Cox Enterprises agrees to sell 13 N.C. newspapers

GREENVILLE, N.C.

Cox Enterprises Inc. said Monday that it has agreed to sell more than a dozen North Carolina newspapers, including The Daily Advance of Elizabeth City, to a company headed by the son of late billionaire Jack Kent Cooke.

The newspapers include the Rocky Mount Telegram, The Daily Reflector of Greenville and The Daily Advance, along with 10 weekly papers in eastern North Carolina, such as The Chowan Herald in Edenton, the Perquimans Weekly in Hertford and the Bertie-Ledger Advance in Windsor, Cox said. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

John Kent Cooke, who heads Cooke Communications LLC, said in a statement that the group believes in the tradition of family-owned independent newspapers. His son, John Kent Cooke Jr., will serve as president of Cooke Communications North Carolina and publisher of The Daily Reflector.

"We look forward to working with the talented staffs at these newspapers to continue to provide timely, accurate local news that matters to readers' lives," Cooke Sr. said. The new ownership will retain "virtually all employees," the companies said in a news release.

Georgia-based Cox announced last year that it was selling most of its newspapers in Colorado, North Carolina and Texas. Cox said last week that it would sell two of its Colorado newspapers and a Texas newspaper and said Monday that it continues to market other newspapers in Texas.

John Kent Cooke was previously part owner of the Los Angeles Daily News, the Washington Redskins and the Chrysler Building in New York City, among other businesses. His father, Jack Kent Cooke, died in 1997, leaving the bulk of his fortune to establish a namesake foundation.

Virginian-Pilot staff writer Lauren King contributed to this story.