The Modern News of Harrisburg, which has published weekly for 129 years in the Poinsett County seat, is in sales talks with an unidentified newspaper group.
General Manager Curtis Sanders told Arkansas Business that owners Elaine Nix and her son Mark are in initial negotiations with the representative of a media group. Longtime Publisher and Editor Charles Nix, Elaine’s husband, died three years ago this month.
Sanders couldn’t name the group or reveal an opening asking price, but he said he expected any potential deal to keep him and the paper’s other full-time employee, Mary Saddler, who handles bookkeeping and classified ads, in their jobs. A part-time writer covers school and sports news. The paper prints about 1,250 copies a week, and Sanders said that the paper recently broke a decade-long trend of falling circulation. “I think we have a base now, and that we could increase our numbers.”
He said the paper had operated at a small loss for the past few years. “Advertising in small weekly papers is very seasonal,” Sanders said. “This creates a cash-flow problem, and for several years we’ve just been getting by, robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak.”
He said being a part of a larger media group could ensure survival. “If you’re not part of a larger group, it can become too much of a struggle.”
Longtime readers like Edith Holcomb hope a sale will rescue the paper. “I’d like to see it go on at least so we’ll know what’s going on around our community,” she told KAIT-TV of Jonesboro. “I’ve been faithful to this paper.”
KAIT GM Joins Sister Station
Speaking of KAIT, the Raycom station’s vice president and general manager since 2014 has moved to the same position at sister stations KFVS in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Chris Conroy, a 30-year industry veteran who has worked in New Orleans, Atlanta and Memphis, made the move early this month.
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