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Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis was a group of publications in the
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
region 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 chain served the
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
and St. Charles counties in
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
and in the
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 ...
, Monroe and St. Clair Counties in
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...
. It published community newspapers, the ''Ladue News,'' ''Savvy Family,'' ''St. Louis' Best Bridal'' and ''Feast.'' Publications were grouped in regional offices in
Town and Country, Missouri Town and Country is a city in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States with a population of 11,640 as of the 2020 census. It is home to Missouri Baptist Medical Center, (locally known as MoBap). Town and Country has the highest median hou ...
, and
Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville is a city located mainly in Madison County, and partially in St. Clair County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 25,579, an increase from 24,707 in 2000. Collinsville is approximately from St. Louis, Mi ...
. The chain for years was distributed to homes for free. The papers became subscription-only in November 2008, a move decried by long-time employees as "the beginning of the end.". The chain's main competition was the ''Webster-Kirkwood Times'', ''The South County Times'' and ''Call Newspapers'' in Missouri and '' The Alton Telegraph,'' ''
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 ...
'', and ''
Belleville News-Democrat The ''Belleville News-Democrat'' is a daily newspaper in Belleville, Illinois. Focusing on news that is local to the area of southwestern Illinois, it has been published under various names for 150 years. As of 2009, it is published by The McCl ...
'' in Illinois.


Relationship with St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The newspapers are independent of the Lee-owned
St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...
, but share some resources, such a technical assistance and printing. The companies, which were previously owned by Pulitzer Inc., also share a common website, stltoday.com. The papers were printed at Donnelly Printing Company on Latty Avenue in north St. Louis County for years, then later at the Pulitzer Publishing Center in
Maryland Heights, Missouri Maryland Heights is a second-ring north suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 27,472 at the 2010 census. The city was incorporated in 1985. Edwin L. Dirck was appointed the city's first may ...
.


Notable staff

*Comedian
Kathleen Madigan Kathleen Madigan is an American comedian and TV personality. In addition to her stand up comedy performances, she is a regular guest on a variety of U.S. television programs. Early life and education Kathleen Madigan is one of seven children in ...
worked for the Suburban Journals for approximately 18 months in the late 1980s after graduation from SIU-Edwardsville. * Steve Pokin, a reporter and columnist for the ''St. Charles Journal,'' in November 2007 broke the story of Megan Meier, a Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, teen who committed suicide after being scorned by a fictitious friend on the social networking site MySpace. *
Todd Smith Todd Smith may refer to: People * Todd Smith (musician), American singer, songwriter and guitarist * Todd Smith (politician), Canadian politician *Todd Smith (singer), American vocalist and member of Selah *Todd Smith (wrestler), American wrestler ...
, a reporter for the ''Kirkwood-Webster Journal,'' was shot in the hand during the February 2008 shooting inside City Hall in Kirkwood, Mo. He was later laid off as part of cutbacks.


