Stephens Media (newspapers) explained

Stephens Media LLC
Type:Private
Foundation: (as Donrey Media Group)
Founder:Donald W. Reynolds
Location:Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Industry:Newspapers
Products:Newspapers, magazines, online
Num Employees:2,000+

Stephens Media LLC was a Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, diversified media investment company. It owned stakes in the California Newspapers Partnership and the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

The company had been expanding its interactive Internet business, operating online sites for its newspapers and portal sites like LasVegas.com, which is licensed to Greenspun Media Group. The company is also a partner in the California Newspapers Partnership with MediaNews and Gannett. The company also formed Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC in November 2009, a joint venture with WEHCO Media Inc., in Arkansas.

On November 28, 2010, Stephens Media Iowa, LLC, a subsidiary of Stephens Media, acquired several newspapers, including the Ames Tribune, Boone News-Republican, Dallas County News, Nevada Journal, Ames About People & Advertiser, Tri-County Times, and Algona Upper Des Moines from Midlands Newspapers Inc., a subsidiary of the Omaha World-Herald Company.[1] In August, 2011, the Algona Upper Des Moines was sold to Hallmark Media.[2]

In February 2015, Stephens Media was purchased by GateHouse Media for $102.8 million.[3] In December 2015, GateHouse sold the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Stephens group's largest paper, to casino magnate Sheldon Adelson for $140 million.[4]

History

Some of Donrey's properties were sold off, and the company moved its headquarters to Las Vegas, Nevada, home of its largest newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The company was renamed Stephens Media Group in 2002. In June 2006, the company became known as Stephens Media LLC. The company has no connection with Stephens Media Group, a radio broadcasting company in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Copyright infringements

In 2010, Stephens Media contracted with the litigation firm Righthaven LLC, giving it the power to enforce the company's copyrights[5] when online violators go beyond the bounds of fair use.[6] More than 141 lawsuits have been filed in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas since mid-March.

In a column published in the RJ shortly after the lawsuits began, publisher Sherman Frederick, said the primary goal with the partnership with Righthaven was to deter theft of the company's copyrighted materials.[7] He said if the company was successful, he hoped Righthaven would find other media clients. In late August, WEHCO Media, which owns the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Chattanooga Times Free Press, signed on with the firm.[8] MediaNews Group has also used Righthaven to file a copyright infringement suit.

The aggressive enforcement of the Stephens Media copyrights by Righthaven was being closely watched by other publishers, as is the debate it has generated.[9] Critics of the relatively new practice have coined it 'copyright trolling', and argue that the purpose of such enforcement is to make a profit.[10] In the Poynter article, Stephens Media general counsel Mark Hinueber says the goal is to make sure the company's intellectual rights are protected. "We were seeing our entire work product in some stories just being right-clicked and cut and pasted into blogs, where people were selling Google ads around them and making money."[9] The Las Vegas Sun has been thoroughly documenting Righthaven's activities and the response. The Sun’s outside law firm, Lewis and Roca, is defending several of the Righthaven suits.

Targets of the Righthaven lawsuits included bloggers, political forums, major political parties, and several of the newspaper's own sources including NORML, DailyPaul.com, InfoWars, Free Republic, and others.[11] [12] [13] On August 25, 2010, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced that they will make efforts to assist Righthaven LLC defendants to the best of their ability.[14]

Righthaven's lawsuits came under increasing judicial scrutiny, which led to Righthaven being found in June 2011 to lack standing to sue for alleged infringement of copyrighted material to which it holds only a limited license, as such a license does not confer the right to sue for infringement. Sanctions against Righthaven and its attorney, Steven A. Gibson, of Nevada law firm Dickinson Wright, are currently being contemplated by one judge. Righthaven later had its assets seized to pay judgments levied against it in lawsuits it filed against those whom it said infringed on the copyrights of clients. As a result, copyrights which had been "sold" by Stephens to Righthaven were "sold back" to Stephens for $80,000 to pay legal fees.[15]

Joint venture

In September 2009, Stephens Media and WEHCO Media Inc., owner of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, announced plans to combine their newspaper operations in Northwest Arkansas and operate as a single company.[16] The venture was approved in November 2009 by the U.S. Justice Department, and a new Arkansas limited liability company, Northwest Arkansas Newspaper LLC, was formed. Stephens Media sold its interest in the joint venture to WEHCO on May 5, 2016, which then assumed all control of operations of the newspapers in the joint venture.[17]

Newspapers in the joint venture include:

