LEO Sold

I see in the CJ that the LEO has been sold to a company in TN......So is this a big company like Gannett?

SouthComm Communications, Inc., a Tennessee-based media and publishing company, has acquired LEO, an alternative weekly newspaper serving the Louisville area, from Times Publishing Co. of Pennsylvania.

LEO, the Louisville Eccentric Observer, was founded in 1990 by John Yarmuth to provide news and commentary on current affairs as well as a guide to regional entertainment and recreation opportunities. The paper is distributed for free at more than 850 locations in Louisville and Southern Indiana and reaches more than 179,000 people.

“We’re very pleased to bringing LEO into the SouthComm fold,” said Chris Ferrell, Chief Executive Officer of SouthComm Communications. “Our vision is to build a family of niche publications that produces quality products for distinct audiences. With its strong track record of insightful and relevant coverage of the Louisville area, LEO fits that mold perfectly.”

As part of the deal, Pam Brooks will remain publisher, a position she has held since 2003.

SouthComm Communications was formed late last year to develop and acquire media properties around the Southeast. Its initial portfolio company was SouthComm Publishing, a custom publishing company based in Atlanta. Since then, it has grown to include business and political new site NashvillePost.com, Music Row magazine, BusinessTN magazine and Medical News Papers. The company also has signed an agreement to acquire The City Paper in Nashville and plans this summer to launch Her Nashville, a regional women’s magazine.

“LEO has evolved into the Louisville area’s most urbane and challenging newsweekly by looking beyond the surface and delivering locally relevant information that can’t be found elsewhere,” said Brooks. “We look forward to tapping the talents of the SouthComm team to help us provide even more value to our readers, advertisers and publishing partners.”

Chris Ferrell is no newcomer to the alternative weekly world, having formerly served as publisher of the Nashville Scene. Prior to that Ferrell served eight years as a councilman at-large in Nashville-Davidson County.

[Robin Garr]

I see in the CJ that the LEO has been sold to a company in TN......So is this a big company like Gannett?

It's a smaller company, a group of city weeklies pretty similar to the Erie-based outfit that Yarmuth sold LEO to several years ago.

Steven George, LEO's managing editor, is the contact point for media questions.

Looks like from what I have seen they are a christian based compnay...Will be interesting what changes they do to LEO.

I"m surprised that they immediately let Cary go - not a good sign.

[Robin Garr]

I"m surprised that they immediately let Cary go - not a good sign.

That part bites for sure.

[Robin Garr]

Looks like from what I have seen they are a christian based compnay...

Where did you see that?

If you read the story on the CJ look at the comments from people at the end....There is a post mentioning it....Take it for what it is worth....

Go a step further Robert and look up all the posts made by that single poster. Not a post I would put much stock into. They looked much like a flamer. (I understand every site has one.)

Just out of curiosity, how would anyone define a "christian based company"?

[Robin Garr]

Just out of curiosity, how would anyone define a "christian based company"?

In certain quarters, Carla, it means "extreme fundamentalist."

Just out of curiosity, how would anyone define a "christian based company"?

In certain quarters, Carla, it means "extreme fundamentalist."

And in others, it doesn't.

[Robin Garr]

And in others, it doesn't.

Care to enlarge on that, Charles? I have the impression that just about any company that identifies itself as "Christian-based" is coming from an evangelical/fundamentalist/born again perspective as opposed to a more mainstream Christianity.

And in others, it doesn't.

Care to enlarge on that, Charles? I have the impression that just about any company that identifies itself as "Christian-based" is coming from an evangelical/fundamentalist/born again perspective as opposed to a more mainstream Christianity.

The owner of SouthComm is a former youth minister and a grad of Vanderbilt Divinity School. I haven't found anything that describes the company in Christian terms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ferrell. If he's an "extreme fundamentalist," he's the first in the history of the alumni of Vandy Div School!

As for your question. I understand why you'd say that, but a couple of comments. One, the "in some quarters" followed by a pejorative description is a bit cheap. You don't have to defend it as your own judgment or provide evidence, but it does the job just the same. Second, it was the poster on the CJ that described it as "Christian-based." There are are a lot of companies that Christians have founded and try to run in a way consistent with their beliefs that they may (or may not) describe with the label "Christian-based": Chick-Fil-A, for instance. I'm pretty sure that Pura Vida coffee (http://www.puravidacoffee.com/index.html) was founded by Christians as an expression of their faith, but it doesn't pitch itself as Christian-based. In Louisville, Sunergo's might fit that bill. I wouldn't want to leave the impression that every business that is rooted in Christian faith is the product of fundamentalism.

I was raised a real-life fundamentalist. I know what that world is like. I am pretty jealous about the term being used for the real thing and not for every expression of Christianity that is too the right of the person using the term.

Does that make sense.

[Robin Garr]

Does that make sense.

Absolutely!

Note, though, that I wasn't calling Chris Ferrell an extreme fundamentalist. I was reacting to Robert's unsubstantiated assertion that the company is "Christian-based."