Listen to this articleSchneps Media – a news group that serves Long Island, New York City and elsewhere – has acquired Roslyn Heights-based Blank Slate Media, the publisher of Great Neck News, Manhasset Times, Roslyn Times, Williston Times, Port Washington Times, New Hyde Park Herald Courier and theisland360.com.
The details of the sale, which was announced Wednesday, were not disclosed.
Blank Slate had competed with Anton Media Group, a Mineola-based publisher of newspapers and magazines that focus on communities in Nassau County. Schneps acquired Anton in May. With the July acquisition, Blank Slate and Anton will serve as a combined division, with the goal of “providing greater reach and more robust coverage of each neighborhood,” according to the announcement on theisland360.com.
Steven Blank, Blank Slate Media’s owner, will serve as publisher and editor of the division. With the merger, there will be upcoming changes to the division’s print editions, website, email newsletters and social media platforms for the publications.
“We are pleased to have Steve Blank leading the new division,” Josh Schneps, co-publisher and CEO of Schneps Media, said in the announcement, adding that he was grateful to “serve such outstanding communities and bring together two excellent teams.”
The merger comes at a time when an average of 2.5 newspapers closed each week in 2023, according to a study released by Northwestern University in November. Those closures left more than 200 counties as “news deserts,” with limited access to reliable local news and information, according to the study.
Yet the acquisition broadens Schneps’s Long Island’s reach through offerings that include The Long Island Press, Fire Island & Great South Bay News, Dan’s Papers, Behind The Hedges, Noticia LI, The Bethpage Best of Long Island and Long Island Family.
“Long Island has flourishing communities that we are devoted to covering,” Victoria Schneps, co-publisher and president, said in the announcement. “As the neighborhoods continue to evolve and grow, so do we.”
Blank said in the announcement that Schneps “offers a great model to sustain local media companies in 2024. I am very happy to be part of the team.”
Earlier in his career, Blank had owned and published Queens-based The TimesLedger newspaper group, according to the announcement. He sold the group to News Corp in 2009; that newspaper group is now owned by Schneps. Prior to that, Blank spent 10 years as a daily newspaper reporter and editor, and had served on the special projects team of the Kansas City Star, according to the announcement.
“We are confident that this acquisition and merger of teams will allow us to provide the best news and reach to the readers and advertisers we serve,” Josh Schneps said.