Southeast Iowa Union acquires New London Journal

The New London Journal is adding another chapter to its history.

The paper, whose roots trace back well over 100 years, is transitioning ownership to the employee-owned Southeast Iowa Union. The transition of ownership will begin with this March 2 edition.

“The New London Journal is a great fit for the Southeast Iowa Union family of publications. We know this community and we have the resources readily available to help make the Journal an even stronger hometown newspaper,” Southeast Iowa Union Publisher Matt Bryant said.

Readers shouldn’t expect wholesale changes to the newspaper in coming months, Bryant said. The paper will continue as a weekly title distributed by mail on Thursdays. Increased local content will be a staple going forward, as the reporting team from the Southeast Iowa Union will support and supplement current contributors, Bryant said.

Bryant has been publisher in Washington since 2009, Mount Pleasant since 2013, Fairfield since 2019, the Clarion Plainsman, covering the Richland and Packwood area, since May of last year, and the most recent acquisition of the Winfield – Wayland paper just last week. A member of his family has been a newspaper publisher in Iowa since 1866.

The Southeast Iowa Union is a part of an employee-owned organization Folience, also the parent company of The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. The Gazette purchased the Washington Evening Journal, Fairfield Ledger and Mount Pleasant News in 2016, and started the Union in 2019.

“This is such a great opportunity for us to grow our coverage of Southeast Iowa through the pages of the Union, the Clarion-Plainsman, the Beacon-News and now the Journal. We can now provide more local and area content to the readers of all publications plus provide even greater reach for our advertising partners,” Bryant said.

Sycamore Media, which publishes several community newspapers including Maquoketa Sentinel-Press, DeWitt Observer, and others, acquired the New London Journal with five other titles upon retirement of longtime owner Mike Hodges in 2021. The idea for transitioning ownership to the Union came up earlier this year. Geographic proximity of the Union meant it would likely be able to provide the paper with additional resources.

“We wanted to find something that would be a win for all parties and would allow The New London Journal to continue operating and serving Iowa communities,” Sycamore Media President Trevis Mayfield said. “We’re hopeful that this transition does that.”

There is significant transition in media ownership and newspaper titles, both in Iowa and nationally in recent years, with many of the state’s 250 papers combining or changing ownership in Iowa last year alone. The switches are driven by reductions in ad-supported news, changes to patterns coming out of the pandemic, as well as an aging group of individual owners and changes to national ownership groups.

“There are several different approaches to the future that newspapers are experimenting with, but studies show that communities that have a local media presence are more efficient to the taxpayers,” said Iowa Newspaper Association Executive Director Susan Patterson Plank.

The Southeast Iowa Union is building a reputation for acquiring and maintaining community newspapers throughout Southeast Iowa and beyond.