HD Media Co., LLC is a

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

, based publisher of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines. It was established by Doug Reynolds in 2013 to purchase the Herald-Dispatch from Champion Industries.

Newspapers

''The Herald-Dispatch''

In 2013, HD Media purchased ''The Herald-Dispatch'' from Champion Industries. ''

The Herald-Dispatch ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. History ''The Herald-Dispatch'' was founded in 190 ...

'' was founded in 1909 when two Huntington newspapers, the ''Herald'' and the ''Dispatch'', merged. In 1927, the newspaper became a part of the Huntington Publishing Company, operated by Joseph Harvey Long, the owner of the ''Huntington Advertiser''. The company was operated by the Long family until 1971, when it was sold to the ''Honolulu Star Bulletin'' and then to the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Its companion afternoon paper, the ''Huntington Advertiser'', ceased as a separate publication in 1979. Prior to the ''Huntington Advertiser''’s demise, the combined Sunday newspaper was referred to as the ''Herald-Advertiser'', correctly depicted in the movie ''We Are Marshall''. Today, it also publishes the ''Putnam Herald'' and the ''Lawrence Herald'', more localized editions of ''The Herald-Dispatch'' serving Putnam County, West Virginia and Lawrence County, Ohio, respectively.

''Charleston Gazette-Mail''

On March 8, 2018, HD Media, the Herald-Dispatch's holding company, was declared the successful bid in the auction for the

Charleston Gazette-Mail The ''Charleston Gazette-Mail'' is the only daily morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between ''The Charleston Gazette'' and the ''Charleston Daily Mail''. The paper is one of nine owned by HD ...

after the paper had declared bankruptcy. ''The Charleston Gazette-Mail'' is the only daily morning

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between the ''Charleston Gazette'' and the ''

Charleston Daily Mail The ''Charleston Daily Mail'' was a newspaper based in Charleston, West Virginia. On July 20, 2015, it merged with the ''Charleston Gazette'' to form the ''Charleston Gazette-Mail''. Publishing history The ''Daily Mail'' was founded in 1914 b ...

''. The ''Gazette'' traces its roots to 1873. At the time, it was a weekly newspaper known as the ''Kanawha Chronicle''. It was later renamed ''The Kanawha Gazette'' and the ''Daily Gazette''—before its name was officially changed to ''The Charleston Gazette'' in 1907. In 1912 it came under the control of the Chilton family, who have owned it until its bankruptcy in 2018.

William E. Chilton William Edwin Chilton (March 17, 1858November 7, 1939) was a United States senator from West Virginia. Born in St. Albans, West Virginia, Colesmouth, Virginia (now St. Albans, West Virginia), he attended public and private schools and graduated ...

, a U.S. senator, was publisher of ''The Gazette'', as were his son, William E. Chilton II, and grandson, W.E. "Ned" Chilton III, Yale graduate and classmate/protégé of conservative columnist

William F. Buckley, Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...

Ironically, the paper's opinion page, usually on the left, carried Buckley's column until Buckley's death. Ned Chilton used to claim that the job of a newspaper was to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." The newspaper's liberal reputation was enhanced by principal editorial writer and columnist L.T. Anderson, associate editor and two-time runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize. Anderson later moved to the rival ''Daily Mail'' as a columnist after he was passed over for an editorial position at the ''Gazette'', and often used his ''Daily Mail'' column to snipe at his former employer. The ''Daily Mail'' was founded in 1914 by former Alaska Governor

Walter Eli Clark Walter Eli Clark (January 7, 1869 – February 4, 1950) was an American journalist and newspaper publisher. In addition to his journalistic activities, he was the last Governor of the District of Alaska from 1909 to 1912, and the first Govern ...

and remained the property of his heirs until 1987. Governor Clark described the newspaper as an "independent Republican" publication. In 1987, the Clark heirs sold the paper to the Toronto-based

Thomson Newspapers The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organisation Ltd (ITOL) and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form ...

. The new owners moderated the political views of the paper to some degree. In 1998, Thomson sold the Daily Mail to the Denver-based

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado-based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns over 100 newspa ...

. The newspaper published in the afternoons, Monday-Saturday, with a Sunday morning edition, until 1961; Monday – Saturday afternoons from 1961–2005, Monday – Friday afternoons from 2005–2009, and Monday – Friday mornings from 2009–2015.

Other papers

In 2014, ''The Herald-Dispatch'' parent company HD Media acquired the ''Wayne County News'' in

Wayne, West Virginia Wayne is a town in, and the county seat of, Wayne County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,441 at the 2020 census. Wayne is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2015, the MSA had a ...

. In 2017, HD Media acquired the ''

Logan Banner ''The Logan Banner'', originally named the Logan County Banner, is a newspaper in Logan, West Virginia owned by HD Media, LLC, parent company of ''The Herald-Dispatch'' in Huntington. Circulation is limited to Logan County and surrounding areas ...

'', ''

Williamson Daily News The ''Williamson Daily News'' is a newspaper in Williamson, West Virginia. It was founded in 1912 and is the successor to a previous weekly effort, ''The Southern West Virginian'', founded in 1900. As of July 3, 2019, the paper publishes as a ...

'', the ''

Coal Valley News The ''Coal Valley News'' is a weekly newspaper produced in Madison in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Published on Wednesdays, it has a 2016 circulation of 1,176, and is owned by HD Media. The 2014 book ''The Coal River Valley in the Civil Wa ...

'' in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and ''The Pineville Independent Herald'' in Pineville from

Civitas Media Civitas Media, LLC was a Davidson, North Carolina-based publisher of community newspapers covering 11 Midwestern, Mid-Atlantic, and Southern states. The company was formed in 2012 via the merger of Heartland Publications, Impressions Media, Ohi ...

Antitrust lawsuit against Google and Facebook

In February 2021, HD Media filed an antitrust lawsuit against

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia on the basis of digital advertising manipulation. According to

News Media Alliance The News Media Alliance (formerly known as the Newspaper Association of America until 2016Doug Reynolds has stated in an interview that "“These companies are more powerful than

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

in its heyday, so no one wants to be the first to take them on. We felt the political and legal climate have moved in our favor and are ready to go ahead.” Paul Farrell, the lead lawyer for the suit has pointed out the digital advertising revenue of the company has declined despite a growing digital audience. Mr. Reynolds has reportedly spoken with other publishers and expects some will join the suit in the future.

Assets

*''

'' *''

Herald-Dispatch ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. History ''The Herald-Dispatch'' was founded in 19 ...

'' *''

'' *''The Pineville Independent Herald'' in Pineville *''

'' *''

Wayne County News ''The Herald-Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper that serves Huntington, West Virginia, and neighboring communities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. It is currently owned by HD Media Co. LLC. History ''The Herald-Dispatch'' was founded in 19 ...

References

{{reflist Newspaper companies of the United States Companies based in West Virginia Huntington, West Virginia 2013 establishments in West Virginia