Quincy Herald-Whig and Hannibal Courier Post sold to Phillips Media Group LLC

Feb 25, 2021

QUINCY, Illinois — The Quincy Herald-Whig and Hannibal (Missouri) Courier Post have been sold to Phillips Media Group LLC, headquartered in Arkansas. The sale is expected to close with Phillips becoming the new owner on March 1, 2021.

The announcement was made by Ralph M. Oakley, president and CEO of Quincy Media Inc., and Jim Holland, president of Phillips Media Group. Quincy Media has owned and published the Herald-Whig for almost 95 years. The Hannibal Courier Post was purchased in 2019.

Dirks, Van Essen & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Quincy Media in the transaction. No terms of the transaction were announced.

“The newspaper business is changing dramatically,” Ralph M. Oakley, president and CEO of Quincy Media, said. “That, along with our decision to leave the media business entirely, is the driving force in this decision.”

Quincy Media announced recently the sale of its television and radio stations, including WGEM AM-FM-TV to Gray Television. That sale, subject to federal regulatory approval, is expected to be complete in the second or third quarter of 2021.

“It is a great outcome for our region and for the employees who will continue on with Phillips,” Oakley said.

Ron Wallace, who has served as vice president and publisher of the Herald-Whig since 2013, will continue in that role.

Quincy Media began as Quincy Newspapers Inc. in 1926, with the merger of The Quincy Herald and Quincy Whig-Journal. That merger brought together the Oakley and Lindsay families, whose descendants continue to be involved in ownership, board service or working in the company to this day.