Shaw Media acquiring Daily Journal in Kankakee

Shaw Media is acquiring the Daily Journal, a historic publication that has served the Kankakee community for more than a century.

“We are honored to continue the Small family’s legacy of publishing the Daily Journal,” said John Rung, the president and CEO of Shaw Media. “Like the Smalls, the Shaw family has a long tradition of publishing. We are thrilled to add the Daily Journal to our network of publications throughout northern Illinois.”

Shaw Media operates dozens of newspapers across northern Illinois, including in Crystal Lake, Joliet, Ottawa, La Salle, DeKalb, Dixon and Sterling, as well as nine radio stations.

The Small family had owned the Daily Journal before its sale to Shaw. Len Small founded the newspaper in 1903.

The present owners, Len, Tom and Jennifer Small, issued a statement saying: “We congratulate the Shaw organization for their commitment. We will celebrate the progress of the new company.”

In addition to Kankakee County, the Daily Journal has readership in parts of Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Livingston and Will counties.

“We are committed to community journalism and plan to make a significant investment in local reporting in and around Kankakee County,” Rung said.

Shaw Media was founded in 1851, having the third-oldest, continuously owned and operated family newspaper in the nation. It is the nation’s eighth-largest newspaper publisher, serving communities across northern Illinois both in print and online media.