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Nine newsroom employees to be laid off at Roanoke Times

Nine newsroom employees at The Roanoke Times were notified of their pending layoffs Monday by parent company Lee Enterprises Inc., according to the newspaper’s local newsroom union and multiple staff writers who spoke with Virginia Business. The layoffs, set to take effect April 23, would cut the editorial staff to 37 positions, a nearly 20% decrease in newsroom staffing, the union said in a news release.

Virginia Tech beat reporter Henri Gendreau and Claire Mitzel, who covered local K-12 schools and broke news last year about Black cadets’ complaints about racial incidents at Virginia Military Institute, were told by phone that April 23 will be their last day as Roanoke Times employees, they said in interviews Monday afternoon. They say they were told not to work or to access their Roanoke Times email accounts during the next two weeks.

Michael Niziolek, who covered Virginia Tech football, was told he would be laid off, he said via Twitter, adding that he was “still in shock.” Sam Wall, who reported on Radford University and surrounding localities, said in an interview that he was told Monday to stop working during the call informing him of his imminent layoff.

The Timesland News Guild said in a news release Monday that the newspaper’s digital editor, one copy editor and three editorial assistants who contributed to local sports coverage also are among the layoffs, which took place a month after the union’s employee contract was certified March 10.

The Roanoke Times was purchased by Iowa-based Lee Enterprises in March 2020, part of a $140 million sale by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of 31 local daily papers in 10 states, including 10 newspapers in Virginia. Roanoke saw seven copy editing jobs eliminated in favor of centralized editing and design hubs in the Midwest last summer, and newsroom positions at other Lee-owned papers in Virginia were eliminated earlier this year.

With the eliminated positions announced Monday, the Timesland union says The Roanoke Times has lost more than 25% of its newsroom employees since early 2020.

Under federal law, a company cannot lay off anyone while negotiating a contract with a union, or in the first 30 days after it has been certified, a period that ended Saturday at The Roanoke Times. Mitzel said “there was a lot of anxiety in the newsroom” in recent days, in part because Lee had laid off workers at other newspapers when The Roanoke Times’ unionized employees were temporarily exempt. The Roanoke Times building, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, also has been put up for sale, and the paper gave up its lease on its former New River Valley bureau office in Christiansburg.

“These layoffs mark another difficult day for The Roanoke Times and its continued survival in Southwest Virginia,” union vice chair Alison Graham, an investigative reporter at the newspaper, said in a statement. “Our corporate owners have once again put shortsighted profit goals over both long-term solutions and the newspaper’s mission to deliver vital local news.”

A Lee Enterprises spokesperson said Monday that the company had no comment on the layoffs.

In what Gendreau characterized as a “weird sort of holding pattern,” some of the Roanoke Times journalists notified Monday of their April 23 layoffs were told they could keep their jobs if other Times employees decide to take buyouts before Friday — but that’s not a sure thing.

“I personally am not sure” if anyone has volunteered, said Gendreau, who joined the newspaper as its crime and public safety reporter in 2018 and moved to its higher education beat in November 2019.

“I don’t know also whether [Lee] is open to that,” added Mitzel, a Roanoke native who started at the newspaper in March 2020. “I’d prefer they don’t take a volunteer for my job.”

Mitzel, Gendreau and Wall, who joined the newspaper in January 2019, said the layoff decisions were based on reverse seniority, or “last in, first out,” Wall said. All three said they’re disappointed about the negative impact on news coverage in the region, beyond their personal situations.

“I’m more worried about the institution that is The Roanoke Times,” Wall said. “That’s what I’m worried about. I’ll be OK.”

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Gannett to refinance $1.05B in debt

McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc., the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., announced Monday it will refinance $1.05 billion in debt to lower its interest rates and extend maturity on outstanding debt.

Gannett, which has struggled financially during the pandemic, in November 2020 announced it had refinanced approximately $500 million in debt to more quickly repay outstanding loans. The company is refinancing its 11.5% term loan to improve its balance sheet and “overall capital structure,” according to a company statement. This is expected to result in approximately $90 million in cash interest savings this year.

