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Shaw Media To Buy The Times Newspaper

Northern Illinois newspaper group Shaw Media will purchase The Times, a paper that covers news in Ottawa and Streator.

The deal is set to close next week. John Rung, CEO of Shaw Media, says any newspaper acquisition the company considers has to make sense financially and strategically with area news coverage. He says The Times meets both. Rung says sales of that paper could help with paying off company debt. He also says Shaw Media already has newspapers in the area, including Princeton, Dixon, Sterling and DeKalb.

"And Ottawa-- if you looked on a map, it really couldn’t fit any nicer than that,” Rung said.

He also says the company acquiring The Times helps them deliver more local news to people who might get their news from several counties, depending on where they live.

“If I live in southwest McHenry County, then things that happen in DeKalb County actually are local, but if I live in northeast McHenry County, something that happens in DeKalb County doesn’t matter to me,” Rung said.

Rung says the transition process has no set timeline yet, but it will begin as soon as possible. He says it’s unclear how the acquisition will affect current Times reporters and operations. He says readers will notice a difference in web product shortly after closing.

Officials with The Times or its parent company, Small Newspaper Group, did not answer requests for comment from WNIJ.