The second half of the 20th century saw the consolidation of Springfield's newspapers. The "Republican" became part of two other local papers. The "Springfield Daily News" and the "Morning Union" merged in the 1970s, briefly operating as separate papers, even endorsing different candidates for the same offices. Eventually the two editions were combined into "The Union-News" (a morning paper) in 1988, with "The Sunday Republican" being published on Sundays. An organization called the Springfield Newspapers became the local division of the Newhouse family empire. The newspaper was formerly known as "The Springfield Union News & Sunday Republican."