Sioux City Journal

What Sioux City Journal does

Sioux City Journal is a daily newspaper and digital news publication serving Sioux City, Iowa and the broader Siouxland region spanning parts of Iowa and Nebraska. The publication traces its origin to 1864 and is operated as a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises, which trades on OTC Markets under the ticker LEE. The Journal is headquartered at 2802 Castles Gate Drive, Sioux City, with a workforce described in firmographic ranges of 501-1,000 employees covering newsroom, production, distribution, and advertising sales functions.

The core product is local daily journalism distributed across multiple channels: a print edition with home delivery, a website built on the BLOX content management system from bloxdigital.com, native iOS and Android mobile applications, an E-edition digital replica of the print newspaper, and email newsletters. Content is syndicated and supplemented through partnerships with CNN for video content and Video Elephant for additional programming. The editorial mix includes news, sports, opinion, obituaries, classifieds, job listings, automotive listings, real estate, and public notices. Adjacent product lines include the scjTIX.com event ticketing platform, podcast programming such as 'The Ethical Life,' and local commerce directories such as Shop Local and 'I Love A Deal.'

The business model combines consumer subscriptions (digital and print) with diversified local advertising and commerce revenue. Monetization streams include display and programmatic advertising, classifieds including help-wanted and automotive, public notice printing, marketplace and affiliate revenue, and ticketing commissions. The News+ subscription branding indicates adoption of a digital access tier within Lee Enterprises' broader subscription framework. As a regional daily serving a mid-sized market, the Journal operates as a single-incumbent local news provider and competes indirectly with national digital platforms and adjacent regional outlets rather than with another local daily.

Name

Sioux City Journal

Legal name

Lee Enterprises

Website

https://siouxcityjournal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1864

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Sioux City Journal is a daily local newspaper serving Sioux City, Iowa and the surrounding Siouxland region of Iowa and Nebraska. Operated as a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises, it distributes local journalism across print, website, mobile apps, and E-edition, monetized through subscriptions, advertising, classifieds, and marketplace revenue.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news subscriptions
• Print journalism
• Community news media
• Classified advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Sioux City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Digital Subscriptions: Digital-only subscription access providing full website content, exclusive articles, and E-edition access. Revenue generated from recurring monthly and annual subscription fees.
2. Print Subscriptions: Traditional print newspaper subscriptions delivered to subscribers, including home delivery and mail delivery options.
3. Advertising: Display advertising, classified ads, job listings, automotive sales, marketplace listings, and public notices generate advertising revenue across digital and print platforms.
4. E-commerce and Marketplace: Revenue from Shop Local directory, I Love A Deal deals platform, and Shopping sections featuring affiliate and sponsored content.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Sioux City Journal is a daily local newspaper that publishes community, regional, and national news; local and regional sports; weather; obituaries; opinion; and a paid-events/place-paid notice product. It sells print home-delivery subscriptions, digital news subscriptions, and an e-edition digital replica of the print paper, and monetizes an advertising inventory across web, mobile, email, and print. Side businesses include scjTIX event ticketing and traditional classified/legals advertising.

Product overview

Sioux City Journal is a local newspaper operated by Lee Enterprises, offering news coverage through a multi-platform approach. The core offering is the siouxcityjournal.com website, supplemented by mobile apps, an E-edition digital replica of the print newspaper, email newsletters, a podcast program, and scjTIX.com for local event ticketing. The publication covers local news, sports, crime and courts, politics, business, entertainment, wellness, food, music, and community events for the Sioux City metropolitan area and surrounding Siouxland region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sioux City Journal print edition Daily printed newspaper delivering local and regional news, sports, weather, obituaries, opinion, and advertising; produced for home-delivery and single-copy subscribers in the Siouxland tri-state market.
• Digital news subscription (siouxcityjournal.com) Recurring paid digital subscription that unlocks unlimited access to local news, sports, obituaries, and opinion on the Sioux City Journal website and mobile apps for individual readers in the Siouxland market.
• Print + Digital bundle subscription Combined home-delivery print and all-access digital subscription that gives individual subscribers the print paper plus unlimited website, app, and e-edition access.
• Digital e-edition Digital replica of the printed newspaper that renders page-by-page and is delivered via web and mobile apps to print and bundle subscribers and to digital-only e-edition purchasers.
• Sioux City Journal mobile app Native iOS and Android application delivering breaking news, push alerts, and full article access for Sioux City Journal digital and bundle subscribers on smartphones and tablets.
• Email newsletters Recurring and breaking-news email newsletters that summarize and link to local coverage for free and paid readers; some editions are gated to subscribers.
• scjTIX event ticketing Branded local ticketing service that allows organizers in the Siouxland market to sell tickets to community events, performances, and fundraisers online through a Sioux City Journal-operated box office.
• Display, classified, and legal-notice advertising Rate-card advertising services sold to local and regional businesses, agencies, brokers, and attorneys across print, web, mobile, and email channels, including display, classified, and legally required public-notice placement.
• Podcasts Original local audio programming covering sports, news, and community topics, produced and distributed by Sioux City Journal via RSS and major podcast platforms.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Tribune Publishing: A major U.S. newspaper chain (Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News, etc.). Comparable as a broad incumbent chain that has pursued digital subscription and content monetization strategies applicable to mid-sized regional dailies.
• Lee Enterprises: The parent company of Sioux City Journal and dozens of other regional dailies. Relevant as a peer at the portfolio level for benchmarking digital subscription, ad tech, and operational scale across similarly situated mid-market properties.
• Gannett Co. The largest U.S. newspaper chain (USA Today network, hundreds of local dailies including Des Moines Register and Argus Leader). Comparable as the broader incumbent whose playbook and digital subscription strategy shape the regional newspaper competitive landscape.
• The New York Times: The benchmark for digital subscription transformation in the newspaper industry. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose bundled subscription strategy (news + games + cooking + Wirecutter + audio) demonstrates how local publishers can expand ARPU beyond traditional advertising.

Direct peers

• Lincoln Journal Star: The daily newspaper of Lincoln, Nebraska, owned by Lee Enterprises. Closely comparable as another Lee-owned regional daily serving a Nebraska/Iowa-adjacent market with similar product mix.
• Quad-City Times: A daily newspaper covering the Quad Cities region (Iowa/Illinois), also owned by Lee Enterprises. Highly comparable as another mid-sized Lee-owned regional daily with print + digital + advertising model.
• Omaha World-Herald: The largest Nebraska daily newspaper, owned by Lee Enterprises. Comparable as a Lee-owned regional daily in the same Siouxland/Nebraska advertising ecosystem.
• Argus Leader: The daily newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota — the nearest large regional market to Sioux City. Comparable as a Gannett-owned mid-market daily competing for Upper Midwest regional advertising.
• Des Moines Register: Iowa's largest daily newspaper, owned by Gannett. Comparable as the dominant Iowa regional daily, sharing the same Iowa advertising market and local news positioning.
• Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier: Another Iowa regional daily newspaper. Comparable as a mid-sized Iowa daily serving a similar geographic audience with print + digital subscriptions and local advertising.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/scj
• YouTubesiouxcityjournal.com/youtube
• Facebookfacebook.com/SiouxCityJournal
• Instagramsiouxcityjournal.com/instagram
• Pinterestsiouxcityjournal.com/pinterest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sioux-city-journal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sioux City Journal