Gregory A. Hoskins

Notable work and positions

Better Newspapers, Inc. - Founder and Publisher

Biography

Greg Hoskins (1956-2024) founded and led Better Newspapers, Inc., a family-owned community media company based in Mascoutah, Illinois. Born in Streator, Illinois, he earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the University of Iowa and began his newspaper career in the sales department of the Times Press in Streator, later working for American Publishing Company in West Frankfort, Illinois, and for Kramer Publications in Arizona, which produced a daily newspaper and roughly 17 weekly newspapers and shoppers. In May 1991, Hoskins and financial partner Cleon Birkemeyer purchased four weekly newspapers, including the Mascoutah Herald, out of bankruptcy court, forming Better Newspapers, Inc. The company grew over more than three decades into a family-run operation encompassing four daily newspapers, roughly 35 weeklies, five magazines, seven radio stations, and a regional press plant in Altamont, Illinois, spanning Illinois and Missouri; acquisitions included the Illinois Business Journal (2019), the Douglas County Herald in Missouri (2020), the Breeze-Courier (2021), and four Missouri newspapers purchased from Lee Enterprises. His wife, Linda, worked in the company's editorial department, and his sons Scott and Mark held regional management positions within the company. Hoskins died at his home in Mascoutah on May 30, 2024, at age 67.

Career highlights

• Founded Better Newspapers, Inc. 1991 · Grew from four weekly newspapers purchased out of bankruptcy into a company operating dozens of newspapers, magazines, and radio stations across Illinois and Missouri.
• Illinois Business Journal acquisition 2019.
• Douglas County Herald acquisition 2020 · Extended the company's reach into southern Missouri.