Wyoming newspaper executives Robb and Jen Hicks and Rob Mortimore have announced they have agreed to purchase eight local newspapers, ensuring their continued operation after their out-of-state corporate owner, News Media Corporation, abruptly closed them last week.
Marie Hamilton, reporter and managing editor for the Platte County Record-Times and Guernsey Gazette, expressed relief, saying, “There were a lot of tears, but good tears,” reflecting the staff’s emotional response to the news.
The announcement follows News Media Corporation’s sudden closure of its publications in Niobrara, Goshen, Platte, Sublette, Lincoln, and Uinta counties six days ago.
The purchase agreement includes rehiring all staff and resuming publication of all titles immediately, according to Robb Hicks.
“We are honored to assume stewardship of these legacy community newspapers,” Hicks stated on the newspapers’ Facebook pages. “Our priority is ensuring these counties have a credible, enduring source of local journalism.”
Hamilton praised Mortimore, a Torrington native, saying, “Wyoming problems need Wyoming solutions from Wyoming people.”
Mortimore will remain group publisher, while the Hicks, who have owned the Buffalo Bulletin since 1996, bring multigenerational ties to Wyoming newspapers spanning seven decades.
The closures, announced last Wednesday, affected eight Wyoming newspapers with 30 employees among two dozen publications across five states. Mortimore, who managed News Media Corporation’s Wyoming and Nebraska papers, called the shutdown a “shock.”
Hamilton emphasized, “All of our papers were profitable.”