Richner Communications to Acquire Weekly Newspaper Group

Garden City-based Richner Communications has agreed to purchase another Long Island weekly newspaper group, L&M Publications.

According to their website:

“It’s a strategically sound move for us,” said [publisher] Cliff Richner. “It strengthens our presence in the Freeport, Merrick and Bellmore communities and extends our reach eastward into Wantagh and Seaford, something we have been wanting to do for some time. It will enable us to better meet the needs of our advertisers.”

L&M Publications, based in Merrick, includes the Merrick Life, Bellmore Life, Freeport-Baldwin Leader and the Wantagh-Seaford Citizen. L&M’s flagship newspaper, Merrick Life, was founded in 1938 by Faith and Johannes Laursen. Their daughter, Linda Toscano, has served as publisher for the past several years. 

"We trust our newspapers will each continue to be ‘the glue that helps hold a community together and the spur that helps keep it moving forward,'" Toscano said in a Herald article.

In addition to the 15 Herald Newspapers, Richner Communications publishes The Oyster Bay Guardian, The Jewish Star and The Riverdale Press in the Bronx, and their affiliated websites. The company also publishes PrimeTime Xpress, a weekly shopping guide with 10 editions on the South Shore and Xpress Coups, a quarterly coupon book. The Richners are also principal owners of Broadstreet Media.