The company in early April 2020 announced it was in negotiations with its vendors, creditors and pension regulators to preserve Gannett’s liquidity. Gannett was noticeably missing from the Fortune 1000 list released in May 2020.

“Refinancing our original term loan was our No. 1 priority since closing the acquisition of Gannett Media Corp. in November 2019 and we are thrilled to have been able to do so this early into 2021, which is well ahead of our original target date,” Gannett Chairman and CEO Michael Reed said in a statement. “We will continue to make reducing our outstanding debt a top priority, with a goal of reaching first lien net leverage below 1.0x over the next two years.”

Gannett also announced mass layoffs, furlough and pay cuts in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The owner of USA Today, Gannett has a portfolio of 261 local daily newspapers in 46 states and Guam, including the Arizona Republic, the Des Moines Register and the Burlington Free Press.

 

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Gannett announces $500M debt refinancing

McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc., the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., announced Tuesday it has refinanced approximately $500 million in debt to more quickly repay on outstanding loans.

Gannett announced in early April that it was negotiating with its vendors, creditors and pension regulators in order to preserve the company’s liquidity. It was noticeably not on the Fortune 1000 list released in mid-May.

The company refinanced the loan with New York-based private equity firm Apollo Global Management.

“Working collaboratively, we crafted a creative approach to address Gannett’s desire to rapidly strengthen its balance sheet,” Robert Givone, Apollo partner and co-head of opportunistic credit, said in a statement. “The refinancing is indicative of the types of capital solutions that Apollo is uniquely situated to provide to great companies.”

Gannett Chairman and CEO Michael Reed says the refinancing’s benefits include generating savings and extending the debt maturity by three years. 

“Since putting the term loan in place in November 2019, we have repaid over $175 million to date, and we expect to repay an additional $100 million in the coming months,” Reed said in a statement. 

The refinanced portion of Gannett’s debt has a 6% interest rate and a 2027 maturation date. It was originally at 11.5% and due in 2024. The company will still owe Apollo nearly $1.12 billion.

“Pro forma for these repayments, the outstanding term loan will be approximately $1 billion, which we believe we can refinance on attractive terms by the end of the first half of 2021,” Reed said in a statement. “As we improve the company’s capital structure, we are also seeing continued improvement in our revenue trends, which we expect will drive strong fourth quarter results.”

The refinancing was unanimously approved by Gannett’s board of directors. Greenhill & Co. LLC and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP advised Gannett during the transaction.

Gannett also announced mass layoffs, furlough and pay cuts in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The owner of USA Today, Gannett has a portfolio of 261 local daily newspapers in 46 states and Guam, including the Arizona Republic, the Des Moines Register and the Burlington Free Press.

 

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Gannett sells business media, marketing subsidiary

McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, sold its business media and B2B marketing subsidiary, BridgeTower Media, to Los Angeles-based middle-market private equity firm Transom Capital Group, the company announced last week.

Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Through more than 40 digital and print brands, BridgeTower Media provides media and marketing content about the legal, business, construction, legislative, pet retail and home furnishing sectors. The owner of USA Today, Gannett has a portfolio of 261 local daily newspapers in 46 states and Guam, including the Arizona Republic, the Des Moines Register and the Burlington Free Press. Transom has more than $600 million in assets under management.

“BridgeTower Media has been an integral partner to businesses across the country, providing valuable media and marketing services for a long time,” Transom Partner James Oh said in a statement. “The company has a strong leadership team and has invested in its brands to be a market leader today. Our plan is to continue on the success the team has achieved and invest in technology and resources to stay ahead of the dynamic market.”

Transom used Kirkland & Ellis as corporate legal adviser and Perkins Coie LLP as the financing legal adviser. Cerberus Business Finance provided financing for the transaction. JEGI LLC was a financial adviser to Gannett.

