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HD Media Co., LLC is a
Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...
, based publisher of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines. It was established by Doug Reynolds in 2013 to purchase the Herald-Dispatch from Champion Industries.


Newspapers


''The Herald-Dispatch''

In 2013, HD Media purchased ''The Herald-Dispatch'' from Champion Industries. ''
The Herald-Dispatch ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a non-daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. It currently publishes Tuesdays-Saturdays, wit ...
'' was founded in 1909 when two Huntington newspapers, the ''Herald'' and the ''Dispatch'', merged. In 1927, the newspaper became a part of the Huntington Publishing Company, operated by Joseph Harvey Long, the owner of the ''Huntington Advertiser''. The company was operated by the Long family until 1971, when it was sold to the ''Honolulu Star Bulletin'' and then to the
Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as severa ...
ten months later. Its companion afternoon paper, the ''Huntington Advertiser'', ceased as a separate publication in 1979. Prior to the ''Huntington Advertiser''’s demise, the combined Sunday newspaper was referred to as the ''Herald-Advertiser'', correctly depicted in the movie ''We Are Marshall''. Today, it also publishes the ''Putnam Herald'' and the ''Lawrence Herald'', more localized editions of ''The Herald-Dispatch'' serving Putnam County, West Virginia and Lawrence County, Ohio, respectively.


''Charleston Gazette-Mail''

On March 8, 2018, HD Media, the Herald-Dispatch's holding company, was declared the successful bid in the auction for the
Charleston Gazette-Mail The ''Charleston Gazette-Mail'' is a non-daily morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between ''The Charleston Gazette'' and the '' Charleston Daily Mail''. It is one of nine papers owned by HD M ...
after the paper had declared bankruptcy. ''The Charleston Gazette-Mail'' is the only daily morning
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
in
Charleston, West Virginia Charleston () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in West Virginia, most populous city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Kanawha County, West Virginia, Kanawha County and ...
. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between the ''Charleston Gazette'' and the ''
Charleston Daily Mail The ''Charleston Daily Mail'' was a newspaper based in Charleston, West Virginia. On July 20, 2015, it merged with the '' Charleston Gazette'' to form the '' Charleston Gazette-Mail''. Publishing history The ''Daily Mail'' was founded in 1914 ...
''. The ''Gazette'' traces its roots to 1873. At the time, it was a weekly newspaper known as the ''Kanawha Chronicle''. It was later renamed ''The Kanawha Gazette'' and the ''Daily Gazette''—before its name was officially changed to ''The Charleston Gazette'' in 1907. In 1912 it came under the control of the Chilton family, who have owned it until its bankruptcy in 2018. William E. Chilton, a U.S. senator, was publisher of ''The Gazette'', as were his son, William E. Chilton II, and grandson, W.E. "Ned" Chilton III, Yale graduate and classmate/protégé of conservative columnist
William F. Buckley, Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American conservative writer, public intellectual, political commentator and novelist. Born in New York City, Buckley spoke Spanish as his ...
Ironically, the paper's opinion page, usually on the left, carried Buckley's column until Buckley's death. Ned Chilton used to claim that the job of a newspaper was to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." The newspaper's liberal reputation was enhanced by principal editorial writer and columnist L.T. Anderson, associate editor and two-time runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize. Anderson later moved to the rival ''Daily Mail'' as a columnist after he was passed over for an editorial position at the ''Gazette'', and often used his ''Daily Mail'' column to snipe at his former employer. The ''Daily Mail'' was founded in 1914 by former Alaska Governor Walter Eli Clark and remained the property of his heirs until 1987. Governor Clark described the newspaper as an "independent Republican" publication. In 1987, the Clark heirs sold the paper to the Toronto-based
Thomson Newspapers Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organization and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form Thomson Reuter ...
. The new owners moderated the political views of the paper to some degree. In 1998, Thomson sold the Daily Mail to the Denver-based
MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...
. The newspaper published in the afternoons, Monday-Saturday, with a Sunday morning edition, until 1961; Monday – Saturday afternoons from 1961 to 2005, Monday – Friday afternoons from 2005 to 2009, and Monday – Friday mornings from 2009 to 2015.


Other papers

In 2014, ''The Herald-Dispatch'' parent company HD Media acquired the ''Wayne County News'' in
Wayne, West Virginia Wayne is a town in and the county seat of Wayne County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,441 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area. Name Wayne was established in 1842, by the same act of ...
. In 2017, HD Media acquired the ''
Logan Banner ''The Logan Banner'', originally named the Logan County Banner, is a newspaper in Logan, West Virginia owned by HD Media, LLC, parent company of ''The Herald-Dispatch'' in Huntington. Circulation is limited to Logan County and surrounding ar ...
'', ''
Williamson Daily News The ''Williamson Daily News'' is a newspaper in Williamson, West Virginia. It was founded in 1912 and is the successor to a previous weekly effort, ''The Southern West Virginian'', founded in 1900. As of July 3, 2019, the paper publishes as a ...
'', the '' Coal Valley News'' in
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...
and ''The Pineville Independent Herald'' in Pineville from
Civitas Media Civitas Media, LLC was a Davidson, North Carolina–based publisher of community newspapers covering 11 Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern states. History The company was formed in 2012 via the merger of Heartland Publications, Impressio ...
.


Antitrust lawsuit against Google and Facebook

In February 2021, HD Media filed an antitrust lawsuit against
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
and
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
in the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (in case citations, S.D. W. Va.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Fourth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims agai ...
on the basis of digital advertising manipulation. According to
News Media Alliance The News Media Alliance (formerly known as the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) until 2016;
, this is the first lawsuit of its kind being filed by a news outlet. Managing director Doug Reynolds has stated in an interview that "“These companies are more powerful than
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...
in its heyday, so no one wants to be the first to take them on. We felt the political and legal climate have moved in our favor and are ready to go ahead.” Paul Farrell, the lead lawyer for the suit has pointed out the digital advertising revenue of the company has declined despite a growing digital audience. Mr. Reynolds has reportedly spoken with other publishers and expects some will join the suit in the future.


Assets

*''
Charleston Gazette-Mail The ''Charleston Gazette-Mail'' is a non-daily morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between ''The Charleston Gazette'' and the '' Charleston Daily Mail''. It is one of nine papers owned by HD M ...
'' *'' Coal Valley News'' *''
Herald-Dispatch ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a non-daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. It currently publishes Tuesdays-Saturdays, wit ...
'' *''
Logan Banner ''The Logan Banner'', originally named the Logan County Banner, is a newspaper in Logan, West Virginia owned by HD Media, LLC, parent company of ''The Herald-Dispatch'' in Huntington. Circulation is limited to Logan County and surrounding ar ...
'' *''The Pineville Independent Herald'' in Pineville *'' Virginia Mountaineer'' *''
Williamson Daily News The ''Williamson Daily News'' is a newspaper in Williamson, West Virginia. It was founded in 1912 and is the successor to a previous weekly effort, ''The Southern West Virginian'', founded in 1900. As of July 3, 2019, the paper publishes as a ...
'' *''
Wayne County News ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a non-daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. It currently publishes Tuesdays-Saturdays, wit ...
''


References


External links

* {{Official website Newspaper companies of the United States Companies based in West Virginia Huntington, West Virginia 2013 establishments in West Virginia