Eight rural communities across Wyoming are without their legacy hometown newspapers after News Media Corp. abruptly closed them without notice Wednesday morning.
That includes the Pinedale Roundup, which has been the local newspaper for folks in that western Wyoming community for 121 years.
As with all of the News Media Corp.-owned newspapers, Editor Cali O’Hare and Office Manager Madeline Kosiba found out they are out of their jobs through a phone call and an emailed corporate separation letter.
“It was 8:34 this morning that Brian Liechty at the Unita County Herald called and broke the news to me,” O’Hare told Cowboy State Daily. “I have no idea why he was delegated to be the one to do that.”
Shortly afterward, the separation letter came through telling employees that Wednesday was their last day, that “your employment with NMC and/or its affiliated companies will end permanently.”
It wasn’t just the company’s Wyoming newspapers that were shuttered, O'Hare said she was told all of News Media Corp.’s newspapers have been shut down. A check of some of social media for other News Media outlets also shows they've been closed as well.
That includes another 21 publications in other states operated by the Illinois-based corporation, according to its website.
“This is devastating for me, devastating to our colleagues and especially devastating for my colleagues in other parts of the state,” O’Hare said. “There are a lot of communities that will essentially become news deserts.”
Will They Be Paid?
Kosiba confirmed there was “no notice,” and that the separation letter leaves it ambiguous whether News Media Corp. employees will get their final paychecks.
“We will make all reasonable efforts to pay you all remaining compensation you have earned as soon as possible,” the letter says.
That sounds a lot like come Friday, which is payday, they’re not getting their paychecks, Kosiba said.
“My main concern is the final paychecks where they say ‘all reasonable efforts,’ which makes me think that’s a set-up for not paying us,” she said.
She was as blindsided as everyone else about the sudden shutdown of the papers.
“It’s a shock, and I think I’m still in the sad-devastated phase,” Kosiba said. “I think the anger is going to come later.”
Across the state at the Platte County Record-Times and Guernsey Gazette, an emotional reporter Marie Hamilton said she’s heartbroken.
And the possibility of not getting paid is a very real concern for those who already pour their hearts and souls into jobs they get very little money to do, she said.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen, and it’s payday week,” she said. “So, I’ll either have a direct deposit or I won’t.”
'It's Infuriating'
In the separation letter, News Media Corp. CEO JJ Tompkins listed his email address and encourages anyone with questions to reach out to him.
O'Hare said she and others from the Wyoming newspapers she’s talked to have done that, along with calling the corporate office, but haven’t heard back.
In fact, she said mum’s been the word at the western Woming newspapers from anybody in leadership with the company.
“It’s infuriating that our leadership has not responded,” O’Hare said. “It’s been crickets.”
Wyoming Group Publisher Rob Mortimer told Cowboy State Daily that he was as blindsided as everyone else with the announcement.
"We were set to hand the plates and print (newspapers) this morning and had to stop," he said. "It's a tough pill to swallow, there's no way around it."
He said he feels for the people who are suddenly out of work and the towns that won't have news coverage of important happenings.
"I can't say anything but good things about our communities and our people," he said. "But to be frank, it sucks."
Hamilton said Mortimer held a meeting with the employees of the eastern Wyoming newspapers Wednesday morning.
She said the news was as surprising to him as everyone else, and she described Mortimore as “more like our father,” who always had their backs and supported them.
“What he told us was it was a shock to him, a surprise,” she said. “I don’t think he was expecting this.”
In a post to the Platte County Record-Times Facebook page for readers, Mortimore said he was “deeply saddened” with the development, which impacts 30 employees at the eight Wyoming publications and one in Nebraska.
“The announcement has come as a shock to us,” he posted. “While current economic trends were being navigated, we were moving forward, adjusting our business model to today’s economy, and did not expect the sudden closure.”
He called the people at those Wyoming newspapers “some of the greatest and hard-working individuals I’ve ever met.
“I am devastated by the loss of such a crucial and valuable resource. Nine communities no longer have a newspaper. … We wish we could have said a proper goodbye.”
Bill Sniffin has been a fixture in Wyoming journalism for more than 50 years and owned many newspapers across the state. Wednesday’s announcement is a sad shock, he said.
“For literally centuries, the closing of the local newspaper was a catastrophe,” he said. “Today, it is still a disaster. I cannot imagine this happening. These were good newspapers in good towns.
“I cannot believe this news. Just a terrible blow for these towns and these newspaper employees. The departure of these newspapers will create a temporary vacuum, but local entrepreneurs will step in and fill the void, probably with digital offerings.”
What Now?
Kosiba quit a job she had for 20 years to work at the Roundup. Like O’Hare, she said her main concern is for the Pinedale community, and all the rural towns suddenly left without a local newspaper.
“I’m still baffled by just shutting down a newspaper like this,” she said, adding it impacts a lot of people. “It’s not going to be just disgruntled employees affected, I think this paper has been around for 120 years.”
Wednesday’s mass closings are “a bad sign,” O’Hare said about the impact for local areas. “It’s very telling, and my hope is that the folks in these communities that will be affected by the loss of these newspapers, that they’ll fight for their right to reliable, accurate, informative reporting.
“This is bigger than the reporters who are writing stories.”
Hamilton agrees. In fact, she covered a town council meeting Tuesday night and conducted an interview on another story on her way to work Wednesday.
“Most of us are concerned about the community,” she said, choking up. “These are our people. This is our home. It’s an honor of a lifetime to work in a rural community. You get so close to your entire community here.”
Not having that local coverage “is a travesty,” Hamilton said. “Without us being the watchdog of a couple of our boards here, what’s going to happen? How many more secret meetings are going to happen because the papers are down?”
Papers like the ones shut down by News Media are vital connections, O’Hare said. There are 121 years of clippings and stories in scrapbooks that span generations of families.
The sudden closure also means this week's Pinedale Roundup won't go out, even though it's done and ready for the press. The big news that won't get to locals is coverage of the grand opening of a local hospital, something O'Hare calls "historic" for the town.
“This paper has a special place in my heart, and it’s a great loss,” she said. “It’s a legacy newspaper, an award-winning newspaper — even after all my staff had been stripped (18 months ago). It’s been death by 1,000 cuts.”
Nobody was surprised that the company was in trouble, O’Hare said. It had tried unsuccessfully to find a buyer.
But to have it unfold the way it did Wednesday is “atrocious, disgusting, awful, unprofessional,” she said. “The key is local ownership.
“As for me, the fire in my belly has not been extinguished, and although the Roundup’s doors are closing, I won’t stop fighting.”
Along with the Pinedale Roundup, Platte County Record-Times and Guernsey Gazette, News Media Corp. also has shut down the Torrington Telegram, Lusk Herald, Uinta County Herald, Bridger Valley Pioneer and Kemmerer Gazette.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comment from Wyoming Group Publisher Rob Mortimer.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
