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The Leader Vindicator
The Leader-Vindicator is a weekly newspaper serving New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the surrounding community.[1] It is owned by Independent Publications, under the Community Media Group of Frankfort, Illinois.[1] According to the American Newspaper Representatives, the newspaper has a paid circulation of approximately 4,300 copies.[2] HistoryThe paper is the result of the 1929 merger of the New Bethlehem Vindicator and the Bethlehem Leader. The New Bethlehem Vindicator was founded in 1879 as a seven column Independent paper,[3] expanding to eight pages in 1880.[4] It was sold by Ed Himes to S.C. Hepler of the slightly older Bethlehem Leader in 1929, and the papers were merged into a single paper, making it the only local paper available in Bethlehem.[5] The paper was bought from L. O. Hepler, by Tom T. Andrews in 1947.[6] Counting his work at the Bethlehem Leader Hepler had at that point been editor and later publisher of the weekly newspaper for almost forty-five years.[6] In 1953, Herbert Phillips was appointed editor, succeeding his father B. E. Philipps .[7] The paper was sold to James Shaffer in 1986, but Andrews stayed on as co-publisher until his death in 1996.[8] After the death of Andrews, Shaffer sold the company to McLean Publishing,[9] a company run by a family that owned other local papers.[10] The paper was put under the Independent Publishers Group. In 2013, McLean Publishing's holdings under the Independent Publishers group were sold to Community Media, including The Leader Vindicator.[11] References
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