Wyoming newspaper owners, staffers race to rescue community news

Hope arrived in the form of a caravan winding its way down the dirt road to Marie Hamilton’s home out on the eastern Wyoming prairie where her family’s ranching and farming roots run generations deep. Spotting the unusual amount of traffic from the washroom, the Platte County Record-Times managing editor and reporter went out to the patio.

“I’m confused,” she said, seeing community members and neighbors gathered at her door. The day before Hamilton had suddenly lost her “dream job” reporting on her hometown of Chugwater.

But the mood on the porch didn’t match that news.

“They all have these weird, funny faces,” she recalled, and appeared “super excited.” 

Asking to remain anonymous, they told her that they trusted their local newspapers, so they were collecting donations to make sure Hamilton and two other now unemployed reporters got paid until things got sorted out. 

They told her, “we did this for you girls. Whatever work you do, we want you to get paid,” she said. “I was just bawling.”

The community has rallied behind her and other reporters who are well known for consistently showing up to cover local government meetings and community events. 

The outpouring comes after News Media Corporation announced Wednesday that it was closing its doors immediately and “permanently” — abruptly shuttering the Record-Times in Wheatland and other papers in Torrington, Evanston, Pinedale, Kemmerer, Lusk, Lyman and Guersney. However, efforts are now underway to revive many of the publications that had been owned by the Illinois-based company and to keep the company’s employees.

“We’ve been scrambling the last two days to figure out ways to help,” said Darcie Hoffland, executive director of the state’s newspaper trade group, the Wyoming Press Association, “and that’s not going to stop.”

Hoffland said Friday that other Wyoming newspaper owners are exploring ways to get the papers back up and running.

“I genuinely believe that it will happen,” she said, adding, “There’s a lot of people who care about these communities [and] are working really, really hard to get the job, to get these papers open as quickly as possible.”

‘Tragic timing’

For Chugwater resident Keith Miller, the stakes couldn’t be higher for his community right now, making the loss of the county’s newspaper of record, the Platte County Record-Times, all the more devastating. 

“We are in a battle of possibly transitioning our agricultural lands and heritage to industrial operations,” Miller said in an email to WyoFile. “To some of us, we will die of broken spirits if that happens.”

The Platte County Record-Times has been closely following NextEra Energy’s pursuit of local approval for the Chugwater Wind, Solar and Battery Storage Project. But Wednesday’s abrupt closure left Hamilton without a job or place to publish her ongoing reporting. 

Instead of filing for unemployment, she joined fellow eastern Wyoming newspaper staffers in searching for a solution to keep their longstanding papers of record in production. 

“We’ve got big city issues in small towns,” Hamilton said. “Platte County, Goshen County, is at a crucial point. So this is really very tragic timing.”

A group has stepped up to figure out how to get the Platte County Record-Times, Torrington Telegram and Lusk Herald back into production. With a deal still in the works, Hamilton said she could not yet disclose potential backers aiming to save the legacy papers. Hamilton and Cali O’Hare, the managing editor of The Pinedale Roundup, said the impacted newspapers on the western side of the state are working separately to salvage their publications.

In the meantime, Hamilton has been able to update the Record-Times’ website with this week’s e-edition and hopes to see a barebones edition printed on schedule next week “to maintain our status” as a newspaper of record.

State law says newspapers must publish an edition at least once a week to be deemed an “official” newspaper and eligible to print legal notices — a coveted source of revenue that’s helped keep Wyoming newspapers afloat. 

The Pinedale Roundup is at-risk of breaking its streak. O’Hare was instructed to cancel the Roundup’s Aug. 7 print edition, which had already been reported, edited and designed. She then broke the news of the closures on the paper’s Facebook page and website.

On Friday morning, Hamilton and reporter Lisa Phelps were back at the Wheatland office collecting legal notices and selling hard copies, still in demand among readers of all ages who avoid social media or prefer paging through a physical paper. 

Hamilton had not received her last paycheck, which she had planned to spend on her three sons, ages 11, 13 and 15.

“We were all planning to go back-to-school shopping with our checks,” Hamilton said of herself and fellow employees. “I don’t know how I’m going to pay for back-to-school pants, but I’m still going to push on and figure out how to still protect my community.”

In a Wednesday memo to employees, News Media Corporation CEO J.J. Tompkins said the company would “make all reasonable efforts” to issue final paychecks, while health insurance coverage was terminated immediately.

Hamilton had to call off health appointments for her sons and pay a $25 penalty for canceling within seven days of the appointment.

WyoFile reached out to Tompkins but did not get a response by the time this article was published. Phone calls to the corporate office phone number went to voicemail, which was full.

Swift closures

Eight Wyoming newspapers, with 30 employees, were among about two dozen newspapers across five states suddenly shuttered. In the memo to employees, Tompkins cited “financial challenges, a significant economic downturn impacting our industry, revenue losses and increasing expenses, and the recent failure of an attempt to sell the company…” 

He said the company had explored “every possible avenue” to continue operating, but “reached a point where continuing business is no longer feasible.”

Rob Mortimore, who oversaw News Media Corporation’s publications in Wyoming and Nebraska, had informed staff in late July that a potential plan to sell the company to the Alabama-based Carpenter Media Group was no longer in play. However, Mortimore said Wednesday’s sudden shutdown came as a “shock” to him alongside the other employees.

News Media Corporation owned a significant chunk of Wyoming’s legal newspapers — eight of 39. After the news of the closures broke, Hoffland said the Wyoming Press Association immediately heard from other papers asking how they could help.

“They care, and they’re working hard” on a solution, she said.

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On Friday morning, Hamilton announced to readers on social media that they could come by and pick up or purchase copies of The Guernsey Gazette and Platte County Record-Times at the Wheatland office. 

“Thank you for the growing commitment and support to your PCRT,” the post read. “Good things are coming. Stay tuned.” 

The newspaper’s landlord, a longtime subscriber, saw the post and came by Friday afternoon to check on the staff and pick up his copy of the Platte County Record-Times.