Gannett announced in early April that it was negotiating with its vendors, creditors and pension regulators in order to preserve the company’s liquidity. It was noticeably not on the Fortune 1000 list released in mid-May. The company also announced mass layoffs, furlough and pay cuts in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re excited to partner with Transom to expand our business and strengthen our commitment to the markets we serve,” BridgeTower Media CEO Adam Reinebach said in a statement. “The culmination of this deal is a tribute to the resiliency, dedication and creativity of our people, whose collective grit is unmatched. We’re thrilled to find an investment partner who shares our vision for the future.”

 

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Newsroom jobs eliminated at Free Lance-Star, News & Advance

Two more Virginia newspapers — The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg and The News & Advance in Lynchburg — have dismissed employees, following newsroom layoffs last week at three other publications owned by Lee Enterprises.

Two editors, a page designer and two circulation clerks have been laid off at The News & Advance. Their jobs were eliminated effective immediately and they will receive severance packages, according to an employee who received the information from a supervisor Monday. After working 16 years at the newspaper, The Free Lance-Star’s digital editor, Dave Ellis, said Monday that he was informed his last day will be Sept. 25. He said he thinks he is the only person to be laid off at his newspaper.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch saw at least five newsroom jobs cut Friday, including a business reporter, a photojournalist, a multimedia content producer and a sports producer that were all part of the bargaining unit of the flagship newspaper’s newsroom union, Richmond Newspaper Professionals Association. The Roanoke Times expects to lose 10 copy editing and page design jobs next month, and The Daily Progress in Charlottesville expects to lose four copy desk jobs in October. According to the Blue Ridge Guild, the Daily Progress’ newsroom union, two people were laid off Friday and their jobs eliminated, including a digital content coordinator.

Although Lee Enterprises declined to comment on the eliminated jobs, including whether the cuts are temporary, pandemic-related measures, the unions at the three papers in Charlottesville, Richmond and Roanoke said they caught wind of the copy desk cuts last month while Roanoke and Charlottesville employees were negotiating their contracts with Lee, which is based in Iowa. The company, which purchased 30 newspapers from BH Media Group in March, has design hubs in Wisconsin and Indiana, where front pages and websites for several Lee papers are designed remotely. The Roanoke Times, The Daily Progress and other Lee newspapers are going to be designed at one of the Midwest hubs, union members have reported.

Lee Enterprises purchased 30 newspapers earlier this year from BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., for $140 million in cash. Lee was previously hired to manage the BH Media newspapers, including those in Virginia.

The company owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bristol Herald Courier, The News & Advance in Lynchburg, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Martinsville Bulletin, Danville Register & Bee, The News Virginian in Waynesboro, The Roanoke Times, The Daily Progress and multiple weekly newspapers in Virginia.

Already, one of Lee’s content hubs is handling some social media duties for its Virginia newspapers. On Twitter, several journalists and others noted the ironic timing of a Sunday Daily Progress tweet asking, “What’s your dream job?” posted two days after newsroom layoffs.

 

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews was a copy editor and staff writer at The Daily Progress from 1999 to 2006.

 

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Richmond Times-Dispatch, Roanoke Times, Daily Progress see newsroom layoffs

Updated Sept. 11

At least five newsroom staffers at the Richmond Times-Dispatch were told Friday that they were being laid off by owner Lee Enterprises.

Four people laid off were part of the bargaining unit for the Richmond Newspapers Professional Association, the Times-Dispatch’s newsroom union, a representative confirmed. They include a business reporter, a photojournalist, a multimedia content producer and a sports producer.

The company has also decided to cut 10 copy editing and design jobs at The Roanoke Times, according to reports by that newspaper’s union. The eliminated jobs are part of a plan to centralize page design for many of the company’s Virginia-based newspapers at hubs in the Midwest.

And at The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, two members of its union were laid off Friday, the Blue Ridge Guild said on Twitter, adding that the company chose to pay them for two weeks instead of giving them notice. One person whose position was eliminated was digital content coordinator Meghin Moore, who wrote in a tweet that she was informed Friday that it was her last day. A staff writer, Tyler Hammel, wrote on Twitter that the newspaper has lost seven union positions since July, and by next month, “our newsroom will be composed of 9 union positions and 2 editors.” Staff writers and other non-supervisory positions are eligible to join the union, but not editors.

