Tippen Davidson, president and CEO of the News-Journal Corp., which operates the Daytona Beach News Journal, was faced with a dilemma. Do you take two years worth of newspaper profits and invest it in the newsroom, or do you build a performing arts center for your family’s musical theater?
Culture won that battle and we’re not talking newsroom culture. We are talking “Annie” and “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Cocoanuts,” three of the five plays being presented this season by the Seaside Music Theater which Tippen founded.
On Tuesday, the News-Journal’s minority stockholder, Cox Enterprises, which also owns The Palm Beach Post and the Palm Beach Daily News sued to get the $13 million back, The Post reports.
“We had been led to believe that corporate funds were being set aside for badly needed newspaper improvements, which we supported,” said Jay Smith, president of Cox Newspapers.
The Daytona Beach News Journal’s web site did not run a story on the lawsuit.