Observer Media Group, Inc. is a media company that publishes local

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 ...

s and

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s in the U.S. state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The company publishes twelve newspapers, three quarterly magazines and maintains six

news websites An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

History

Observer Media Groupstarted when Matt Walsh and Lisa Walsh purchased the ''Longboat Observer'' in 1995 from Ralph and Claire Hunter with the help of Lisa's parents and a small group of other investors. The Hunters started the ''Longboat Observer'' in 1978. Since then, Observer Media Group established new local newspapers, such as the ''

Sarasota Observer The ''Sarasota Observer'' is one of twelve community and business publications published by The Observer Group, which was formed in 1995, and whose headquarters are located in Sarasota, Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeaste ...

'' in 2004, and acquired other older newspapers, such as the 100+ year-old ''West Orange Times'' in 2014 and ''

Financial News & Daily Record The ''Jacksonville Daily Record'', formerly the ''Financial News & Daily Record'', is a weekly newspaper that has been published in Jacksonville, Florida since 1912. Overview The ''Daily Record'' primarily publishes urban development, financial, ...

'' in 2017. OMG maintains journalistic offices in Tampa, Clearwater, Bradenton, Longboat Key, Lakeland, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples, New Port Richey, Winter Garden, Lakewood Ranch, Port Charlotte, Palm Coast, and Ormond Beach. The name was changed to Observer Media Group in 2012 from The Observer Group. Observer Media acquired ''

Pelican Press The ''Siesta Key Observer'' (previously known as the ''Pelican Press'') is an American weekly free newspaper serving Siesta Key, Florida. Founded in 1971 by John and Elizabeth Davidson, it is now a part of a family of twelve community and busine ...

'' from Wisconsin-based

Journal Media Group Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...

in 2011. ''Pelican Press'' serves the Siesta Key area of Florida and in 2013, OMG renamed the paper to ''Siesta Key Observer'' to fit its overall branding. In 2012, The Observer attempted to publish the ''Palm Coast Observer'' twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. With a circulation of 25,000, OMG abandoned the idea and returned to a Thursday-only publishing schedule. The move, however, saw circulation increase to 30,000. "At first glance it looks like we may have an overall increase in ad revenue. And lower delivery cost," observed CEO Matt Walsh at the time. "In any business manual it is a wonderful thing to increase revenue and reduce cost at the same time." August 1, 2013, saw the launch of the ''Plant City Times & Observer'' with an initial run of 15,000 copies, the publication was sold to a group of local investors in December, 2018. In 2016, Emily Walsh was named

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

of several of OMG's assets, including ''East County Observer'', ''Longboat Observer'', ''Sarasota Observer'', ''Siesta Key Observer'', YourObserver.com, ''Season'' magazine and ''LWR Life'' magazine. As the daughter of the founders, Emily Walsh has worked most of her career for OMG.

Publications

As of 2021, Observer Media Group owns twelve newspapers (directly or indirectly), three magazines and six websites in support of the print editions, reaching more than 441,804 readers per week. OMG works with

issuu Issuu, Inc. (pronounced "issue") is a Danish-founded American electronic publishing platform based in Palo Alto, California, United States. Founded in 2004 as a Danish startup, the company moved its headquarters to the United States in 2013. ...

, the largest digital newsstand, to publish online digital copies of its print material.

References

External links

*
The Observer Group
at

{{Observer Media Group Newspapers published in Florida Companies based in Sarasota, Florida 1995 establishments in Florida Mass media companies established in 1995 Mass media companies of the United States Newspaper companies of the United States