on individual papers. A list of costly duplication included news from the Associated Press, features, and general and local news. The article stated, “For some years there has been more and more evidence that this competition and duplication could not continue. Business not only has not grown with the expense, in recent years it has declined. The choice was to go back to the days of small papers, a practical impossibility, or eliminate some of the newspapers. This last course has been invariably a successful way to meet the situation. It has been the way in the largest as well as in cities of our size.”13As Frank Lindsay later reported to shareholders, “Each paper was continued as before in features, makeup and general policies.”14 For the next half century the two families learned to live with each other in spite of occasional tensions and differing styles, and they prospered through it all.Reflections on the consolidation, whether from officials or friendly histories, left an impression of calm among the separate staffs, but internal behavior was something else. After all, the staffs had competed for years before consolidation, and those feelings lasted for decades, even beyond the tenure of those present in 1931. An article in the Herald and Review of October 1980, addressed the competitive spirit: Competition between the morning Herald and the evening Review did not exactly become a thing of the past when the newspapers were consolidated in 1931. Reporters on one paper still worked hard and took part in beating their counterparts.Through the years there were various degrees of competition. During most of the 1960s, for instance, the editorial staffs of the Herald and the Review operated independently, with each paper having a managing editor.”15When Lindsay and Schaub merged their organizations, the ownership arrangement at both newspapers reflected decades of stock sales to principals, partners, relatives and employees. The practice rewarded loyalty and good work, and also raised cash when needed.16 After the merger, these holders of small numbers of stock influenced control and strategy for decades. They made the difference between majority and minority.Neither Howard Schaub nor Frank Lindsay owned a majority of shares in the merged company. The Schaub family eventually became majority owner by forming a private agreement, named HCS Company (for Howard C. Schaub), that included shares of family and a few non-family members, some dating back to the 1880s.17This critical connection began at the Decatur Review in 1888 when Donahue and Drennan bought the paper. With the addition of Howard Schaub, there were at least three major shareholders in those early years. Jerry Donahue remained at the Review until retirement in 1925. He retained a share of ownership when the Herald and Review merged.18Donahue's only child, Ruth, was born in 1902.19 The ownership share passed to the daughter after the death of her parents in the 1930s. The holding amounted to about 5 percent of the shares in Decatur Newspapers, Inc. and eventually Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers, Inc. She granted lifetime voting rights of the shares to Frederick W. Schaub, Howard's son, and that percentage gave the Schaubs organizational control when combined with shares held by the HCS Company.20 Ruth Donahue received interest and dividends from the stock until her death on May 26, 1978. Upon sale of Lindsay-Schaub in 1979, her ownership share was worth about $3.8 million.21 The Donahue shares, while small in number, were vital to Schaub family fortunes for ninety-one years.Much of the Decatur public assumed the two families shared ownership 50–50 because both families left that impression for appearance purposes. The Lindsay name being first in the corporate title meant nothing in terms of control. Frank and his son, Merrill, received recognition for extensive community service.22 Howard and his son, Frederick, with a much lower community profile, ran the company until it was sold in 1979. For forty-eight years, the Schaubs made the critical strategic decisions, and the Lindsays didn't much like being in the minority.In the forty-one years Frank M. Lindsay Sr. spent at the top of management for Decatur Newspapers, Inc., and then Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers, Inc., he often spoke publicly in support of various Decatur projects, such as community parks and comprehensive planning for future needs. The organization quietly supported his efforts.23On rare occasions when someone needed to speak for Lindsay-Schaub, it was Frank Lindsay. The Schaubs preferred to let Lindsay do the talking. In 1960, when he held the position as president, Lindsay-Schaub published A Publisher Reports: Observations From 46 Years of Newspaper Management, a compilation of Lindsay's annual reports to shareholders.Among the organization's leadership of Lindsays and Schaubs, it remains the only public record of internal affairs by any of the founding families, notwithstanding newspaper histories by friendly authors and former employees with stock holdings.Lindsay