QC Times, Dispatch/Argus both update online sites, Lee Enterprises swallows up and elminates Pulitzer name.

In a strange coincidence, both the Times and Dispatch have unveiled updated websites within days of each other. Typically, the Dispatch site simply didn't work right after it was debuted, perhaps due to them rushing the thing to beat the Times to the punch.

In other local media news, you'll all be happy to hear that the Q.C.Times is part of the fourth largest newspaper conglomorate in terms of number of papers owned.

Lee Enterprises announced Friday it has completed a $1.46 billion acquisition of Pulitzer Inc., making the Davenport-based Lee the fourth largest U.S. newspaper publisher in the number of daily newspapers owned.

The deal, first announced Jan. 30, closed after Pulitzer Inc. stockholders approved the transaction in a vote taken Friday morning in New York City. It had previously been approved by Lee shareholders. The purchase makes Pulitzer Inc. an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Lee but ends the reign of the Pulitzer name, a storied name in the industry.

Lee, the parent company of the Quad-City Times, gains 14 daily newspapers, including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Arizona Daily Star, and more than 100 non-daily publications, as a result of the acquisition, the largest in Lee's history. Lee now owns 58 daily newspapers in 23 states, up from 44 dailies before the acquisition.

In addition to becoming fourth largest in terms of dailies owned, Lee also moves up to be the seventh largest in circulation with a new total circulation of 1.7 million daily and 2 million Sunday. The company also now boasts more than 300 weekly newspapers, shoppers and specialty publications.

Lee beat out the Gannett Co., the nation's largest newspaper and publisher of USA Today, to acquire the Pulitzer company, which dates back to 1878 when Joseph Pulitzer merged the St. Louis Dispatch and the Post. The Pulitzer prizes will continue to bear the Pulitzer name even though the company name now disappears.

The deal will increase Lee's revenue by more than $440 million, to $1.14 billion.

With a gain of 4,000 Pulitzer employees, Lee will employ 10,700 people across the country.

She added that Lee's five top operating priorities will be applied at the Pulitzer newspapers. They include: focusing on revenue growth, readership and circulation, strong local news, online strength and careful cost controls.

In addition to the Post-Dispatch and Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Ariz., Pulitzer daily newspapers are: The Pantagraph, Bloomington, Ill.; The Daily Herald, Provo, Utah; the Santa Maria Times, Santa Maria, Calif.; The Napa Valley Register, Napa, Calif.; The World, Coos Bay, Ore.; The Sentinel, Hanford, Calif.; the Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff, Ariz.; the Daily Chronicle, DeKalb, Ill.; The Garden Island, Lihue, Hawaii; the Daily Journal, Park Hills, Mo.; The Lompoc Record, Lompoc, Calif.; and The Daily News, Rhinelander, Wis.

Lee also gains Pulitzer's small minority stake in the St. Louis Cardinals major league baseball team.

Ah yes, the sweet smell of media conglomoration. Any bets on how long before every media outlet in the country is owned by about 4 corporations?