DALLAS, TX — Global media company Hearst announced Thursday it has acquired The Dallas Morning News, giving the company nearly every major paper in Texas.
Hearst also owns the Houston Chronicle, the San Antonio Express-News and the Austin American-Statesman, along with smaller papers in Midland, Laredo, Beaumont and Plainview.
The only major paper left in Texas that Hearst doesn’t have is the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which is owned by McClatchy.
Thursday’s announcement was met with cynical reactions on social media, with many expressing frustration that corporate journalism has monopolized much of the mainstream media landscape in Texas.
Newspapers have largely been decimated across the nation in recent years, with organizations like the Standard-Times in San Angelo reduced to just one reporter at times.
Larger papers, however, have been given a corporate lifeline to continue churning out stories to an audience that increasingly doesn’t trust legacy media.
The Dallas Morning News is perhaps the crown jewel of all Hearst’s Texas papers. It is the oldest continuously operated business in Texas, dating to 1842, and it has won nine Pulitzer Prizes.
DallasNews shareholders will get $14 per share, which puts the value of the company at $74.9 million.
Hearst owns 35 television stations and more than 200 magazines and has an ownership stake in cable networks A&E, HISTORY, Lifetime and ESPN.
Hearst also owns Fitch Group, a global financial services business; Hearst Transportation; and Hearst Health, a group of medical information and services businesses.
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