Business & Tech
The Valley Press Publisher Buys LIFE Newspapers
Weekly newspaper publisher purchases chain of monthly papers.
By Ted Glanzer
The publisher of The Valley Press and The West Hartford Press has acquired the LIFE monthly newspapers, according to a press release.
LIFE Publications Inc. owner Chris White sold the nine monthly papers — which are published in West Hartford, Farmington, Avon, Canton, Glastonbury, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury and Wethersfield — to the Turley family of Western Massachusetts.
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The release says that most of the LIFE staff will remain with a newly formed company called TurleyCT.
“We are committed to establishing each of our newspapers as the paper of record in the community it serves,” said Keith Turley, executive vice president of Turley Publications, Inc. “Our family has a strong tradition of dedication to community journalism in the state of Massachusetts. We expanded into Connecticut because we believe in the local model and knew we could further the success of two already thriving weekly newspapers.”
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White will continue to run LIFE Publications, which will focus on its events business, which runs, among other things, LEGO KidsFest shows.
“While this represents a truly bittersweet moment for me, it is very good news for the publications so many of you have come to enjoy and respect,” White said in a farewell letter to readers that appears in the September editions of LIFE. “The Turley family has newsprint in its blood; their local newspapers in Massachusetts and Connecticut have flourished for more than 50 years because their commitment to solid, vital community journalism is unparalleled in the area. A larger company like theirs is much better suited to guide the LIFE newspapers through the rapidly-changing media landscape.”Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
