CHARLESTON, W.Va. — As new owners proceed toward full takeover of West Virginia’s largest newspaper, employees have started receiving instructions on applying for their jobs.
Employees of the Charleston Gazette-Mail have received an application form asking for basic information, with the option of also attaching a resume.
Here is a version that was in email attachment pic.twitter.com/8WP3Z9IP21
— Brad McElhinny (@BradMcElhinny) March 14, 2018
H-D Media, headed by former state delegate and businessman Doug Reynolds, is buying the Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper out of bankruptcy.
Reynolds visited the newspaper this week to introduce himself to employees. He was accompanied by another investor, Brian Jarvis, owner of the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram, plus Andy Knicely, publisher of the Clarksburg newspaper.
The deal sets up a partnership now among newspapers in Charleston, Huntington and Clarksburg.
Those who were there said the new owners described the Gazette-Mail as a great asset with a team capable of incredible work. The employees were told that the new owners hope to keep as many of them as possible.
The change in ownership moved ahead last week when Ogden Newspapers declined to increase its original bid for the Gazette-Mail after H-D Media entered the picture. H-D Media’s bid was $11.5 million.
A federal bankruptcy judge gave approval for H-D Media’s purchase on Friday. The closing is set for the end of this month.
MORE: Read the order authorizing the sale.
It became clear in January that the Gazette-Mail was headed for bankruptcy.
The newspaper company reported more than $31 million in liabilities, according to documents filed in bankruptcy court.
About half of that, $15.6 million, represented an outstanding United Bank loan balance, plus interest and fees, from 2006.
Much of the debt was from the Charleston Gazette’s purchase of the Charleston Daily Mail.
The two newsrooms continued to operate independently, as a result of antitrust oversight by the federal government, until 2015 when the newsrooms merged. The owners described a more efficient operation as one of the reasons.
Many of the current newsroom employees reapplied for their jobs at that time, too.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for investigative reporting by Eric Eyre focusing on how a wave of pharmaceuticals contributed to West Virginia’s opioid crisis. The Daily Mail, which was owned for many years by the Clay family, won a Pulitzer for commentary written by Jack Maurice in 1975.
The Gazette and then the Gazette-Mail have been closely-held by the Chilton family.
The Chilton family first acquired formal interest in the paper about 1912, and the family has continued to hold the majority interest. Trip Shumate is married to Susan Chilton Shumate, the current publisher. Her mother, Elizabeth Chilton, is president of the Daily Gazette Company.