Landmark Community Newspapers

From a small printing cooperative formed by rural Kentucky publishers has grown a nationwide media company with publications from Florida to Iowa and from New Mexico to Virginia. Landmark Community Newspapers, LLC (LCNI) traces its history to 1966, when eight small-town publishers pooled resources to build a printing plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky to take advantage of the growing trend toward offset technology. Two years later, they incorporated to become Newspapers, Inc. and began buying other newspapers in Central Kentucky. Within five years, Newspapers, Inc. owned 18 newspapers and four printing plants. That drew the interest of Landmark Communications, Inc. Landmark bought Newspapers, Inc. in September 1973. The company kept its headquarters in Shelbyville next door to the first printing plant. Today the company has 51 paid newspapers in 12 states, 32 free newspapers and shoppers, 10 offset commercial printing plants, seven collegiate sports publications, and 13 special publications such as real estate guides and homes magazines.