Brown Publishing Company was a privately owned

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, newspaper business started by Congressman Clarence J. Brown in

Blanchester, Ohio Blanchester is a village in Clinton and Warren counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 4,243 at the 2010 census. Blanchester is part of the Wilmington, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cincinnati- ...

in 1920. It ended 90 years of operations in August/September 2010 with its

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and sale of assets to a new company formed by its creditors and called Ohio Community Media Inc. The company was previously a family-owned business; it published 18 daily newspapers, 27 weekly newspapers, and 26 free weeklies. The former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

was Brown's grandson, Roy Brown. The

chairman of the board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

was Roy's brother

Clancy Brown Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles. Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...

, who is also an actor.

Bankruptcy proceedings

On April 30, 2010, the company and its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in federal court in

Central Islip, New York Central Islip is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip, New York, Islip in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 34,450 at the 2010 c ...

, in the

Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, Su ...

in Docket 10-73295. It listed Brown and 14 affiliates, with assets of $94.1 million and $104.6 million in debts as of March 31, 2010. Its affiliates included Delaware Gazette Co., Texas Business News LLC, Utah Business Publishers LLC, Texas Community Newspapers Inc., Upstate Business News LLC, Troy Daily News Inc., SC Biz News LLC, ARG LLC, Brown Business Ledger LLC,

Dan's Papers ''Dan's Papers'' is a free weekly lifestyle publication in the Hamptons, Long Island, New York, USA, founded by Dan Rattiner.The first of the papers that would later collectively come to be known as ''Dan's Papers'' was the ''Montauk Pioneer'', w ...

Inc., Business Publications LLC. Several key executives of Brown Publishing submitted a plan to purchase key assets of the company under the auspices of a newly created company, Brown Media Holdings. This plan fell through when a key lender backing the plan withdrew its offer. On September 3, 2010, it was announced that

Manhattan Media Manhattan Media is an American media company based in New York City that publishes a variety of community and political newspapers and lifestyle magazines. The company is owned by Isis Ventures Partners . Overview In 2001, the company acquired '' ...

had purchased ''Dan's Papers,'' ''Montauk Pioneer,'' and ''Hampton Style Magazine'' from Brown. Later in September, Brown's 14 Ohio dailies and about 50 weekly publications were transferred to

Ohio Community Media Ohio Community Media was an American privately owned publisher of daily and weekly newspapers, primarily in the state of Ohio. It was headquartered in the Dayton suburb of Miamisburg, Ohio, and was owned by Philadelphia-based Versa Capital Managem ...

, a new entity owned by Brown's creditors, in a transaction valued at $21.75 million. Over the next few months, the new company sold a "mini-empire" of business newsweeklies which Brown had assembled starting in 2007. The company sold titles in cities including

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

;

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

;

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

; and

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

-based Versa Capital Management completed its purchase of Ohio Community Media for an undisclosed price in May 2011. By this point, the chain consisted of 14 daily newspapers and about 30 weeklies, all located in Ohio.

Publications

Dailies

* Beavercreek - ''News Current'' *

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

- ''

Delaware Gazette ''The Delaware Gazette'' is an American daily newspaper published in Delaware, Ohio. It is owned by AIM Media Midwest. The newspaper is published on weekday and Saturday mornings and is the only daily newspaper in Delaware County, Ohio. The pape ...

'' *

Fairborn Fairborn is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 34,620 at the 2020 census. Fairborn is a suburb of Dayton, and part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the only city in the world named Fairborn, a port ...

- ''Daily Herald'' *

Galion Galion is a city in Crawford, Morrow, and Richland counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 10,453 at the 2020 census. Galion is the second-largest city in Crawford County after Bucyrus. The Crawford County portion of Galion is p ...

- ''Inquirer'' * Greenville - ''Advocate'' * Hillsboro - ''Times-Gazette'' *

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

- ''Madison Press'' * Piqua - ''Daily Call'' *

Sidney Sidney may refer to: People * Sidney (surname), English surname * Sidney (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Sidney (footballer, born 1972), full name Sidney da Silva Souza, Brazilian football defensive midfielder * ...

- '' Daily News'' *

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

- ''Daily News'' *

Urbana __NOTOC__ Urbana can refer to: Places Italy *Urbana, Italy United States *Urbana, Illinois **Urbana (conference), a Christian conference formerly held in Urbana, Illinois *Urbana, Indiana * Urbana, Iowa *Urbana, Kansas * Urbana, Maryland *Urbana, ...