might be accused of lofty platitudes by any critic of the book, but there is no reason to disbelieve his sincerity. For example, in his statement of 1943, he wrote under the heading, “We Must Be Truly Independent.” He continued, “The Herald and Review are truly independent newspapers. The type of independence which we develop is determined by the decisions of those who control the news and editorial columns. Every so often those controlling news and editorials should ask themselves the question: Am I fair and reasonable in my dealings with all of those I write about and come in contact with regarding newspaper relationships? We should continually bear in mind that the Herald and Review are the only public channels for full expression of opinion here in Decatur. We have a deep obligation to be tolerant and fair in all discussions of public questions so that views we do not agree with are never distorted, nor should we assume that those who disagree with us have selfish or bad motives.”24In his 1955 report, Lindsay wrote, “The annual report of these newspapers will never be complete without a reiteration of those things which have been constantly adhered to for generations: that is, to build a most livable community, where no organized group of selfish interests control our law enforcing departments of the city and the county. . . . Decisions must always be made with one idea in mind: What is best for the entire community? We must refrain from political ambitions, from financial investments in industrial groups, banking and all outside business that would tie the newspapers to those interests in the minds of our readers. Our first and greatest obligation is a most sacred one—it is to the entire citizenry of our community.”25In an early expansion move, the company purchased the East St. Louis Journal in 1932 (later renamed the Metro-East Journal) and the Urbana Courier in 1934 (later renamed Champaign-Urbana Courier).26 Operating expenses of the merged Herald and Review were reduced by transferring Decatur employees to the new locations. Financial circumstances in each community would have serious consequences for the papers’ future.The company bought the Herrin Daily News, Murphysboro Daily Independent, and Carbondale Daily Free Press in 1947 and published them as the daily and Sunday Southern Illinoisan.In 1964, the company concluded Illinois expansion with purchase of the Edwardsville Intelligencer. Lindsay-Schaub later purchased papers in Midland and Huron, Michigan, and added radio and television interests in Illinois. In 1964 and 1966, weekly papers in New Port Richey and Venice, Florida, were purchased. The corporate name was changed to Lindsay-Schaub Newspapers, Inc. (LSNI) in 1952.When the Decatur papers merged in 1931, Warren F. Hardy assumed the role of editor of the Herald and Review. A native of Maine, Hardy joined the Herald in 1902 and established a reputation as a strong editorial voice. He served just two years as editor of the Herald and Review until his death on December 20, 1933.27Succeeding Hardy as editor was Edward E. Lindsay, grandson of John Lindsay, mentioned in connection with the early years of the Review. Edward joined the Herald in 1923 as an advertising salesman, working for his uncle Frank Lindsay.28 Edward remained active in Lindsay-Schaub corporate affairs until 1979. Reflecting his personal involvement in the formation of the Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale, Lindsay served as director and publisher from 1947 to 1966.As Decatur Newspapers, Inc. expanded to East St. Louis and Champaign-Urbana in the 1930s, Lindsay assumed the title of editorial director of the papers, a role he exercised in selection of editors and establishing newsroom budgets.In 1935, Lindsay hired David Felts, a University of Illinois graduate, as an editorial writer on the Decatur staff.29 Felts served as Lindsay's anchor in the development of a centralized news and editorial department serving all Lindsay-Shaub newspapers in Illinois. Felts became editor of the Herald and Review editorial pages in 1958, and two years later was named editorial editor for all Lindsay-Schaub newspapers. He retired in 1967.Lindsay looked for other journalists in forming the home office news department. Joining Lindsay in 1938 was O. T. (Jack) Banton, a native of Mt. Zion, Illinois, with experience covering the legislature for a Wisconsin newspaper.30 Banton served as Review city editor for ten years. In 1948, with Lindsay-Schaub owning newspapers in Decatur, Champaign, East St. Louis and Carbondale, Lindsay moved Banton to reporter of state affairs. For eighteen years, Banton covered the state legislature, activities of the governor, and news of state offices. Specific subjects of interest to Lindsay-Schaub locations assigned by Lindsay included higher education, state parks, recreation, and transportation.Eventually, Lindsay added writers who broadened coverage of state subjects and brought depth to editorial writing of state and national affairs. This extended coverage to statewide election campaigns and politics. Items were sent to