Sonora’s old newspaper has a new owner. It’s based in Rhode Island
The Union Democrat newspaper in Sonora has a new owner, a small chain based in New England.
Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers Inc. bought the 165-year-old paper through U.S. Bankruptcy Court for $1.15 million. The deal takes effect Wednesday, July 31.
The Union Democrat had been owned since 1998 by Western Communications Inc., an Oregon-based chain that has struggled in recent years.
The paper had a series of local owners since its 1854 founding, five years into the Gold Rush. The most recent was the late Harvey McGee from 1958 to 1998. He employed a relatively large staff that provided intensely local coverage of Tuolumne County five days a week.
The Union Democrat is among many newspapers that have faced cutbacks as advertising and readership shifted online.
The sale includes the paper’s handsome brick headquarters in downtown Sonora, but no presses. It is now printed at the Sacramento Bee.
Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers also owns the Porterville Recorder, the Yuma Sun in Arizona and several daily and weekly papers in its home state.
The Union Democrat reported last month that the new ownership is headed by industry veteran Steven Malkowich.
“We buy newspapers because we believe in them,” he said. “... We’re not hedge fund guys.”
Malkowich leads another newspaper company that bought the Lodi News Sentinel in 2015 and the Bakersfield Californian in June, the Union Democrat reported.
Western Communications also has papers in Crescent City and in the Oregon cities of Bend, Baker City, La Grande, Redmond and Brookings.
This story was originally published July 30, 2019 at 4:36 PM.
