Harrison Daily Times Publisher Purchases Baxter Bulletin

Phillips Media, a newspaper corporation with papers in Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois, has purchased the Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home.

Bulletin employees were made aware of the sale Thursday afternoon. Established in 1901, The Bulletin has been owned and operated by Gannett since 1995, when the corporate news giant purchased the Multimedia chain, which had operated the paper since the early 1970s.

Gannett’s Dann Miller, head of the Arkansas region, confirmed the sale to KTLO, Classic Hits & The Boot News Thursday. The sale will close on Sept. 1.

Phillips Media maintains its corporate headquarters in Harrison and is the publisher of the Harrison Daily Times and Newton County Times in Arkansas. It was founded by Rupert Phillips, who served as the publisher of The Bulletin when it was owned by Harold E. Martin in the mid-1970s. Martin would later sell The Bulletin and other holdings to Multimedia.

Rupert Phillips purchased the Mountain Echo in Yellville, which started as the building block of the current Phillips Media. Phillips went on to own other properties in Arkansas, including the North Arkansas View in 1989, which eventually became The Daily News, providing a daily head-to-head newspaper battle with The Bulletin. In 1999, Gannett acquired The Daily News from Phillips and shuttered it.

Phillips operates  12 other papers. In addition to Harrison and Newton County in Arkansas, Phillips has Missouri-based papers in Bolivar, Buffalo, Cedar County, Christian County, Hannibal, Marshfield, Sedalia, Warrensburg and West Plains. The company also has a paper in Quincy, Illinois.

(From KTLO)