papers daily by a leased wire.With individual newspaper budgets stretched tight for local news coverage, the home office department provided a unique element of content when compared to other daily papers outside Chicago. Critical to the success of the system was that local editors had final decision-making authority over use of information provided from the home office.The department employed an editorial editor and six writers when it ceased operations in 1979.31All Lindsay-Schaub newspapers had compelling local histories. However, none was more complex or controversial than the East St. Louis Journal, which Decatur Newspapers, Inc. purchased in 1932.In the days before television and mass media, citizens of East St. Louis and vicinity relied almost entirely on local daily newspapers for information and opinion. What citizens learned about criminal activity in their own backyard came filtered through the eyes and ears of newspaper reporters and editors.Residents had access to several newspapers, including large metropolitan dailies from St. Louis. However, the primary source of local news was the daily East St. Louis Journal, born as a weekly paper in 1889. The Journal survived fire and corruption, race riots, lawsuits, uninterested owners, official slings and arrows, and the financial vicissitudes of the city for ninety-one years until the doors closed in 1979.32The Journal story began during a period of rapid urbanization across the nation in the ten years between 1881 and 1890. From these pressures came attempts to organize workers in East St. Louis. The aftermath of the Civil War in the South and the growth of railroad mobility motivated the migration of African Americans to what they perceived to be the land of opportunity in the cities of the North. On the railroad route, thousands of migrants stopped in East St. Louis. By the 1880s, the city had all the ingredients for social and political turmoil.With this backdrop, the East St. Louis Journal emerged. James W. Kirk, the East St. Louis comptroller and auditor, started the weekly on January 26, 1889. Within a year, the paper progressed to daily production. Soon after, it added a Sunday edition.33During the first forty years of existence, the Journal demonstrated its survival skills, as competitors came and went. The paper struggled along with the city in a growth climate unseen before, which brought corruption, insecurity, and crime. The Journal did not distinguish itself as a crusading paper, but it beat back the competition and stayed alive. On February 3, 1918, one of the city's distinguished citizens, A. T. Spivey, purchased the Journal.34The paper continued in survival mode until September 3, 1932, when Spivey's heirs sold to East Shore Newspapers, Inc., a subsidiary of Decatur Newspapers, Inc. This change launched an era in which the Journal, with strong corporate support, committed its resources to unrelenting war against organized crime and corruption.35Benefitting from a succession of devoted editors and reporters for five decades, but faced with persistent dwindling financial resources, the paper ceased publication in 1979. In its last breath, the Journal summarized almost fifty years of watching over the public good as the paper saw it: “Since the early 1930s, the Journal has fought the political and governmental corruption which hampered the economic and social development of St. Clair and Madison counties. In the 1930s and 40s, the newspaper attacked illegal gambling and the gang operations which profited from it. Partly as a result of these efforts, gambling has been reduced in volume and the big time gangs have found greener pastures elsewhere.”36The editors stated: “Over the years, the Journal has stood for certain influences for the public good. . . . Not all our causes were successful, nor were they universally admired. We thought at the time they were worthwhile.”37For decades, Decatur papers maintained different physical appearances, separate news staffs and distribution strategies. The Herald concentrated on weekday morning circulation in Decatur and Central Illinois, while the Review circulated Monday through Saturday afternoons primarily in Decatur. The combined Sunday issue circulation rose to seventy thousand in the 1970s.As the organization worked and struggled with the realities of the merger, it had operational trials, including labor union strikes, that put pressure on profitability.News employees associated with the American Newspaper Guild struck the Herald and Review for ten days in 1937.38 The International Typographical Union struck the East St. Louis Journal for 123 days from November 1964 to March 1965, endangering the paper's profitability prospects in a highly competitive market.39 Printers and pressman at the Southern Illinoisan struck for 128 days starting in November 1966.40Lindsay-Schaub suffered serious curtailment in advertising revenues during a nationwide newsprint shortage in 1973.41 In order to continue publishing and conserve reduced newsprint supplies, its papers published for weeks without display and classified advertising. The size of