“The cuts hurt and leave the Progress on life support,” the guild wrote in a tweet.

“We are saddened to report that Iowa-based Lee Enterprises told five valuable members of our bargaining unit they are being laid off. This move is bad for business and worse for readers of the Times-Dispatch who rely on us for strong local news,” the Richmond Newspapers Professional Association tweeted Friday. “The move by Lee Enterprises comes as the company also pushes to eliminate news design and copy editing jobs at Virginia newspapers.”

The Roanoke Times expects to see 10 copy desk jobs eliminated Oct. 23, after its union, the Timesland News Guild, put forward a plan to establish a design hub in Roanoke that was rejected by Lee. In a news release last Friday, the guild said that more than 1,500 readers contacted the company to keep three full-time and seven part-time jobs in Virginia, and the Roanoke City Council enacted a resolution supporting the idea of a design hub.

“This is a truly sad day for The Roanoke Times and for Southwest Virginia,” said Tonia Moxley, chairwoman of the Timesland News Guild, in a statement. “Despite an opportunity to embrace and grow in Virginia, Lee Enterprises has chosen to outsource our journalism jobs to the Midwest. I’m heartbroken because our newsroom is losing so much homegrown and amazing talent, but it’s really a loss for the region and the state.”

Lee Enterprises has design hubs in Indiana and Wisconsin where multiple newspapers owned by the company are designed each night — a shift from the Virginia newspapers’ current operation, in which pages of the next day’s paper are designed and edited in-house. Staff members say that outsourcing copy editing duties leads to mistakes because out-of-state designers are unfamiliar with local landmarks, names and history.

The Daily Progress’ four-person copy desk in Charlottesville also will be laid off in early October, according to a memo sent to employees last month. There has been no announcement so far about the future of the Times-Dispatch’s copy desk.

Lee Enterprises purchased 30 newspapers earlier this year from BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., for $140 million in cash. Lee was previously hired to manage the BH Media newspapers, including those in Virginia.

The company owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bristol Herald Courier, The News & Advance in Lynchburg, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Martinsville Bulletin, Danville Register & Bee and The News Virginian in Waynesboro, The Roanoke Times, The Daily Progress and multiple weekly newspapers in Virginia.

Times-Dispatch Publisher Paul Farrell was not available for comment Friday afternoon, and a spokesperson for Lee Enterprises said the company had no comment.

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews was a copy editor and staff writer at The Daily Progress from 1999 to 2006.

 

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Lee Enterprises plans newsroom cuts at Virginia publications

The Daily Progress newspaper in Charlottesville will lay off its four-person copy desk in early October, as Iowa-based owner Lee Enterprises eliminates local jobs in favor of a consolidated copy desk in Indiana or Wisconsin, according to a memo sent to affected employees Friday.

The cuts at The Daily Progress are possibly just the beginning of eliminating copy editing and page design jobs at all of Lee Enterprises’ Virginia newspapers, according to members of two newsroom unions and other Lee employees.

The company did not respond to a request for comment Friday. A union member at The Roanoke Times, where 10 copy desk positions are on the chopping block, said the company has not informed editors at his newspaper of its plans to move the jobs to design hubs in the Midwest, although Lee did confirm it with union negotiators.

The proposed cuts come four months after Lee Enterprises finalized its purchase of 30 newspapers previously owned by BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., for $140 million in cash. Lee had previously been hired to manage the BH Media newspapers, including those in Virginia.

Among the Virginia newspapers now under Lee’s ownership are the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Bristol Herald Courier, The News & Advance in Lynchburg, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Martinsville Bulletin, Danville Register & Bee and The News Virginian in Waynesboro, The Roanoke Times and The Daily Progress.

The plans to relocate page design duties for daily papers in Virginia — typically conducted in-house — to a centralized hub came out when Charlottesville’s newsroom union, the Blue Ridge NewsGuild, was negotiating its contract earlier this year, according to Shawn Garrett, a graphic designer at The Roanoke Times and a member of the Timesland News Guild, the newspaper’s union, which is currently negotiating its contract with Lee.

