Family-owned Paxton Media has added another newspaper to its stable with an acquisition from Lee Enterprises of a masthead it had owned since 1979.

Paxton group publisher Bill Evans is adding the Southern Illinoisan to a cluster of media properties in southern Illinois and western Kentucky.

The publisher of the flagship Paducah Sun and weekly newspapers in Mayfield, Benton, Eddyville and Princeton in Kentucky and Metropolis, Illinois, he has also led the group’s NBC television affiliate for the region, WPSD-TV in Paducah, for the last 23 years. He says the paper is a “natural fit” for its footprint for community-based journalism.

Paxton is continuing to grow, having bought a number of newspapers in the Midwest and Southeast in recent years. It operates more than 120 newspapers in 14 states, and owns six other newspapers in Illinois.

President and chief executive Jamie Paxton reiterated his company’s belief in the value of local newspapers and “the vital role they play in the communities they serve.

“We appreciate being the new steward of this important community asset and intend to work hard to maintain the trust that The Southern has earned over its history,” he said.

Dirks, Van Essen & April represented Lee Enterprises in the transaction, terms of which were not disclosed.

Southern Illinoisan – headquartered in Carbondale (pictured) – recently cut its print output to three days a week, in addition to its seven-days digital edition and news app. The paper was created by the 1947 merger of three newspapers in the area.