The ''Herald & Review'' is a daily newspaper based in
Decatur, Illinois
Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...
. It is owned by
Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...
.
The Herald & Review was named one of Editor & Publisher's "10 Newspapers That Do It Right" in 2019 for its use of government documents and public records to create substantive journalism.
In 2018, the Herald & Review was recognized by Editor & Publisher for digital growth and other initiatives. It also received top honors in the investigative reporting and public service categories in the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors 2017 newspaper contest.
The Herald & Review in August 2017 was one of 10 newsrooms chosen from across the country to receive a grant for watchdog training through Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening investigative journalism.
The Herald & Review also founded the Herald and Review 100, an auto race held annually at Macon Speedway, in
Macon, Illinois
Macon is a town in Macon County, Illinois, United States whose population was 1,138 at the 2010 census, and 1,120 at a 2018 estimate. It is included in the Decatur, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area and lies 11 miles South of Decatur.
Histo ...
.
History
The Rev. Alfred F. Wuensch founded the ''Decatur Review'' as a weekly newspaper in April 1872. C.N. Walls founded the ''Daily Herald'' in 1878. In 1931, the morning ''Herald'', by this time owned by the Lindsay family, and the evening ''Daily Review'', owned by the Schaub family, merged their operations. Both newspapers continued to publish separately while maintaining largely separate editorial staffs. The Lindsay-Schaub combine acquired other newspapers, including ''
The Southern Illinoisan
''The Southern Illinoisan'' is a daily newspaper based in Carbondale, Illinois, known locally as "The Southern." As of October 2014, it has a daily circulation of 21,270, and a Sunday circulation of 26,958. It is one of the major regional newspa ...
Edwardsville Intelligencer
The ''Edwardsville Intelligencer'' is an American daily newspaper in Illinois based in Edwardsville. The paper is circulated in Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, and nearby rural areas.
The newspaper was founded in 1862. In 1960, longtime owner and ...
'', the ''
Metro-East Journal
The ''Metro-East Journal'' was a newspaper published in East St. Louis, Illinois, from 1888 to 1979.
History
The newspaper was founded as the ''East St. Louis Journal'' in 1888. The paper's name was changed to the ''St. Clair and Madison Counties ...
'' and the ''
Midland Daily News
The ''Midland Daily News'' is a daily newspaper which serves Midland County, Michigan. The offices for the paper are located at 219 East Main Street in downtown Midland; the paper is widely circulated around Midland County.
The newspaper also pr ...
'', as well as Decatur radio station WSOY.
On July 13, 1937, 17 of the paper's editorial employees walked out and went on strike, forcing suspension of the paper, Decatur's only daily newspaper at the time.
The newspaper moved into its current building in May 1976.
In 1979,
Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...
purchased most of the Lindsay-Schaub papers, including the ''Herald'' and ''Daily Review''. The papers were renamed the ''Herald & Review'' and continued to publish morning and evening editions. In June 1982, the evening edition was discontinued.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy, debt discharge and bailout reorganization (2011)
The ownership company,
Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. It emerged from bankruptcy less than two months later. In April 2012,
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...
took a stake in Lee Enterprises (through
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiums ...
), buying $85 million of the company's debt from
Goldman Sachs Group
Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Hong ...
.
In June 2012, Berkshire Hathaway filed an amended
Form 13F
Form 13F is a quarterly report filed, per United States Securities and Exchange Commission regulations, The document noted that the confidentiality of this transaction was requested but denied by the SEC on May 25, 2012.
Debt recapitalization (2013-14) following bankruptcy and bailout
In April 2013, Lee Enterprises announced that Berkshire Hathaway refinanced the remaining
Pulitzer Pulitzer may refer to:
*Joseph Pulitzer, a 20th century media magnate
*Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award
*Pulitzer (surname)
* Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain
*Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-pro ...
acquisition debt equating to $94 million. Lee Enterprises incurred no cost for doing this. The collateral involved was the TNI Partner stake including the ''
Arizona Daily Star
The ''Arizona Daily Star'' is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States.
History
L. C. Hughes was the Arizona Territory governor and founder of the ''Arizona Star'', ...
'' an azstarnet.com The result of this was a reduction in interest from a
variable rate
A floating interest rate, also known as a variable or adjustable rate, refers to any type of debt instrument, such as a loan, bond, mortgage, or credit, that does not have a fixed rate of interest over the life of the instrument.
Floating intere ...
of 11.3% to a fixed rate of 9% while at the same time extending the debt maturity date of the debt from December 2015 to April 2017. At the time of the announcement Lee Enterprises noted they had $893 million left to pay off. Lee paid off and retired its New Pulitzer notes in June 2015, 6 months before the original maturity date and 22 months before the new maturity date. Lee also refinanced its remaining debt in 2014 in order to extend the maturities from 2015 and 2017 to 2019 and 2022. Lee retired its 1st Lien Term Loan in November 2018, four months before its scheduled March 2019 maturity.
On June 27, 2018, Lee Enterprises and Berkshire Hathaway reached a five-year agreement to allow Lee Enterprises to manage Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper and digital operations.