DIXON – Shaw Media, owner of the Northwest Herald, has purchased Suburban Life publications and affiliated operations from GateHouse Media. The purchase was effective Monday.
Suburban Life, based in Downers Grove, is a group of 22 weekly newspapers in Chicago’s western suburbs. Suburban Life distributes in DuPage, Kane, McHenry, Will and Cook counties. The Suburban Life publications include the Elmhurst Press, Wheaton Leader, Downers Grove Reporter, Berwyn Life, as well as other titles, and the website mysuburbanlife.com.
In markets where Dixon-based Shaw Media currently operates, Shaw acquired Farmside in southwestern McHenry County, and the St. Charles Republican, the Batavia Republican and the Geneva Republican, all in Kane County.
“Adding Suburban Life expands our print and digital footprint in the Chicago suburban region, and will give us opportunities to better serve our readers and advertisers,” said John Rung, publisher of the Northwest Herald and Shaw Media’s senior vice president for media operations.
Shaw Media President and CEO Tom Shaw said the acquisition returns the Suburban Life weeklies to their family-owned roots.
“We are proud to welcome Suburban Life to our growing portfolio of family-owned, community-focused media operations,” Shaw said. “Our ongoing commitment to excellence and growth has helped us prosper, even in the most challenging times. We are extremely excited to be returning these respected titles to their family-owned roots.”
Michael Reed, Chief Executive Officer of GateHouse Media, said, “Illinois is and will continue to be an important market for GateHouse Media. However, given the Chicago marketplace, Suburban Life is an extremely good fit for Shaw Media based on their penetration and focus in the surrounding Chicago market. We believe the employees, readers and advertisers will benefit long-term given Shaw Media’s focus on the region.”
Rung announced that J. Tom Shaw – the publisher at Shaw’s Kane County Chronicle in St. Charles – also will serve as publisher of the Suburban Life publications.
In addition, Shaw Media has agreed to participate in adhance media, GateHouse Media’s online private ad exchange, to fill unsold inventory for Shaw Media’s digital properties. adhance media’s private ad exchange comprises more than 500 local, hyper-local and major city newspapers and broadcast sites nationwide. By leveraging the combined scale of these sites, adhance media provides agencies and advertisers with a wider national reach with locally-targeted audiences.
In addition to the Northwest Herald and Kane County Chronicle, Shaw Media also owns The Daily Chronicle in DeKalb, the Lake County Journal, the Morris Daily Herald and other publications and websites.
– The Northwest Herald