Holdings

Newspapers by state

Arkansas

  1. Press Argus Courier, Van Buren (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[19]
  2. Booneville Democrat, Booneville (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[20]
  3. Charleston Express, Charleston (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[21]
  4. Greenwood Democrat, Greenwood (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[22]
  5. Paris Express, Paris (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[23]
  1. White Hall Progress, White Hall (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[25]
  1. North Little Rock Times, North Little Rock (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[26]
  2. Jacksonville Patriot, Jacksonville (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[27]
  3. Sherwood Voice, Sherwood (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[28]
  4. Maumelle Monitor, Maumelle (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[29]
  1. Cabot Star-Herald, Cabot (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[30]
  2. Lonoke Democrat, Lonoke (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[31]
  3. Carlisle Independent, Carlisle (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[32]
  4. England Democrat, England (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[33]
  1. Hot Springs Village Voice, Hot Springs Village (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[34]
  2. Van Buren County Democrat, Clinton (Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[35]

Iowa

  1. Boone News-Republican, Boone, IA (DAILY)[36]
  2. Dallas County News, (Weekly)[37]
  3. Algona Upper Des Moines, Algona, IA (Weekly)[38]
  4. Nevada Journal, Nevada, IA (Weekly)[39]
  5. Tri-County Times, Nevada, IA (Weekly)[40]
  6. Ames Sun, Ames, IA (Weekly)
  7. Story County Advertiser, Ames, IA (Weekly)

Nevada

  1. Ely Times, Ely, NV (Weekly, Fri.)[41]
  2. Rebel Nation, Las Vegas, NV (Monthly, 1st of month)[42]
  3. Eureka Sentinel, Eureka, NV (twice Weekly, Wed. & Fri.)
  4. Lincoln County Record (Weekly)[43]

North Carolina

Oklahoma

  1. Pawhuska Journal-Capital, Pawhuska, OK (twice Weekly, Wed. & Sat.)[44]

Texas

  1. Anna-Melissa Tribune, Anna, TX (Weekly)[45]
  2. Grayson County Shopper, Sherman, TX (Weekly)
  3. Prosper Press, Prosper, TX (Weekly)[46]
  4. Van Alstyne Leader, Van Alstyne, TX (Weekly)[47]
  5. Lake Texoma Life, Kingston, TX (Monthly, 1st of month)

Tennessee

  1. The Advertiser News, Spring Hill, TN (Weekly, Wed.)
  2. The Value Guide, Columbia, TN (Weekly, Tues.)
  3. Franklin Life, Franklin, TN (Monthly, 15th of month)[48]
  4. Brentwood Life, Brentwood, TN (Monthly, 1st of month)[49]
  5. Healthy Living, Columbia, TN (Monthly, 3rd Wed. each month)

