Lee Enterprises.
LEE.US | Publishing of newspapers, journals and periodicals
Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a media company providing local news, information, and a growing portfolio of digital products and services in primarily midsize markets. The company publishes newspapers, websites, and mobile applications. It offers advertising solutions, including digital marketing service...Show More
Better Health for All
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Lee Enterprises launched Health Bright Marketing, Inc., a full-service marketing company specializing in healthcare organizations, which represents a modest positive health impact.
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However, the company experienced a data breach in February 2025 that potentially compromised medical information of nearly 40,000 current and former employees.
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This incident led to a preliminary $600,000 settlement and allegations of failure to undertake adequate encryption and other data security measures.
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Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
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Lee Enterprises is a media company and does not offer lending, deposit, or other financial products or services to consumers. The 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity' value evaluates financial institutions. Consequently, all KPIs related to financial services, such as underserved client share, pricing fairness, exploitative fee exposure, inclusion initiatives, data accessibility, wealth building outcomes, profit reinvestment in community finance, financial literacy initiatives, debt burden ratio, geographic inclusion for banking services, and product simplicity for financial products, are not applicable. While the company faced a consent decree for publishing discriminatory housing advertisements, this is a fair housing advertising issue, not a fair lending compliance issue, as the company is not a lender. Mentions of 'news deserts' are not relevant to 'banking deserts' for financial services.
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Fair Pay & Worker Respect
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Lee Enterprises reported a CEO-to-median employee pay ratio of 21:1 in 2024, with the CEO's compensation at $1,106,261
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and median employee pay at $51,913.
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Employee reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed show an overall rating of 2.8 out of 5 stars
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, with compensation and benefits rated between 2.4 and 2.8 out of 5 stars.
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Approximately 38% of employees would recommend working at the company to a friend.
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The company has experienced layoffs, including hundreds of employees in 2022
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, 70 jobs lost in 2024 due to a printing press closure
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, and 6 employees laid off in September 2025.
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Lee Enterprises recognized the Racine NewsGuild in October 2024
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, though four newsroom employees were laid off two days later.
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Separately, the Buffalo Newspaper Guild ratified a three-year contract with 95% of voting members in favor
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, securing 3% annual wage increases and a one-time bonus.
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The company is also facing three class-action lawsuits from current or former employees regarding a February 2025 data breach that affected 39,779 individuals
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and cost $2 million to restore data systems.
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Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
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No specific, concrete evidence was found in the provided articles regarding Lee Enterprises' performance across any of the Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing KPIs.
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The articles did not contain data points related to fair trade certifications, audit frequency, forced or child labor incidents, supply chain traceability, remediation speed, ethical clause coverage in contracts, materials risk, or supplier diversity spend for Lee Enterprises.
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discusses prison labor in the supply chains of other companies, not Lee Enterprises.
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Honest & Fair Business
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Lee Enterprises agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in March 2025, alleging privacy violations by sharing personal subscriber information with Facebook without consent, potentially affecting over 1.5 million individuals.
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The company experienced a ransomware attack beginning February 3, 2025, which led to a data breach affecting 39,779 individuals, compromising sensitive information including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, government IDs, medical information, and financial details.
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Three new class-action lawsuits were filed by current or former employees related to this February 2025 data breach.
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Additionally, Lee Enterprises had a data breach in 2020, which remains an active case.
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Kind to Animals
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No evidence available to assess Lee Enterprises on Kind to Animals.
No War, No Weapons
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No evidence available to assess Lee Enterprises on No War, No Weapons.
Planet-Friendly Business
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Lee Enterprises has no reported environmental compliance violations, fines, or regulatory actions mentioned across the provided articles
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. This indicates a record of zero violations.
Respect for Cultures & Communities
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Lee Enterprises has established a partnership with IndiJ Public Media (ICT) to enhance coverage of Indigenous communities in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Rapid City, South Dakota
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. The company also states a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity
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. No cultural appropriation incidents have been reported in the provided articles. However, no specific quantitative data was available to assess other KPIs, such as the number of formal partnerships, the percentage of revenue reinvested in local community development, the existence of a formal cultural impact assessment protocol, or the proportion of the workforce recruited from local communities. Information on grievance mechanisms, cultural preservation investments, local procurement, or community representation in governance bodies was also not provided.
Safe & Smart Tech
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Lee Enterprises experienced a material cybersecurity incident in February 2025
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, affecting 39,779 individuals
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with sensitive data including Social Security numbers and medical information potentially compromised
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. This incident led to an estimated revenue reduction of over $10 million
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and a $10.5 million loss of cash flows
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. The company also faces significant legal and regulatory challenges, including a $9.5 million settlement
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for allegedly violating the Video Privacy Protection Act by tracking and sharing subscriber video viewing activity without consent
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, and a $600,000 settlement for a data breach class action
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. Despite these issues, Lee Enterprises has implemented robust AI governance frameworks to ensure transparency, fairness, and compliance
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, and partners with ProRata.ai to create ethical attribution models for generative AI
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, demonstrating a positive stance on creator digital rights
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. Furthermore, the company's privacy policy outlines comprehensive user data controls, allowing users to modify/delete profiles, request access/deletion, and opt-out of data selling/sharing or targeted advertising
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.
Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
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No specific, quantifiable data related to waste diversion, product recyclability, packaging sustainability, recycled content, single-use plastic reduction, take-back programs, circular design, waste reduction initiatives, hazardous waste management, product durability, repairability, waste audit frequency, zero waste certification, waste disposal violations, material efficiency, packaging-to-product ratio, waste reduction targets, supplier waste requirements, or customer waste education was found in the provided articles. The articles primarily focus on financial performance and digital transformation. While there are mentions of plans to reduce print publication days, these are forward-looking statements and do not provide evidence of implemented initiatives with measurable results or specific waste reduction outcomes.
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