RISN Operations

Last updated
RISN Operations Inc.
Type Private
Industry Newspapers
FoundedJanuary 22, 2007
Headquarters222 Jefferson Blvd, Warwick, Rhode Island
Key people
Melanie Radler, president
Roland McBride, vice president
Products The Call and seven other newspapers in Rhode Island
Parent Glacier Media (50% owner)

RISN Operations Inc., also called Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers, is a privately owned publisher of three daily newspapers and several weekly newspapers in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The company was founded by Illinois-based newspaper executives in early 2007 to purchase the Rhode Island holdings of Journal Register Company, which it did for $8.3 million. [1]

Contents

In 2013, RISN acquired the Yuma Sun and the Porterville Recorder from Freedom Communications. [2]

In 2018, RISN acquired its former competitors South County Newspapers and its publications The Independent and South County Life from GateHouse Media, who had bought the papers from Edward A. Sherman Publishing in 2017. [3]

In 2019, RISN acquired The Westerly Sun and Sun Publishing Company from the Record-Journal Publishing Company of Meriden, Connecticut. [4] Also in 2019, RISN acquired The Union Democrat in California. [5]

In 2022, RISN acquired The Chronicle of Willimantic, Connecticut, from Central Connecticut Communications. [6]

Officers

The corporation's first two named officers, Melanie Radler (president) and Roland McBride (vice president and treasurer), were both Illinois residents connected with Conrad Black's former Hollinger International newspaper chain. Radler is the daughter of F. David Radler, a former Hollinger boss; McBride is chief financial officer of Horizon Publications Inc., the company Radler founded after he left Hollinger. [1]

McBride also served as CFO of American Publishing Co., a former Hollinger subsidiary, and was said in an indictment to have aided Black's and the elder Radler's misappropriation of $5.5 million in connection with the sale of some newspaper properties from Hollinger to Horizon. [7]

The company is based in Warwick, Rhode Island. [8] Its incorporation papers list a Delaware address. [9]

RISN shares owners with Horizon Publications. [10]

Dailies

RISN operates seven daily newspapers:

The company also briefly published the Warwick Daily Times , based in the West Warwick newsroom. The Warwick paper had been founded by JRC in 2006 but was folded by RISN in 2007. [11]

Weeklies

RISN's weekly newspapers, known collectively as Southern Rhode Island Newspapers, are based in the village of Wakefield, part of South Kingstown, Rhode Island. A Providence Journal report said the group's combined weekly circulation of around 13,000 in 2007 was down from 16,140 in 2001. [1]

Southern Rhode Island Newspapers' offices are at 187 Main Street, Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879.

The East Greenwich Pendulum
The East Greenwich Pendulum has covered East Greenwich in Kent County since 1854. Its Thursday circulation in 2006 averaged 2,040. [12]
The Narragansett Times
With the largest and most frequent circulation of the Wakefield-based papers—5,006 in 2006, [12] delivered twice weekly, on Wednesday and Friday -- The Narragansett Times is the second oldest, having covered Narragansett and South Kingstown, in southeastern Washington County, since 1855.
The Standard-Times
The Standard-Times is the only of RISN's newspapers to cover a community off the mainland. In addition to Exeter and North Kingstown, it covers Jamestown in Newport County. Founded in 1888, its Thursday circulation was 3,854 in 2006. [12]
The Independent
The Independent covers South Kingstown (including the villages of Kingston, Wakefield and Peace Dale and the University of Rhode Island), Narragansett and North Kingstown. Founded in 1997 and originally operated by South County Newspapers as two papers, the South County Independent and North East Independent, which were both competitors to several Southern Rhode Island Newspapers publications. The two papers were eventually bought by Edward A. Sherman Publishing, the owners of The Newport Daily News , and in 2015 were merged into the single Independent newspaper. In 2017, Sherman Publishing was purchased by Gatehouse Media. RISN acquired The Independent and its sister magazine South County Life from Gatehouse in June 2018. [3]

Sun Publishing Company also publishes weekly newspapers.

Closure of The Chariho Times and The Coventry Courier

In August 2023, The Chariho Times and The Coventry Courier, two of RISN's weekly Southern Rhode Island Newspapers, announced on that they were "ceasing publication...[due to] rising costs, fewer resources and decreased local advertising revenue". [13] The Chariho Times, founded in 1993, covered Charlestown, Hopkinton and Richmond, three rural towns in western Washington County that form the Chariho Regional School District. [12] The Coventry Courier covered Coventry and West Greenwich, the two westernmost towns of Kent County, also covered by the Kent County Daily Times . It was founded in 1996. [12]

Plagiarism controversies

In April 2013, an assistant editor at The Narragansett Times plagiarized the lede (the first paragraph of a news story) from an article in a competitor newspaper, the South County Independent [14] . The South County Independent asked for a front-page apology, and The Narragansett Times subsequently printed a clarification stating the words were "inadvertently transcribed" and "apologize[d] for any confusion this may have caused our readers."

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Kingstown, Rhode Island</span> Town in Rhode Island, United States

South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New Shoreham, and the third largest town in Rhode Island by geographic land area, behind Exeter and Coventry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scouting in Rhode Island</span>

Scouting in Rhode Island has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhode Island Route 1A</span> State highway in Washington County, Rhode Island, US

Route 1A, largely signed as Scenic 1A, is a 33.3-mile (53.6 km) long numbered state highway located in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The route, which parallels U.S. Route 1 for its entire length, has four distinct sections connected by US 1, two of which require median u-turn ramps to cross US 1. It travels through five towns in Washington County: Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Narragansett, and North Kingstown.

