The Miller family, owner of the NewsTribune, La Salle, Illinois and Indiana Agri-News are selling their publications to Shaw Media, according to Randy Cope, Cribb, Greene & Cope who represents the Miller family. The sale is expected to close Sept. 1. Terms were not disclosed.
The sale of the newspapers marks the end of an over 70-year ownership by the Miller family. Peter Miller, Jr., acquired the Peru Herald in 1946 and later that year the La Salle Post Tribune. In 1947 these two papers were merged into the Daily News-Tribune. The name was changed to NewsTribune in 1984. The NewsTribune serves readers in La Salle, Bureau, Putnam and Marshall counties.
In 1977 ,the Miller family added Agri-News as a bi-monthly supplement to the NewsTribune. In 1980, Agri-News was changed to Illinois Agri-News, it became a stand-alone publication and moved to weekly distribution. Indiana Agri-News was added in 1982. Illinois and Indiana Agri-News are distributed weekly to farm families throughout Illinois, Indiana and the entire Midwest.
Peter Miller Jr., served as publisher of the NewsTribune until 1984 when his son Peter III took over the operation. Joyce McCullough was named publisher in 2002. The elder Peter Miller passed away in 2004 and Peter III in 2011.
At that time, McCullough was named president of Miller Group Media. Lynn Barker serves as publisher of the Agri-News publications.
“It is because of the dedication of each member of our management team and staff that the NewsTribune has remained independently owned. Catherine Miller has mixed emotions as she turns this valuable member of the Illinois Valley community over to the Shaw family. We are honored to have been able to serve our local readers and advertisers for so many years. We have valued their relationships and are confident those relationships will grow under Shaw leadership” said McCullough. “As has been said so many times recently by people in many different areas of work, from retail to industry: it’s a different world. The synergies and economies of scale that are gained by joining with others are vital for growth. Shaw has a reputation for providing local news reported by local staff and for supporting the communities they serve. That gives Cathy and me comfort.”
This acquisition adds to Shaw’s network of daily and weekly newspapers and specialty publications, which cover 15 counties across northern Illinois, as well as part of Iowa. Shaw’s daily newspaper holdings include La Salle County’s other five-day-a-week newspaper, The Times of Ottawa, as well as Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, The Herald-News in Joliet, Daily Chronicle in DeKalb, the Telegraph in Dixon and the Daily Gazette in Sterling.
“We are honored to be able to continue the legacy of the Miller family in La Salle County,” Shaw President and CEO John Rung said. “The NewsTribune has established a high bar of journalistic standards, and its print and digital assets are a perfect fit for Shaw Media.”