papers was reduced to a standard eight pages daily and twelve pages on Sunday. The exception was the Edwardsville Intelligencer, which published six pages Monday through Saturday. No reductions in wages or number of employees occurred. Merrill Lindsay, then company president, stated, “The advertising blackout permits us to present a modified but balanced news product and assures publication in the short term.”In Champaign-Urbana, where the Courier competed head-on with the News-Gazette, the Courier was accused of unlawful competitive practices in a complaint filed in 1961 that led to a lengthy and contentious legal fight with the US Department of Justice. For six years, the federal government investigated accusations that the Courier used its corporate connections to unfairly compete with the News-Gazette. The Courier denied the accusations, but signed a consent decree with Justice on March 27, 1967, that contained a lengthy list of restrictions. The complainant was never revealed.42A key to Lindsay-Schaub profitability at all locations was a determined effort to manage production costs. This affected not just the composing and pressrooms, but also the newsroom, where deadlines and preparation of news and information pages for production were regulated and monitored. This effort reflected Schaub family management business beliefs. Realizing the financial impact, Merrill Lindsay, Frank Lindsay's son, stated that the Schaub policies “proved to be pretty sound.”The Schaubs were instrumental in starting the Inland National Cost and Revenue Study for daily papers, headquartered in Illinois.43 The study provides benchmarks based on nationwide information provided by members against which newspapers can measure performance and shape internal operations.44 Use of these measurements were not popular with some Lindsay-Schaub managers and news executives who argued for stronger news products and spending flexibility, especially in competitive markets. In East St. Louis, where the Journal competed directly with St. Louis newspapers, a much larger newsroom expense was allowed. In Decatur, Carbondale and Edwardsville, tighter budgets prevailed.Family members influenced the corporate life of Lindsay-Schaub by holding key positions. Donald Lindsay, one of Frank's sons, was publisher in Champaign-Urbana for years. Merrill Lindsay managed broadcasting investments. John Gardner, son-in-law of Edward E. Lindsay, was publisher and editor of the Southern Illinoisan. Edward Lindsay was the leading force in assembling the weeklies that formed the daily paper in Carbondale. Kelso Towle, Fred Schaub's nephew, was publisher in Decatur. Robert C. Schaub, another nephew, was editor in Edwardsville. Robert D. Schaub, Fred's son, held key corporate positions. All family management responsibilities were closely controlled by the home office and helped keep the two families from open warfare.When CEO Frederick Schaub retired in 1975, the prospect of another generation of Schaubs in the most influential corporate positions did not assuage Lindsay family feelings toward being in the minority. Also, there was not a younger generation of Lindsays in waiting. Unsurprisingly, talks among family members about selling the organization gained momentum in 1977.By January 1978, Lindsay minority shareholders pressed hard for sale of the company. At a board of directors meeting on January 19, 1978, Lindsays requested a vote by shareholders and the board at the scheduled April 13 annual meetings to actively seek buyers.The HCS holding company controlled a majority of company shares with 46 per cent covering direct family interests and another 5 per cent from Ruth Donahue's shares. The Schaubs hesitated. The reason: the family was split 50–50 for and against a sale.45 Interest in purchase of the company had been indicated by the Gannett Company, Lee Enterprises and Ottaway Newspapers, a subsidiary of Dow Jones. The board authorized direct contact by a Lindsay and a Schaub to gather further information, but made no decision about a sale discussion for April.46 The Lindsays were disappointed, but kept the pressure on.Insiders at Lindsay-Schaub believed the Schaubs would continue to discourage talk of a sale. Robert D. Schaub, son of Frederick Schaub, who had become president and CEO after his father retired, was opposed to a sale. He began preparing a reorganization of the company hierarchy in an attempt to improve profitability and increase dividends to shareholders.47 Retired or not, his father controlled the HCS Company and, therefore, any decision to sell. He remained steadfastly neutral as long as Schaub family members opposed a sale.By April 1978, there were two tentative offers on the table: Gannett and Lee, both mentioned prices in the fifty-five-million-dollar range, contingent on further discussions.48 Letters from the two media companies were read, but no votes were taken. Informal talks continued among family leaders, but speculation remained that the Schaubs would not sell. The Lindsays remained determined.Gannett and Lee had firmed their offers by December 1978, both in the