The Daily Reflector undertook the most important step of its century-old business in the mid-1990s.

Dave Whichard and Jack Whichard, the newspaper's publishers and the third generation of Whichards to operate it, were proud of their legacy of community journalism.

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COX NEWSPAPERS INC. and The Daily Reflector announced the sale of the paper to Cox on Nov. 30, 1995. D. Jordan 'Jordy' Whichard gathered staff in the newsroom to make the announcement, and a story about it led the paper the next day.

But they recognized a revolution was approaching in the gathering and dissemination of information.

"They and I remained committed to independent family ownership of the paper," D. Jordan "Jordy" Whichard III said, referring to his father and uncle. "But we began to think seriously about a transition to other group ownership."

The circumstances that prompted such a review centered on changes occurring or predicted to occur in the media landscape.

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THREE GENERATIONS of the Whichard family had a hand in operations at The Daily Reflector in the latter part of the 20th century: brothers David J. Whichard II and John S. Whichard, standing from left, and D. Jordan Whichard III and his grandfather, David Julian Whichard, seated.

"Economies of scale were becoming more and more important — the purchase of newsprint and ink by a large group, for instance. The Internet was in its infancy but was clearly a threat," he said.

"If we didn't have the size and resources to build up and compete, then we would be left behind."

In fact, several trends were emerging in media operations that prompted leaders of The Daily Reflector to give serious consideration to selling the business. The consolidation of retailers was having an impact on advertising revenues. Some media companies were exploring so-called "convergence" in their operations — partnering with local television news operations and creating active news and information Web sites, for instance.

"We saw these as potential threats that could weaken the ability of a small, independent, family-owned newspaper to participate fully in the changing media environment of the 21st century," Whichard said.

Whichard, who graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1979, returned to his hometown in 1985 to become the paper's general manager after holding jobs in Greenville, S.C., and Staunton, Va. His father, David J. "Dave" Whichard II, uncle, John S. "Jack" Whichard, had joined the paper in the 1950s, going to work for their dad, David J. "Big Dave" Whichard.

The shift from a family-owned to a corporate operation represented "a real strategic decision," Jack Whichard said. "We decided that the time had come that if something happened to us, and something of a fire sale was needed just to take care of taxes, then we needed to have additional resources."

The owners and officers of the local paper prepared a short list of media companies that might match up well with the values and traditions of The Daily Reflector.

"We were concerned about the legacy built in the community, about providing good journalism, about the civic responsibility we had to the community and about continuing to provide good corporate leadership," Jordy Whichard said. "And we were concerned about our employees — we wanted growth opportunities, not shrink opportunities."

Whichard, his father and uncle thought the paper might be an attractive acquisition by some company, partly because of the future of the Greenville market.

"At the time, we were listed among the 10 fastest growing small markets in the country. But this also was a very young market, because it was dominated by the university and the medical school. We thought that factor created some vulnerability, especially for anyone wanting to penetrate young readership," he said.

Cox Newspapers Inc., the Atlanta-based publishing company, was the Whichards' choice, and Cox officials were interested in The Daily Reflector.

"We felt that we were selling from a position of strength," Jack Whichard said.

"And it was a privately held, family owned company," Dave Whichard added.

The sale to Cox was announced Nov. 30, 1995. Jordy Whichard said at the time that the decision was both difficult and emotional. "Looking forward, however, it is absolutely the correct decision for our newspapers, their readers and the communities they serve."

Within three years, Cox also had acquired daily newspapers in Rocky Mount and Elizabeth City, and plans were made to build a new production plant, not just for The Daily Reflector, but also for other publications in the Cox holdings in eastern North Carolina. The building's production equipment would be used for newspaper printing and also for commercial contract printing.

The Daily Reflector began operating out of its new 92,000-square-foot, $13 million newsroom and production building on Sugg Parkway in the Indigreen Corporate Park in late 1999 and formally dedicated the new site in June 2000.

The new company kept Whichard as publisher of The Daily Reflector and president of Cox North Carolina Publications Inc., maintaining a connection to the legacy of local control, and it gave the paper access to the corporation's expertise and resources that would help take the Reflector into the 21st century.