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LONGVIEW — The Kilgore News Herald has been acquired by M. Roberts Media, owner of the Longview News-Journal, Tyler Morning Telegraph, The Marshall News Messenger and other newspapers.

The acquisition was announced to employees today. Terms of the deal between M. Roberts Media and News Herald owner Bluebonnet Publishing Co. LLC were not disclosed.

“The News Herald, with its long history of support of Kilgore and Gregg and Rusk counties, is a great fit with our family-owned company,” said Stephen N. McHaney, president of M. Roberts Media.

“The News Herald’s strong staff and outstanding local news coverage will provide new opportunities for us to better serve all our East Texas readers, customers and business partners.”

In East Texas, M. Roberts Media also owns a biweekly, The Panola Watchman in Carthage. In South Texas, it owns the daily Victoria Advocate.

Bill Woodall, managing partner of Bluebonnet Publishing Co., said readers, advertisers and employees of the News Herald would be well served by M. Roberts Media.

“We’re extraordinarily proud of the newspaper produced by our staff and proud of the newspaper’s contribution to the cities and school districts we cover,” Woodall said.

“But this is a changing industry and the News Herald needs an owner with the energy and the resources to move it into a new era of local news — an era in which print and digital platforms will merge transparently; M. Roberts Media has both the energy and the resources.”

The Kilgore News Herald has roots stretching back to the early days of the East Texas oil boom and has changed hands several times. It represents the 1940 consolidation of the Kilgore Daily News, established in 1931, and the Kilgore Herald, founded in 1935.

Then a daily publication, the News Herald was owned by longtime publisher Charles K. Devall, who sold it in 1979 to Donrey Media Group of Arkansas. The newspaper was acquired in 1998 by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. of Alabama and was later acquired by Bluebonnet Publishing.

The acquisition will be seamless for readers, advertisers and the News Herald’s other business partners as the combined companies collaborate to ensure all aspects of service are enhanced, said M. Roberts CEO Dick Franks.

Jerry Pye will assume duties as publisher of the Kilgore News Herald. He also oversees The Marshall News Messenger and The Panola Watchman.

ABOUT M. ROBERTS MEDIA

M. Roberts Media is a diversified media and marketing solutions company that delivers unique experiences for consumers and advertisers across all platforms. It owns leading community daily newspapers in East Texas and South Texas. The family owned company has headquarters in Longview, where its president and his family reside.

In East Texas, it owns the daily Longview News-Journal, Tyler Morning Telegraph and The Marshall News Messenger, and the twice-weekly The Panola Watchman and their associated digital brands; Butler Creative Group, a Tyler-based full-service marketing and digital services agency; News-Journal Digital Services, a digital marketing firm; TCM Printing, providing commercial printing and distribution services; an events production and marketing unit; and other products.

In South Texas, it owns the daily Victoria Advocate and its associated digital brands; and Advocate Digital Services, a full-service digital marketing firm. M. Roberts Media was founded in Victoria, where John Roberts, chairman, and Kay McHaney, secretary/treasurer, both live and work.

ABOUT BLUEBONNET PUBLISHING CO. LLC

Bluebonnet Publishing Co. LLC is based in Kilgore and is the owner and publisher of the biweekly Kilgore News Herald and its associated website.