The DeKalb Daily Chronicle was sold to Shaw Newspapers in a sale announced Tuesday.

Shaw Newspapers, a Dixon-based media company, bought the newspaper from Lee Enterprises and has been interested in the DeKalb media group for years.
“We have courted them for more than a decade,” said Tom Shaw, the company’s president and chief executive officer.

The DeKalb operation will become part of Crystal Lake-based Shaw Suburban Media, Shaw said.

Among that group’s other publications are the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake and the Kane County Chronicle in Geneva.

The 156-year-old Shaw Newspapers has newspapers, niche publications and online sites in Dixon, Sterling, Princeton, Morris, Geneva and Crystal Lake, as well as in Newton and Creston, Iowa.

Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises acquired the Daily Chronicle when it purchased Pulitzer Inc. two years ago.

Lois Self, former NIU communication department chair, said she would not expect major changes for the paper.

“They may try for a somewhat different look in design, but I doubt any really dramatic changes,” Self said. “I think Shaw is pretty strong in this area, with other papers in the region; it is simply a financial move.”

Shaw executives said the Daily Chronicle was a good addition.

“In the greater Chicago area, we will now have a significant footprint in Lake, McHenry, Kane and DeKalb counties,” said John Rung, chief operating officer of Shaw Suburban Media and publisher of the Northwest Herald.

The addition of the Chronicle is an example of media buyouts happening all throughout the country.

“Competition between media outlets is generally a good thing,” Self said. “The more consolidation you have, the less competition you’re likely to see.”
Self felt the buyout could lead to less diversity in news and news coverage.

“I think the fact that fewer and fewer people own news outlets is potentially problematic,” Self said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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