Cox Enterprises agrees to sell 13 NC newspapers

GREENVILLE -- Cox Enterprises Inc. says it has agreed to sell more than a dozen North Carolina newspapers to a company headed by the son of late billionaire Jack Kent Cooke. Cox said Monday that it will sell the Rocky Mount Telegram, The Daily Reflector of Greenville and The Daily Advance of Elizabeth City along with 10 weekly papers in eastern North Carolina. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. John Kent Cooke, who heads Cooke Communications LLC, said in a statement that the group believes in the tradition of family-owned independent newspapers. His son, John Kent Cooke Jr., will serve as president of Cooke Communications North Carolina and publisher of The Daily Reflector. Georgia-based Cox Enterprises continues to market for sale its newspapers in Texas. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)