After 143 years as a locally owned, independent newspaper, the Gazette is being acquired by a Minnesota-based multimedia company. The Cedar Rapids paper broke the news on Tuesday morning of a purchase agreement between Folience, Inc. — formerly known as the Gazette Company — and Adams MultiMedia (AMM).
According to the Gazette, the sale is “expected to be finalized by Dec. 1, at which time most Gazette employees will join Adams MultiMedia.”
“Employees of The Gazette were told of the transaction this morning.”
“The transaction maintains independence and ownership by a family-held company,” the Gazette said in its statement on Tuesday. The new family-held company, however, is headquartered in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and currently owns “more than 120 newspapers and more than 220 media-related and associated digital products in 19 states across the country.”
In addition to the Gazette, AMM announced it is buying 11 community newspapers, as well as the Pennysaver, Hometown Marketplace and Southeast Iowa Shopper. These will be AMM’s first acquisitions in Iowa.
Mark Adams, president of Adams MultiMedia, co-founded Adams Publishing Group, LLC, in late 2013. The company began acquiring newspapers the next year, and within a decade had become one of the biggest family-owned media corporations in the country. Adams changed its name to Adams MultiMedia (AMM).
“What we’ve done in our evolution to Adams MultiMedia is just reflect what our readers and advertisers want from us, which is digital products and services while we continue to fund that future with a focus on print,” AMM COO Nick Monico told Editor & Publisher during a podcast about the company in July.
According to the Gazette, “AMM will enhance the digital content for subscribers and offer expanded digital marketing and advertising solutions for local businesses. By deploying shared services, AMM will free up local resources to focus on serving the local communities.”
AMM divides its publication into three regions: AMM East, AMM Central and AMM West. The Gazette and AMM’s other Iowa purchases will likely be put in AMM Central, along with the publications it already owns in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
During the July podcast, Monaco said AMM prefers to allow the local leadership of the publications it acquires to remain in place, and make its own editorial decisions.
“Our publishers and regional presidents have all the levers in their control,” he said. “We want them on the Rotary organizations, on the Chamber of Commerce boards, on the Economic Development Councils.”
In a prepared statement presented to Gazette staff at the Tuesday morning meeting where they learned of the sale, Mark Adams said, “We’ve considered dozens of news organizations in recent years, and I can say with utmost confidence that very few have come with the credibility and promise that we have here today. The Gazette and its commitment to serving the local community — strong journalism and unmatched local business relationships — was a no-brainer for us.”
Along with the Gazette, the Pennysaver, Hometown Marketplace and Southeast Iowa Shopper, AMM is also buying the Southeast Iowa Union, Hometown Current, Washington Evening Journal, Mount Pleasant News, Fairfield Ledger, Marengo Pioneer Republican, Williamsburg Journal Tribune, Poweshiek County Chronicle Republican, Winfield Beacon- Wayland News, New London Journal and Pekin Clarion Plainsman.
The Gazette was founded as the Evening Gazette in Cedar Rapids in January 1883. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 1936 for its reporting on corruption in state government.
In recent years, the Gazette has experienced the same financial difficulties many newspapers have. In 2021, the company sold off its printing plant, laying off 62 employees in the process. Printing of the paper was outsourced to Gannett Publishing Services in Des Moines.
In January, the Gazette announced it was cutting back its print edition to three days a week, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
“Publishing a newspaper every day has long been a point of pride throughout our history. Significant changes in user habits and financial realities have been evolving in Iowa — and across the country,” the Gazette said in a statement announcing its reduced print schedule. “The costs of producing and delivering the print edition continues to increase while the number of readers consuming or advertising in print have been declining. Meanwhile, we continue to see significant growth of those consuming information online. Though we’ve been able to weather changing our print schedule longer than hundreds of other newspapers across the country, we’re not immune from needing to make bold adjustments to remain financially sustainable and make sure we’re focused on longevity and providing local news to our region.”
The Gazette’s statement on its pending sale quotes Tom Pientok, president and CEO of Folience, Inc, as saying, “In today’s environment, sustaining a 100% independent newspaper has become increasingly difficult.”
“From day one, our goal has been to preserve local journalism. Mark [Adams] and his family have a long history and passion for local media.”
In its statement on Tuesday, the Gazette did not say when negotiations began with AMM, the sale price or how many members of its staff are likely to lose their jobs, only that “most Gazette employees will join Adams MultiMedia” once the sale closes.
