Seacoast Media Group completes move to new facility

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Seacoast Media Group inaugurated a single facility for all its operations with a new press in February and by March sold 41% more color advertising than the prior year and hosted a citizen forum with Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

The 72,000 square foot building combines operations from two smaller buildings 13 miles apart on the seacoast of New Hampshire. It also is a central office for the group’s satellite weekly newspapers and Seacoastonline.com, SMG’s web site. The new Goss Magnum Press, manufactured in Shanghai, doubles color capacity. SMG has signed two new large commercial printing customers as part of the business plan attached to the new facility and eliminated costly data lines, trucking and other infrastructure related to the two legacy buildings.

“The best thing is that employees who had to communicate by fax, phone and courier now are working side by side. Communication is better, we move faster, and we collaborate on news coverage, advertising strategies and internet initiatives for our media cluster together,” said Publisher John Tabor.

Operations Director Paul Briand was project manager. Board approval occurred in April 2004 and groundbreaking was September 2005.

On April 3, SMG invited local citizens to discuss health care with Obama. Within 24 hours, more than 100 residents responded,and SMG moved the event into the new pressroom. Major networks and newspaper correspondents were on hand as Obama listened to stories and suggestions for two hours, promising to deliver a plan for universal coverage. SMG has offered to host similar forums for all the major candidates in New Hampshire this year.

Seacoast Media Group operates the Portsmouth Herald, a daily newspaper, and seven weeklies, niche publications, direct mail, Seacoastonline.com and TheNewHampshirePrimary.com. SMG also acts as delivery agent for national and regional newspapers in Southeastern New Hampshire. The Portsmouth Herald was named Newspaper of the Year last year in the small daily class by the New England Newspaper Association.

 
Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ; dowjones.com) is a leading provider of global business news and information services. Its Consumer Media Group publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Its Enterprise Media Group includes Dow Jones Newswires, Factiva, Dow Jones Licensing Services, Dow Jones Indexes and Dow Jones Financial Information Services. And its Local Media Group operates print and online community media franchises. Dow Jones provides news content to CNBC and radio stations in the U.S.

For information and additional biographical information, contact:

Ken Hall, Corporate Communications
845-346-3182