 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online and Print media |
| Founded | 1995 [1] |
| Founders | Matt Walsh Lisa Walsh [2] |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Southern Florida |
Key people | David Beliles, chairman [2] Matt Walsh, CEO [1] |
Number of employees | 120 [2] |
| Website | www |
Observer Media Group, Inc. is a media company that publishes local newspapers and magazines in the U.S. state of Florida. The company publishes twelve newspapers, three quarterly magazines and maintains six news websites.
Observer Media Groupstarted when Matt Walsh and Lisa Walsh purchased the Longboat Observer in 1995 from Ralph and Claire Hunter with the help of Lisa's parents and a small group of other investors. The Hunters started the Longboat Observer in 1978. [2] [1]
Since then, Observer Media Group established new local newspapers, such as the Sarasota Observer in 2004, and acquired other older newspapers, such as the 100+ year-old West Orange Times in 2014 and Financial News & Daily Record in 2017. [2] [3] [4] OMG maintains journalistic offices in Tampa, Clearwater, Bradenton, Longboat Key, Lakeland, Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples, New Port Richey, Winter Garden, Lakewood Ranch, Port Charlotte, Palm Coast, and Ormond Beach. [1] The name was changed to Observer Media Group in 2012 from The Observer Group. [1] [5]
Observer Media acquired Pelican Press from Wisconsin-based Journal Media Group in 2011. [6] [7] Pelican Press serves the Siesta Key area of Florida and in 2013, OMG renamed the paper to Siesta Key Observer to fit its overall branding. [2]
In 2012, The Observer attempted to publish the Palm Coast Observer twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. With a circulation of 25,000, OMG abandoned the idea and returned to a Thursday-only publishing schedule. The move, however, saw circulation increase to 30,000. "At first glance it looks like we may have an overall increase in ad revenue. And lower delivery cost," observed CEO Matt Walsh at the time. "In any business manual it is a wonderful thing to increase revenue and reduce cost at the same time." [8] August 1, 2013, saw the launch of the Plant City Times & Observer with an initial run of 15,000 copies, the publication was sold to a group of local investors in December, 2018. [9]
In 2016, Emily Walsh was named publisher of several of OMG's assets, including East County Observer, Longboat Observer, Sarasota Observer, Siesta Key Observer, YourObserver.com, Season magazine and LWR Life magazine. As the daughter of the founders, Emily Walsh has worked most of her career for OMG. [10]
As of 2021, [update] Observer Media Group owns twelve newspapers (directly or indirectly), three magazines and six websites in support of the print editions, reaching more than 441,804 readers per week. [2] OMG works with issuu, the largest digital newsstand, to publish online digital copies of its print material.
Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL metropolitan statistical area.
Longboat Key is a town in Manatee and Sarasota counties along the central west coast of the U.S. state of Florida, located on and coterminous with the barrier island of the same name. Longboat Key is south of Anna Maria Island, between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It is almost equally divided between the Manatee and Sarasota counties. The town of Longboat Key was incorporated in 1955 and is part of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town's population was 7,505 at the 2020 census.
Sarasota is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Greater Tampa Bay Area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Sarasota is a principal city of the Sarasota metropolitan area. According to the 2020 U.S. census, Sarasota had a population of 54,842.
Sarasota–Bradenton International Airport is a public use international airport located within three jurisdictions: Sarasota County, the city limits of Sarasota, and Manatee County, all in the U.S. state of Florida. Owned by the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority, it is 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Downtown Sarasota and 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Bradenton.
Ringling College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded by Ludd M. Spivey as an art school in 1931 as a remote branch of Southern College but separated by 1933.
Lido Key is a barrier island off the coast of Sarasota, Florida, in the United States. It is part of the city of Sarasota and is connected to mainland Sarasota by John Ringling Causeway.
Sarasota Bay is a lagoon located off the central west coast of Florida in the United States. Though no significant single stream of freshwater enters the bay, with a drainage basin limited to 150 square miles in Manatee and Sarasota counties, it is generally treated as an estuary, with three "passes" or inlets giving access from the Gulf of Mexico. Its source of freshwater has been increased from natural historical levels by urban runoff.
The Sarasota metropolitan area is a metropolitan area located in Southwest Florida. The metropolitan area is defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the North Port–Bradenton–Sarasota Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) consisting of Manatee County and Sarasota County. The principal cities listed by the OMB for the MSA are North Port, Bradenton, Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, and Venice. At the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 833,716. The Census Bureau estimates that its population was 891,411 in 2022.
The Sarasota School of Architecture, sometimes called Sarasota Modern, is a regional style of post-war modern architecture (1941–1966) that emerged on Florida's Central West Coast, in and around the city of Sarasota, Florida. It is characterized by open-plan structures, often with large planes of glass to facilitate natural illumination and ventilation, that address the unique indigenous requirements of the regional climate. Many of the architects who pioneered this style became world-renowned later in their careers, and several significant buildings remain in Sarasota today.
The Out-of-Door Academy is a college preparatory school in Sarasota, Florida. It serves students in prekindergarten through grade 12 on two campuses in the Sarasota area, one on Siesta Key and one in Lakewood Ranch, the Upper School Uihlein Campus.
The Siesta Key Observer is an American weekly free newspaper serving Siesta Key, Florida. Founded in 1971 by John and Elizabeth Davidson, it is now a part of a family of twelve community and business newspapers published by Observer Media Group.
Sarasota Chalk Festival is an American cultural event of public art that celebrates a performing art form of pavement art also known as Italian street painting. It was founded in Sarasota, Florida by Denise Kowal. During the festival artists use chalk, and occasionally special paint, to paint the road surface to create large works of art while the viewer can watch the creative process. The festival is focused around the street artists who are known as Madonnari in Italy or commonly referred to Street Painters, Chalk Artists, Sidewalk Artists, or Pavement Artists. The festival is held annually in downtown Sarasota in Burns Square.
Crossings at Siesta Key is a shopping mall in Sarasota, Florida that opened in 1956. The mall is anchored by Macy's, LA Fitness, and Cinebistro
The Sarasota Observer is one of twelve community and business publications published by The Observer Group, which was formed in 1995, and whose headquarters are located in Sarasota, Florida. Established in 2004 to serve downtown Sarasota, the weekly publication joined the family of hyper-local newspapers in the region which in 2012 changed its name to the Observer Media Group.
Olivia Marie Braida-Chiusano is an American botanical artist, author, and educator.
The Longboat Observer is an American free newspaper published by Observer Media Group. It is distributed primarily in Longboat Key, Florida as well as other parts of the Sarasota-Bradenton area. It was founded and first published by Ralph and Claire Hunter in 1978.
The West Orange Times & Observer is an American paid newspaper published by Observer Media Group (OMG). It is available for delivery in western Orange County, Florida. It was founded and first published in 1904.
Guy Wesley Peterson is an American architect based in Sarasota, Florida. He has designed more than 200 structures in southwest Florida, including private and public works. Peterson was an adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Florida, College of Design, Construction and Planning, and the author of Naked: The Architecture of Guy Peterson.
Edward John "Tim" Seibert was an architect based in Sarasota, Florida. Seibert was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and one of the founders of the modern movement known as the Sarasota School of Architecture.
Ralph W. Garafola was an American literary critic and Art administrator best known for his contributions in commercial illustration, fine art, and art education.