News bureaus

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Release . Press . Stephens Media Acquires Ames (IA) Tribune—Editor & Publisher ® . Editorandpublisher.com . 2010-11-29 . 2013-05-29.
  2. http://www.algona.com/articles/2011/09/01/news/top_news/doc4e5e994a93af0920449983.txt
  3. News: Review-Journal, parent Stephens Media to be sold to New Media. . 19 February 2015 . 26 November 2017.
  4. News: Sheldon Adelson's Purchase of Las Vegas Paper Seen as a Power Play. . 2 January 2016 . 26 November 2017.
  5. Web site: Copyright, Stephens Media LLC. « Stephens Media Interactive . Stephensmedia.com . 2013-05-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130731092431/http://www.stephensmedia.com/copyright/ . 2013-07-31 .
  6. Web site: U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use . Copyright.gov . 2001-09-11 . 2013-05-28.
  7. Web site: Sherman Frederick . Copyright theft: We're not taking it anymore | Las Vegas Review-Journal . Lvrj.com . 2010-05-28 . 2013-05-28.
  8. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=134780
  9. Web site: Hochberg . Adam . Are Newspaper Copyright Lawsuits Fair Enforcement or 'Legal Extortion'? | Poynter . Poynter. . 2010-08-30 . 2013-05-28.
  10. Kravets . David . Newspaper Chain's New Business Plan: Copyright Suits | Threat Level . Wired . Wired.com . 2010-07-23 . 2013-05-28.
  11. Web site: Cynthia Conlin says . Copyright sleuthing (or, What happens in The Las Vegas Review-Journal…) | On the Record . Mddailyrecord.com . 2010-08-04 . 2013-05-28.
  12. Web site: List of Righthaven Lawsuits . Righthavenlawsuits.com . 2013-05-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100905013016/http://www.righthavenlawsuits.com/lawsuits.html . 2010-09-05 .
  13. Web site: Is This the Birth of the Copyright Troll? . www.law.com . 3 February 2022 . https://archive.today/20130427013434/http://www.law.com/jsp/cc/PubArticleCC.jsp?id=1202466627090 . 27 April 2013 . dead.
  14. Web site: EFF Seeks to Help Righthaven Defendants | Electronic Frontier Foundation . Eff.org . 2010-08-25 . 2013-05-28.
  15. Web site: Righthaven Copyrights 'Sold' Back To Stephens Media For $80k To Pay Legal Fees . Masnick . Mike . March 18, 2013 . techdirt.com . 15 May 2013.
  16. Web site: Lance Turner . September 3, 2009 . UPDATED: Democrat-Gazette, Stephens Media Plan Joint Venture in Northwest Arkansas . Arkansas Business News . April 13, 2021 . subscription.
  17. Web site: Bahn. Chris. WEHCO Media announces changes . Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. May 26, 2016 . April 13, 2021.
  18. Web site: Northwest Arkansas News - Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville . NWAonline . 2013-05-28.
  19. Web site: Press Argus-Courier . Pressargus.com . 2013-05-28.
  20. Web site: Booneville Democrat . Booneville Democrat . 2013-05-28.
  21. Web site: Charleston Express . Charleston Express . 2013-05-28.
  22. Web site: Greenwood Democrat . Greenwood Democrat . 2013-05-28.
  23. Web site: Paris Express . Paris Express . 2013-05-28.
  24. Web site: Pine Bluff Commercial Online . Pbcommercial.com . 2013-05-28.
  25. Web site: White Hall | Pine Bluff Commercial Online . Whitehallprogress.com . 2013-05-28.
  26. Web site: North Little Rock Times | Pulaski News . Nlrtimes.com . 2013-05-23 . 2013-05-28.
  27. Web site: Pulaski News . Jacksonville Patriot . 2013-05-28.
  28. Web site: Pulaski News . Sherwood Voice . 2013-05-28.
  29. Web site: Pulaski News . Maumelle Monitor . 2013-05-23 . 2013-05-28.
  30. Web site: Lonoke News . Cabot Star-Herald . 2013-05-28.
  31. Web site: Lonoke News . Lonoke Democrat . 2013-05-28.
  32. Web site: Lonoke News . Carlisle Independent . 2013-05-28.
  33. Web site: Lonoke News . England Democrat . 2013-05-28.
  34. Web site: CAROLE SJOLANDER Staff writer . Headlines | www.hsvvoice.com | Hot Springs Village Voice . www.hsvvoice.com . 2013-05-28.
  35. Web site: Van Buren County Democrat . Vanburencountydem.com . 2013-05-28.
  36. Web site: Boone News-Republican . Newsrepublican.com . 2013-05-29.
  37. Web site: Dallas County News . Adelnews.com . 2013-05-29.
  38. Web site: Algona Upper Des Moines > Front . Algona.com . 2013-05-23 . 2013-05-28.
  39. Web site: Nevada Iowa Journal . Nevada Iowa Journal . 2013-05-29.
  40. Web site: Tri-County Times . Tri-County Times . 2013-05-29.
  41. Web site: The Ely Times: Serving Nevada's White Pine County since 1920 . Elynews.com . 2013-05-28.
  42. Web site: Carp . Steve . UNLV Rebels | Las Vegas Review-Journal . Rebelnation.reviewjournal.com . 2013-05-28.
  43. Web site: The Lincoln County Record . The Lincoln County Record . 2013-05-28.
  44. Web site: Pawhuska Journal Capital . Pawhuska Journal Capital . 2013-05-28.
  45. Web site: Anna-Melissa Tribune . Amtrib.com . 2013-05-29.
  46. Web site: Prosper Press News . Prosper Press News . 2013-05-29.
  47. Web site: The Van Alstyne Leader . The Van Alstyne Leader . 2013-05-29.
  48. Web site: Franklin Life . https://archive.today/20130628225802/http://cdh.columbiadailyherald.com/affiliate/franklinlife/ . dead . 2013-06-28 . Cdh.columbiadailyherald.com . 2013-05-16 . 2013-05-29.
  49. Web site: Brentwood Life . https://archive.today/20130628222216/http://cdh.columbiadailyherald.com/affiliate/brentwoodlife/ . dead . 2013-06-28 . Cdh.columbiadailyherald.com . 2013-05-16 . 2013-05-29.
  50. Web site: Arkansas News . Arkansas News . 2013-05-22 . 2013-05-28.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Stephens Media (newspapers)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.