- ''Daily Citizen'' *

Washington Court House Washington Court House (often abbreviated as Washington C.H.) is a city in Union Township, Fayette County, Ohio. It is the county seat of Fayette County and is located between Cincinnati and Columbus. The population grew almost 1.5% from 2010 to ...

- ''Record-Herald'' * Wilmington - ''News Journal'' * Xenia - ''Daily Gazette''

Paid weeklies

* Bellville - The Bellville Star * Cardington - Morrow County Independent *

Columbus Grove Columbus Grove is a village in Putnam County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,137 at the 2010 census. Etymology and history Columbus Grove was founded in 1842. A large share of the early settlers being natives of Columbus, Ohio caused ...

- Putnam County Vidette *

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

- Times Community Newspapers * Eaton - The Register-Herald * Englewood Independent *

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

The Athens Messenger ''The Athens Messenger'' is a daily newspaper published in Athens, Ohio, United States, serving Athens and the surrounding communities of Athens County. ''The Athens Messenger'' was established in 1848, and became a daily publication in 1904. It h ...

* Huber Heights Courier * New Carlisle Sun Times Weekend Edition *

Tipp City Tipp City is a city in Miami County, Ohio, Miami County, Ohio, United States just outside Dayton. The population was 9,689 at the United States Census 2010, 2010 census. Formerly known as Tippecanoe, and then Tippecanoe City. Later, it was renamed ...

Herald * Vandalia Drummer News * West Milton Record * Fredericktown - Knox County Citizen * Georgetown - The News Democrat *

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

- Times Journal *

McArthur McArthur may refer to: People * McArthur (surname) Geography * McArthur, Arkansas, an unincorporated town in Desha County * McArthur, California, in Shasta County * McArthur, Modoc County, California * McArthur, Ohio * McArthur Basin, a large int ...

- Vinton County Courier * Mechanicsburg - The Telegram * Mount Gilead - The Morrow County Sentinel * Mount Sterling - The Tribune *

New Lexington New Lexington is a village in and the county seat of Perry County, Ohio, United States, southwest of Zanesville and miles southeast of Columbus. The population was 4,731 at the 2010 census. In 2020, New Lexington’s historical Main Street und ...

- Perry County Tribune *

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

- Putnam County Sentinel * Plain City - Plain City Advocate *

Ripley Ripley may refer to: People and characters * Ripley (name) * ''Ripley'', the test mannequin aboard the first International Space Station space station Dragon 2 space test flight Crew Dragon Demo-1 * Ellen Ripley, a fictional character from the Ali ...

- The Ripley Bee * Sunbury - The Sunbury News * Waverly - Pike County News Watchman * West Union - People's Defender

Free weeklies

Ohio

* Circleville - Pickaway County Paper *

- The Scoop *

- Times Community Newspapers * Beavercreek News-Current Extra * Centerville- Bellbrook Times *

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

- Oakwood Times * Springboro Sun *

Wright-Patterson AFB Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wri ...

- Skywrighter * Eaton - Weekend Edition *

- Advertiser *

Gallipolis Gallipolis ( ) is a chartered village (United States)#Ohio, village in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Gallia County, Ohio, Gallia County. The municipality is located in Southeast Ohio along the Ohio River about 55 miles southeast of ...

- River Cities & More * Georgetown - The News Democrat (Sunday) * Greenville - Sunday Edition * Hillsboro - The County Shopper *

- Community Shopper *

- Madison Press Weekly Review * Mount Gilead - Morrow County Advertiser *

- Perry County Shopper *

- Putnam County Advertiser * Piqua - Miami County Advocate *

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

- The Community Common *

- Sunday Extra * Van Wert - Sign of the Times * Washington C.H. - South Central Ohio Shopper * Waverly/ Chillicothe - Pike/Ross County Paper * West Union - People's Defender (Weekend Edition) * Wilmington - Star Republican * Xenia - Greene County Shopper

Former holdings, New York

* Bridgehampton, New York - Dan's Papers * Bridgehampton, New York - Hampton Style *

Montauk, New York Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318. The ...

- Montauk Pioneer

References

External links

Brown Publishing Company websiteOhio Community Media - successor company
{{Authority control Newspaper companies of the United States 1920 establishments in Ohio Publishing companies established in 1920