Better Newspapers Inc. acquires 4 Missouri newspapers

Jul 18, 2023

PARK HILLS, Missouri — Greg Hoskins’ Better Newspapers Inc. has purchased the Daily Journal (the Parkland regional newspaper), Fredericktown Democrat News, Farmington Press, and Advantage from Lee Enterprises.

Dirks, Van Essen & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Lee Enterprises in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.

Hoskins said he hopes to see these newspapers grow and embrace their roots of community-based news coverage.

“I am happy to now include The Park Hills Daily Journal, Democrat News, Farmington Press and Advantage as part of our growing, premium newspaper company,” he said. “We pledge, from our family to yours, a heightened amount of news content, with an emphasis on increasing local news.”

Other improvements include bringing back local autonomy at each newspaper and the building of a regional, Missouri-based press plant in Park Hills.

Based in Mascoutah, Illinois, Better Newspapers Inc., led by Publisher Greg Hoskins, is a family-owned company founded in 1991 that now operates 39 publications in Illinois and Missouri as well as six radio stations.

Hoskins and a former partner formed Better Newspapers Inc. in 1991. In 2012, Hoskins expanded his corporation by building a regional press plant in Altamont, Illinois. This plant not only prints publications owned by Better Newspapers Inc. but also a variety of other newspapers in the area.

Hoskins is president of the corporation and his wife, Linda, works in the editorial department. His oldest son, Scott, is the Metro-East Regional Manager, and his younger son, Mark, is the central Illinois Regional Manager for the press plant.