<i>The Newport Daily News</i> Newspaper serving Newport County, Rhode Island

The Newport Daily News is a six-day daily newspaper serving Newport County, Rhode Island. It publishes in the mornings on weekdays and in the morning on Saturdays. The Daily News was the state's largest family-owned newspaper until it was purchased by Gatehouse Media in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York, Providence and Boston Railroad</span> New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad subsidiary

The New York, Providence and Boston Railroad, normally called the Stonington Line, was a major part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad between New London, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island. It is now part of Amtrak's high-speed Northeast Corridor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district</span> U.S. House district for Rhode Island

Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in southern and western Rhode Island. The district is currently represented by Democrat Seth Magaziner, who has represented the district since January 2023.

The state of Rhode Island has the following popular media.

<i>The Times</i> (Pawtucket) American daily newspaper published in Pawtucket, Rhode Island

The Times is an American daily newspaper published Mondays through Saturdays in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, covering eastern Providence County, Rhode Island, and some adjacent towns in Massachusetts. It is owned by RISN Operations Inc.

The Warwick Daily Times was a daily newspaper covering Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, although its offices are in West Warwick. It is owned by RISN Operations Inc.

<i>The Westerly Sun</i> Daily newspaper in Westerly, Rhode Island, US

The Westerly Sun is a seven-day daily newspaper published in Westerly, Rhode Island, United States, covering portions of Washington County, Rhode Island, and New London County, Connecticut. The Sun is issued mornings 7 days a week. Until 1995, it published its Sunday edition in the afternoon, and was the only such paper to do so at that time.

Sun Publishing Company is a daily and weekly newspaper publisher in southwest Rhode Island and southeast Connecticut, United States. It is a Westerly, Rhode Island-based subsidiary of RISN Operations.

Independent Newspapers is an independent publisher of a weekly newspaper, The Independent, and a magazine, South County Life, in Washington County, Rhode Island.

<i>Yuma Sun</i> Newspaper in Yuma, Arizona

The Yuma Sun is a newspaper in Yuma, Arizona, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington County, Rhode Island</span> County in Rhode Island, United States

Washington County, known locally as South County, is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,839. Rhode Island counties have no governmental functions other than as court administrative boundaries, which are part of the state government.

Centreville Bank is a state chartered bank based in West Warwick, Rhode Island. It operates 9 branches in the Rhode Island cities of Coventry, Cranston, East Greenwich, Narragansett, North Kingstown, West Greenwich, Warwick and West Warwick, as well as a Loan Production Office in Providence. After the acquisition of Putnam Bank in 2020, Centreville added 8 more branches in the Connecticut cities of Danielson, Plainfield, Griswold, Putnam, Pomfret, Norwich, and Gales Ferry(Ledyard).

The Narragansett Times is a publication of Southern Rhode Island Newspapers that serves the Rhode Island towns of Narragansett and South Kingstown. It is published on Wednesdays and Fridays. Its estimated circulation is 5,006 copies.

South County Independent was a weekly newspaper serving the areas of Narragansett, South Kingstown, Charlestown, Kingston, Wakefield and Peace Dale in Rhode Island. The paper was founded in 1997 by Frederick J. Wilson III & a group of investors. In October 2015, South County Independent merged with the North East Independent to become one paper, called TheIndependent, which covers North Kingstown, Narragansett, and South Kingstown.The Independent's weekly circulation is 8,482.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grimaldi, Paul. "Journal Register Co. Sells its Nine R.I. Newspapers". The Providence Journal, January 27, 2007.
  2. ↑ Yuma Sun under new ownership Archived 2013-06-30 at archive.today
  3. 1 2 Kittredge, Dan. "GateHouse Media sells Independent newspaper, South County Life to newspaper group". The Newport Daily News. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  4. ↑ Co, Record-Journal Publishing. "Record-Journal sells Westerly Sun to Rhode Island media group" . Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  5. ↑ "Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers buys California paper". News & Tech. Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  6. ↑ "Dirks, van Essen & April | Press Releases | Rhode Island Suburban Newspapers Acquires Two Connecticut Dailies". www.dirksvanessen.com. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  7. ↑ Miner, Michael. "News Bites: David Radler's Daughter", Chicago Reader online, January 31, 2007. Accessed February 16, 2007.
  8. ↑ Bloomberg.com: RISN Operations profile . accessed 10.17.2017.
  9. ↑ Rhode Island Corporation Information: R.I.S.N. Operations Inc. Archived 2012-12-24 at archive.today , Rhode Island Secretary of State's Office. Accessed March 9, 2007.
  10. ↑ "Canadian executives purchase Santa Maria Times, Lompoc Record | News | Santa Maria Sun, CA" . Retrieved 2020-04-05.
  11. ↑ Nesi, Ted. "Kent Co. Times Staff Down 28%, Not 75%" Archived 2013-02-09 at archive.today . WPRI.com. January 17, 2011. Accessed January 29, 2012.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Audit Bureau of Circulations "e-circ" [ permanent dead link ] data for six months ending September 30, 2006. Accessed March 7, 2007.
  13. ↑ "Coventry Courier and Chariho Times to cease publication amid economic challenges". NBC 10 News. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  14. ↑ "From the editor's desk: Following our lead". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-01-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.