Paxton Media Group acquires the Batesville Daily Guard

Paxton Media Group purchased The Batesville (Ark.) Daily Guard from the Jones family on June 1, according to Randy Cope of Cribb, Greene & Cope who represented the Jones family.

Paxton Media, a family-owned company headquartered in Paducah, Ky., owns more than 36 daily newspapers, a television station and numerous weekly publications across Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. Fourth- and fifth-generation family members manage Paxton Media.

"We are grateful that the Jones family has entrusted us with the stewardship of the Batesville Daily Guard," said David Paxton, president and chief executive officer of Paxton Media Group. "It is an award winning newspaper with a proud history of serving Independence County.  This business combination will provide the financial security to ensure the newspaper will continue to serve the community with quality local journalism long into the future."

The Daily Guard will join other Paxton publications in the AR/LA/MS division of Paxton Media Group, managed by Group Publisher David Mosesso. That group includes six other dailies, four of which are in Arkansas. The Arkansas dailies include The Sun (Jonesboro), The Daily Citizen (Searcy), The Daily Press (Paragould), and The Courier (Russellville). There also are several shoppers and weekly publications in the division.     

"The Daily Guard will be in a better position to serve readers and advertisers by combining its strengths with those of other Paxton newspapers in the area," said Jamie Paxton, vice president of Paxton Media Group.  Batesville is less than one hour from Searcy and about an hour from Jonesboro.

"We welcome and embrace this new member of the Paxton family," said Group Publisher David Mosesso. "Newspapers are our core business and we take that role seriously by producing the best possible community newspaper serving our readers and our advertisers."

Randy Cope of Cribb, Greene & Cope represented the Jones family in the transaction. Cribb, Greene & Cope is a leading merger and acquisition firm with offices in Missouri, Virginia and Montana.