A statement released Friday by the Blue Ridge NewsGuild executive committee acknowledges that its members signed a contract this year that allows the move, adding it was “one of many concessions we had to make to secure raises and health insurance protections.” The union also notes that replacements for a sports reporter, a University of Virginia beat reporter and a fifth copy designer have not been hired since Lee took ownership.

According to the guild, four full-time copy-editing positions will be eliminated, and page design for the Daily Progress and its sister paper, the News Virginian in Waynesboro, will be done in either Indiana or Wisconsin beginning in October.

In a memo sent to the four copy editors by an editor at the Daily Progress, which was provided to Virginia Business, their jobs will be eliminated the week of Oct. 5-11, although the editors will be given “first consideration” for one new copy-editing position in Charlottesville, “which will essentially work collaboratively with Lee Design Centers and designers. It will be posted internally and you and your three other colleagues affected by this work transfer may apply for it.”

Under The Daily Progress’ union contract, employees are required to be given 60 days’ notice before being laid off, which the memo fulfilled.

Meanwhile, The Roanoke Times’ union also has taken its copy desk’s case public, posting a petition online and asking readers and government officials to contact Lee Enterprises officials. According to Garrett, seven part-time and three full-time copy editors and designers — more than half of the staff on the Times’ copy desk — are set to be cut. Because the Daily Progress found out about the plans to consolidate the paper’s copy desk in the Midwest, the Times’ union members asked Lee if its copy desk would be affected. The company confirmed the cuts, he said.

“They told us before our union was certified,” said Garrett, whose job is not affected by the cuts. “It fell to the union to tell these people that they were losing their jobs.” And because section editors, as newsroom leaders, don’t belong to the Timesland union, most didn’t know about the consolidation plan when union members approached them, Garrett added.

“We’re vehemently opposed to any cuts,” Garrett said Friday. “We’re trying to impress upon the company that our paper’s much better served by keeping jobs here instead of shipping them off to the Midwest. It’s an erosion of local journalism.” He added that although his union is busy finalizing its contract with Lee, its members are having behind-the-scenes discussions with other unions, including the newsroom union at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Richmond Newspaper Professional Association.

The number of potential layoffs at the Times-Dispatch, which is the state’s flagship newspaper, is not clear. Union representatives either didn’t respond to requests for comment Friday or declined to speak about negotiations.

Smaller Lee-owned papers, even those with employees in the single digits, expect to be affected, too. Ashley Spinks — the only full-time editorial staffer at the weekly Floyd Press — reports, edits and designs her newspaper. It is profitable, she said, and yet several positions were eliminated before she joined the paper in July 2019, and her freelance writing budget also has been cut. Her newspaper, too, will be designed at one of the Midwest hubs.

“It’s just removing the design process from the community, which is bound to have deleterious effects and will likely shorten my deadlines, making stories less timely,” she said.

In late March, amid economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee announced layoffs and two-week unpaid furloughs required by the end of June of its full-time employees at 77 daily newspapers across the country. Company executives also took a 20% reduction in pay. Gannett and The Tribune Co., which also own several Virginia newspapers, announced furloughs in March, and the Tribune-owned Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press newspapers have consolidated their publications’ production, as well as selling the Virginian-Pilot’s longtime Norfolk offices earlier this year to a developer.

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews was a copy editor and staff writer at The Daily Progress from 1999 to 2006.

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Gannett eliminates CEO position for operating company

McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, announced Friday that its board of directors has decided to eliminate the CEO position for Gannett Media Corp., its operating company. The decision results in the departure of Paul Bascobert, who had joined the company in August 2019.

Gannett Chairman and CEO Michael Reed has assumed Bascobert’s responsibilities. The board does not intend to look to fill the role of Gannett Media CEO. 

“Mr. Bascobert’s departure is not the result of any inappropriate action by Mr. Bascobert, any violation of company policy, any accounting irregularity or any material deterioration in the business of the company,” Gannett said in a statement.

