By: E&P Staff Seven decades after the group was founded by James H. Ottaway Sr., Ottaway Newspapers will soon be no more. Dow Jones & Co. said Monday its community newspaper subsidiary will be Dow Jones Local Media Group Inc. effective July 1.
"The new name reflects the closer working relationship between our successful local news franchises and the rest of Dow Jones and News Corp.," said Les Hinton, CEO of Dow Jones.
Soon after Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. acquired Dow Jones, it tried unsuccessfully to sell the group, which includes eight dailies, 15 weeklies and several magazines in six states.
Ottaway Newspapers began with James H. Ottaway Sr.'s 1936 purchase of the Bulletin, a non-daily in Endicott, N.Y. The group was acquired by Dow Jones in 1970 and functioned more or less autonomously.
"The Ottaway name has served the organization well for more than 70 years," the group's COO ,William Kennedy, said in a statement. "While the name is changing, the organization will retain the professionalism and commitment to community service that originated under the leadership of the Ottaway family."
Patrick J. Purcell, CEO of the renamed Dow Jones Local Media Group, said the name change "won't change our core values," and that the "local media franchises will continue to operate independently to cover the communities they serve."
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