History

Most of the publications currently owned by Suburban Journals date to the early 1900s as independent newspapers. Many were in direct competition with one another. By the 1930s, the big adversaries in south
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
were the ''South Side Journal'' —renamed from the ''Cherokee News'' after Frank X. Bick bought it in 1933 — and ''39th Street Neighborhood News,'' launched in the summer of 1922 by ex-Post Dispatch composing room worker Bernard H. Nordmann. Bick's son, Frank C. Bick, helped shape the fledgling chain, which grew to include 10 publications in St. Louis City, as well as
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Jefferson and
Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
counties. Meanwhile, in northern St. Louis, Arthur Morgan Donnelly bought the ''Wellston Local'' in 1935 and rebranded it as the ''Wellston Journal,'' focusing more on north and central areas of the city. Donnelly, with his sons James and Robert, later shifted attention to northern and western St. Louis County, St. Charles County and eventually spread eastwards across the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
to include the Illinois counties of
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 ...
, St. Clair, and Monroe; ultimately publishing 25 separate newspapers in the bi-state metropolitan St. Louis area. The Donnelly and Bick families competed against one another until 1970, when operations were eventually and cooperatively formalized as sister companies, creating the Suburban Newspapers of
Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is a bi-state metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis, the principal city. It includes parts of both Missouri and Illinois. The city core is on the Mississippi Riverfront on t ...
; more commonly known as Suburban Journals. Circulation topped 820,000 households, making it one of the largest free-distribution community newspaper groups in the United States. In May 1984, the group was snapped up by
Ingersoll Publications 21st Century Media was an American media company. It was the successor of Ingersoll Publications and Journal Register Company, and it was succeeded by Digital First Media. The company operated more than 350 multi-platform products in 992 com ...
Co., a firm headed by
Ralph Ingersoll II Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...
, whose
father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...
lead the innovative ''PM'' newspaper in 1940s
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Ingersoll, who wanted to compete with the ''Post-Dispatch'' and now defunct ''
St. Louis Globe-Democrat The ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat'' was originally a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1852 until 1986. When the trademark registration on the name expired, it was then used as an unrelated free historically themed paper. Orig ...
'', used high-risk junk bonds and the advice of his friend Michael Milken to finance his acquisitions and eventually launched the failed '' St. Louis Sun''. Ingersoll was bought out by his partner and financier, E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co., which formed the Journal Register Co., the owner of 25 daily newspapers, including the ''New Haven Register'' and ''Alton Telegraph.'' The chain became the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis. In 1997, it bought the ''Ladue News''. The company in 1999 had revenues of $151 million. Pulitzer, which owned the ''Post-Dispatch'' and 11 other daily newspapers, in June 2000 bought the company, which then had 38 papers. It cost $165 million. Founder's grandson Robert Donnelly, Jr. rejoined the firm as an employee of Pulitzer, Inc. 16 years after the family's sale to Ingersoll Publications Co., making him a third-generation Publisher at Suburban Journals. Pulitzer later sold the group to Lee in summer 2005 for $1.46 billion. In early 2007, Lee reorganized the chain's management and eliminated publisher positions in the nine offices.Lee eliminates publisher posts at Suburban Journals - St. Louis Business Journal:
/ref> When the chain was acquired as part of Pulitzer's purchase out by Lee in 2005, the Suburban Journals published 35 papers. The bad economy, the effect of
the Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pu ...
on the newspaper business and the weight of the debt Lee took on in the purchase of Pulitzer combined to force major layoffs and consolidation in the chain. In 2009, the chain was cut to 10 editions. Additional cuts in 2011 brought the number of editions to six. Two more editions were cut in 2013. In August 2014 the ''Collinsville Herald'' and the ''Granite City Press-Record'' were combined to create the ''Madison County Journal''. ''Feast'' was launched in August 2010.Feast magazine debuts today, covering the St. Louis area food scene
/ref>


Editions

*''Belleville Journal'' *''Cahokia-Dupo Journal'' *''Collinsville Herald'' *''East St. Louis Journal'' *''Edwardsville Journal'' *''Granite City Press-Record'' *Millstadt/Smithton Enterprise *''Monroe County Clarion'' *''O'Fallon/Fairview Journal'' *''St. Charles County Suburban Journal'' (two editions)


See also

*
Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') is a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri, that consists of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galle ...
* St. Louis American * St. Louis Beacon


References


Sources

*A 2001 ''
Riverfront Times The ''Riverfront Times'' (''RFT'') is a free progressive weekly newspaper in St. Louis, in the U.S. state of Missouri, that consists of local politics, music, arts, and dining news in the print edition, and daily updates to blogs and photo galle ...
'' article about the relationship between the ''Post-Dispatch'' and Suburban Journals reporter
News Hole
* An article about Ingersol


External links


Suburban Journals website
{{Lee Enterprises Newspapers published in Missouri Lee Enterprises publications