Helena-West Helena newspaper gets new owners, won't close

HELENA-WEST HELENA — An eastern Arkansas newspaper that was expected to shut down Friday has a new owner.

GateHouse Media said it has entered an agreement to sell the Helena-West Helena World to a pair of local entrepreneurs. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but new owners Andrew Bagley and Chuck Davis said they intend to publish the newspaper weekly.

Last week, GateHouse announced that the Helena-West Helena paper would shut down along with the Stuttgart Daily Leader. The Stuttgart newspaper reports that negotiations are underway for a new buyer there, but nothing has been finalized.

GateHouse publishes 154 daily newspapers, including the Times Record. In August, GateHouse announced it was merging with fellow newspaper giant Gannett in a $1.4 billion deal in hopes of managing the print decline crisis.

Read more: https://www.swtimes.com/news/20190907/helena-west-helena-newspaper-gets-new-owners-wont-close
(Fort Smith Times Record)