“Paul made a significant impact, helping to integrate the two companies, navigate through this current pandemic and lay the groundwork for our revenue transformation,” Reed said in a statement. “The Board remains committed to our plans for continued integration and transformation.”

Gannett, the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, announced in early April that it was negotiating with its vendors, creditors and pension regulators in order to preserve the company’s liquidity. It was noticeably not on the Fortune 1000 list released in mid-May.

The company also announced mass layoffs, furlough and pay cuts in late March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the owner of USA Today, Gannett has a portfolio of 261 local daily newspapers in 46 states and Guam, including the Arizona Republic, the Des Moines Register and the Burlington Free Press.

 

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Gannett announces mass layoffs, pay cuts, furloughs

McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc., the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, sent an email to employees Monday announcing mass layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts, according to The Daily Beast. Like other media outlets, the company has reportedly a large drop in advertising revenues recently due to the financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gannett has a portfolio of 261 local daily newspapers in 46 states and Guam, including its flagship publication USA Today, as well as the Arizona Republic, the Des Moines Register and the Burlington Free Press.

“Everyone will be touched by these changes in some form,” Gannett CEO Paul Bascobert wrote in the email leaked to The Daily Beast. “For some it will be economic, for others it will mean covering the work of a colleague on furlough, for many it will be both.”

Asking workers to make a “collective sacrifice,” Bascobert said he will not take an annual salary until the situation changes and top Gannett executives would take a 25% pay cut. Many Gannett workers will be furloughed for five days per month from now until June.

Wrote Bascobert: “We realize these actions will put economic hardship on all of you and I don’t take these measures lightly. I would simply and humbly say ‘thank you.’ Our goal is to ensure that when we get through these difficult times, we emerge fully able to continue our important role serving our readers, clients and communities.”

BH Media sells publications, including 10 Va. newspapers

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is selling its BH Media Group publications portfolio, which includes the Richmond Times-Dispatch and nine other Virginia newspapers, to Lee Enterprises Inc., which has been managing the newspapers since July 2018, Lee announced Wednesday.

The Virginia papers included in the sale are the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Roanoke Times, The Daily Progress in Charlottesville, The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Bristol Herald Courier, The News & Advance in Lynchburg, Danville Register & Bee, Martinsville Bulletin, Culpeper Star-Exponent and The News Virginian in Waynesboro.

The $140 million deal includes 31 local daily newspapers in 10 states, as well as The Buffalo News in New York, which is separately owned by Berkshire Hathaway.

Helmed by 89-year-old chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway will provide approximately $576 million in long-term financing to Iowa-based Lee Enterprises at a 9% annual rate, according to a news release. The proceeds from Berkshire’s financing will be used to pay for the acquisition and refinance Lee’s approximately $400 million of existing debt. Lee also will pay $8 million annually for a 10-year lease of BHMG’s real estate as part of the agreement.

Lee also said it has identified “approximately $20-25 million of highly achievable annual synergies,” specifically digital advertising and subscriber programs and reduction of administrative expenses, which the company expects to reach within two years of closing, set for mid-March. The news release did not mention job cuts or other specific changes at the publications.

“My partner Charlie Munger and I have known and admired the Lee organization for over 40 years,” Buffett said in a statement Wednesday. “They have delivered exceptional performance managing BH Media’s newspapers and continue to outpace the industry in digital market share and revenue. We had zero interest in selling the group to anyone else for one simple reason: We believe that Lee is best positioned to manage through the industry’s challenges.”

Buffett added that the company is committed to “high-quality local news.” Kevin Mowbray, Lee’s president and CEO, said in a statement that his company has “developed a strong bond and shared culture with the outstanding operators at BH Media,” with digital and subscription revenue growth and margin expansion.

Last November, Paul Farrell, formerly Lee’s vice president of sales, was named the publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, replacing Thomas A. Silvestri, who retired at the end of the year after serving as publisher since 2005.

BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway, bought Richmond-based Media General’s 63 newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama for $142 million in 2012.

Lee owns 46 daily newspapers and more than 200 weekly and specialty publications in 50 markets in 20 states.