MORRIS PURCHASES SKIRT! MAGAZINE OF CHARLESTON, S.C.

AUGUSTA, Ga.—Morris Communications Company LLC has purchased Skirt!, a leading women's magazine in Charleston, S.C. William S. Morris IV, president, announced the purchase of Skirt! this week. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Morris said the magazine has been operating in Charleston for almost 10 years and has been the catalyst for a number of similar magazines across the nation. It presents a mixture of essays, articles and artistic advertising messages designed to attract women. He added that various Morris newspapers hope to create identical publications tailored to their markets.

"We see enormous potential with Skirt! It's a classy, intelligent book that really connects with a large population of female readers. The market is ripe for this type of publication," Morris said.

Executive Vice President James C. Currow negotiated the purchase with Skirt! creator and publisher Nikki Hardin. Currow is in the process of blending the magazine's operations into those of various Morris newspapers. He said the addition of Skirt! and the influence of its staff should bring quick success to the new publications.

"Skirt! is a magazine published on newsprint and is simply the best of all such publications we have seen," Currow said. "It surely is the model that most of them copied. We are thrilled to have it in our family of publications."

Currow said that Skirt! will be published in Augusta in conjunction with Augusta magazine, a Morris-owned publication under the auspices of The Augusta Chronicle. Publishing decisions will be made by the Charleston staff, who will continue to publish the original edition in Charleston as it does now, he said.

Julian Miller, Chronicle president, said he plans to distribute the January edition in Augusta beginning in mid-December, including advertising and possibly some local articles. A complete Augusta-area edition should arrive by mid-January. Miller said the Augusta edition will be published by Ms. Hardin with help from an Augusta staff.

"We have studied Skirt! for years and our company has negotiated with Ms. Hardin for months to bring the magazine to our area," Miller said. "The magazine has spawned many imitators, but nothing near the caliber of the original and we felt we needed the original staff working with us to assure that same quality. The response we have gotten from women who have seen this publication has been tremendous."

Morris Communications is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include newspaper and magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, radio broadcasting, book publishing and distribution, and online services.