Observer Media Group

Formed in 1995 with the acquisition of the Longboat Observer, the Observer Media Group has grown into a family-owned and operated multimedia company with nine newspapers, six websites, a quarterly arts and social magazine and nearly 100 employees serving multiple communities around Florida. The company's portfolio of newspapers includes four free community weeklies serving the Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla., market — Sarasota Observer, Longboat Observer, East County Observer and the Pelican Press; Palm Coast Observer and Ormond Beach Observers, free weekly serving the east coast market of Palm Coast/Flagler County; Plant City Observer, serving the central market of Plant City near greater Tampa Bay; West Orange Times, serving the communities of Winter Garden, Windermere and Ocoee in west-central Orange County; and the Business Observer, a paid-circulation weekly with subscribers extending from Tampa to Naples. The company’s associated websites include YourObserver.com, PalmCoastObserver.com, OrmondBeachObserver.com, PlantCityObserver.com, wotimes.com and BusinessObserverFL.com. Season magazine is the quarterly arts and social guide. Altogether, the company’s newspapers and websites reach more than 200,000 readers a week. Two of its newspapers, Longboat and Sarasota Observers, were named the #1 newspapers in North America by the Local Media Association in 2012. It's website, YourObserver.com, was also dubbed the #1 Local News Website in North America by the Local Media Association in 2012.