Follow up now on a story that will change the landscape of print journalism in the Hartford market.
As expected Hearst Connecticut Media has finalized its deal to acquire the Manchester based Journal Inquirer. The final agreement was announced Saturday morning as had been telegraphed by earlier reports on the websites of the Hearst papers and the JI.
The JI will continue to publish in print six days a week but it will now be delivered by mail.
The purchase of the JI by Hearst continues the chain’s march into the Hartford market which began about a year ago with the announcement of about a dozen new hires to focus on reporting news from the Hartford region. Ownership of the New Haven Register, Middletown Press and the JI gives Hearst a foot-hold that extends from Fairfield County, where it owns nearly every paper, through the middle of the state to the Massachusetts border.
The latest acquisition is sure to lead to speculation about whether Hearst will eventually buy the Hartford Courant, the Norwich Bulletin, or one of the remaining privately owned papers in the state.
