Belo to Acquire Hemet, Moreno Valley Papers

A.H. Belo Corp. said it reached a deal to acquire the Hemet News and the Moreno Valley Times, marking the latest ownership change in the swiftly shifting Inland Empire newspaper market. Dallas-based Belo, which already owns the Riverside Press-Enterprise, said it acquired the assets of the two papers from a partnership that includes newspaper magnate William Dean Singleton. Terms were not disclosed. Belo’s Press-Enterprise already circulates in Hemet and Moreno Valley, and Publisher Marcia McQuern said she planned to hire several of the 80 or so employees of the Hemet News to staff a new local news supplement that will be included in the Press-Enterprise. The Moreno Valley paper, McQuern said, will become part of an independent unit of the company and continue publishing weekly. Belo said the Hemet News, published Tuesday through Saturday, has a daily circulation of 11,660 and Sunday circulation of 12,250. The Moreno Valley Times publishes weekly and has a paid circulation of 4,604, according to the trade journal Editor & Publisher.