sixty-million-dollar range, for all newspaper assets in Illinois and Michigan, except East St. Louis and Champaign-Urbana, the least profitable operations. Broadcast interests were not included.Key Lindsay and Schaub leaders agreed the issue had reached “a point of no return.”49 While he left no written account of his decision-making, it is reasonable to assume that Fred Schaub's neutrality faded as personal relationships weakened, and Schaub family pressures grew for a sale.On January 25, 1979, Lindsay-Schaub announced the purchase by Lee Enterprises for $60,400,000.50 The sale was finalized on October 2.In short order, Lee sold the Michigan and Edwardsville papers to the Hearst Corporation. Former Lindsay-Schaub managers of both were retained.51 Lindsay-Schaub tried unsuccessfully to find buyers for East St. Louis and Champaign-Urbana, and the papers ceased publication. Lee quickly combined the Herald and Review editions, making Decatur a one-product town for the first time since the 1850s.When Lee and Hearst settled down with their acquisitions, for the first time since the 1870s, there were no Lindsays or Schaubs working on newspapers in Illinois or Michigan.At sale time, thirty-seven individuals were listed as common stockholders and twenty-two as preferred stockholders.52 That did not include individuals whose shares were voted by the HCS Company. Family members received amounts large enough for a comfortable retirement. One Schaub, a nephew of Fred, purchased a newspaper in Iowa.There were a few obituaries for Lindsay-Schaub newspapers. Among them was Fletcher Farrar Jr., who spent two years as a reporter in Carbondale and four years in the Decatur home office news department, and now owns and edits Illinois Times in Springfield. He wrote: “As newspaper families grow older and bigger they become harder to please. They are likely to be taken over by a second generation, more concerned about cars and airplanes than about the quality of higher education in Illinois. When that happens there is usually a Gannett or a Thomson or a Lee around, ready to convert the family's holdings to cash. [Merrill] Lindsay said the families sold because of worries about estate taxes; [Fred] Schaub said there was more to it than that. Those two never agreed on anything right at first.” 53Tom Littlewood, a veteran of news reporting in Illinois and Washington for the Chicago Sun-Times, expressed this opinion of the Lindsay-Schaub sale: The senior Lindsays and Schaubs were peculiar acting newspaper magnates. Long after consolidating their two Decatur papers in 1931 and then acquiring others in Urbana, East St. Louis, Carbondale and Edwardsville, the owners kept on doing strange things, like printing long, thoughtful, in-depth analyses of public affairs in the state. With most newspaper chains, editorial quality is important only insofar as it increases profits.Now the sons and grandsons have taken over. The early leaders are either dead or retired, as in the case of retired Edward Lindsay, the top editor in the 1940s and 1950s. Their heirs were less committed to editorial quality; they had other interests, and there were so many of them it was inconvenient to get together to make decisions. Succeeding generations saw the newspapers as less compelling business investments.Concentration of news media ownership is proceeding at a galloping rate in Illinois. Not only are deeply rooted, locally owned publications being purchased by groups, but smaller homegrown groups are being swallowed by communications conglomerates often based far from Illinois.54More than four decades after Littlewood's prophesy on news media ownership, most daily newspapers in Illinois are owned by corporations with headquarters outside Illinois. As a result of consolidating functions such as editing, production, and distribution to economize, and staff reductions in the face of reduced profits, newspaper employment numbers are dramatically reduced in the communities. This has resulted in fewer resources devoted to coverage of local and state government news.The Illinois media corporation numbers tell a current-day story:Gannett Company, with headquarters in Virginia, owns fifteen daily newspapers, in communities scattered across the state, such as Rockford, Peoria, Springfield, Marion, Olney, Pontiac, Macomb, Kewanee, Galesburg, Freeport.Lee Enterprises, Inc., with headquarters in Iowa, publishes five daily papers, most circulated through central and southern Illinois, such as Decatur, Carbondale, Bloomington, Mattoon/Charleston.Hearst Corporation, with headquarters in New York City, publishes daily newspapers in Alton and Edwardsville.An exception to remote ownership is Shaw Media, with headquarters in Crystal Lake, Illinois, publisher of seven daily and weekly papers, located in northern Illinois communities, such as DeKalb, Morris, Dixon, Ottawa, and suburban Chicago.After selling newspapers in Moline, Rock Island, and Ottawa, Illinois, and Rochester, Minnesota, the Small family of Kankakee retained the local Daily Journal. Among major downstate daily papers, it is the only one locally owned.