| Wick Communications | |
| Type: | Private |
| Foundation: | [1] |
| Founder: | Milton I. Wick and his James L. Wick |
| Location: | Sierra Vista, Arizona, U.S. |
| Key People: | Francis Wick, President and CEO Susan Ellis, CFO John D'Orlando, COO Reilly Kneedler, CoS |
| Num Employees: | 400+[2] [3] |
| Industry: | Newspapers |
Wick Communications (formerly known as Wick Newspaper Group)[4] is a family-owned media company with 18 newspapers in 10 states.[5] They also publish websites and other specialty publications. The home offices are in Sierra Vista, Arizona, and it has newspapers in Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, Colorado, Alaska, California, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.[6]
While in college, brothers Milton I. Wick and James Lester Wick started a business employing college students to sell books to farmers during the summer months.[7] The two purchased their first newspaper in 1926. Over the years Milton managed the business and acquired 27 papers across the country. At the same time his business partner James worked as a foreign correspondent in Europe and focused on politics. After returning stateside he became editor of the newsletter What's Happening in Washington. In 1952, James published a book titled "How Not to Run for President, A Handbook for Republicans."[8]
In 1953, James organized a European tour with a group of 37 newspaper editors,[9] including his brother. The venture was called Wick Editors Tours. The group were the first Americans to enter and report from Hungry and Romania after the raising of the Iron Curtain. The Wick brothers were among the first party of U.S. journalists allowed inside the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. At the time of his death in 1964, James was the editor and publisher of Human Events, a Conservative newsletter. Right before passing, he sold his interest in Wick Newspapers to his brother Milton's sons Walter M. Wick and Robert J. Wick.[10] The two took full ownership of the family business when their father Milton died on November 30, 1981. At that time the Wick Newspaper Group owned and operated 40 newspapers.
Milton I. Wick was inducted posthumously into the Arizona Newspapers Hall of Fame in 1996,[11] and Walt M. Wick and Robert J. Wick were also inducted in September 2004.
In 2016, Robert's son Francis Wick was named CEO of Wick Communications. That same year Walter M. Wick died of pancreatic cancer.[12] Robert J. Wick died in 2022.[13] In August 2024, Francis Wick announced he will step down as company CEO.
The company originated in 1926 when the Wick family purchased the Niles Daily Times in Niles, Ohio.[14] [15] The company bought The Daily Herald in 1947[16] and Williston Herald in 1961.[17] [18] Also in 1961, the Wick sold the Niles Daily Times and three nearby newspapers (the Girard News, the Hubbard News and the Suburban Reporter) to a newly formed enterprise.[19] In 1962, Wick purchased a stake in the Sidney Herald.[20]
The Wicks acquired the Sierra Vista Herald in 1967,[21] the Argus Observer in 1968,[22] Bisbee Review in 1974[23] and Green Valley News in 1978,[24] Eastern Arizona Courier in 1983,[25] [26] KFMM and KCUZ in 1983, the Parker Pioneer in 1985,[27] the L'Observateur in 1986,[28] Half Moon Bay Review in 1986,[29] Richland County Leader in 1988,[30] Douglas Daily Dispatch in 1989;[31] The Daily Territorial, The Weekly Territorial and Ore Valley Territorial in 1990,[32] Inside Tucson Business in 1992, Montrose Daily Press in 1997,[33] Tucson Weekly in 2000,[34] Capital Journal in 2005;[35] Anchorage Press and Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman in 2006.[36]
Wick sold L'Observateur and The Daily News of Bogalusa in April 2014 to Carpenter Media Group.[37] [38] That same month, Wick sold the Tucson Weekly and Inside Tucson Business to 10/13 Communications.[39] In January 2018, Wick sold The Daily Herald to Paxton Media Group[40] and also sold the Half Moon Bay Review in May 2018.[41] The company purchased The Wenatchee World in March 2018[42] Acadiana LifeStyle in July 2018,[43] Delta County Independent in Colorado in May 2019[44] and The Daily Journal in June 2019.[45] The company closed the Independent-Enterprise of Payette, Idaho in 2020.[46]
Wick purchased the Madison Daily Leader in South Dakota in March 2021.[47] In September 2023, Wick bought the Arizona Daily Sun from Lee Enterprises.[48] In April 2024, Wick Communications sold The Daily Iberian and Acadian LifeStyle to Carpenter Media Group.[49] In October 2024, the company purchased the television station, NCWLife channel.[50]
River City Newspapers, LLC is a joint venture between Wick Communications and Western News & Info. It was established in August 1995 to manage the Today's News-Herald, a newspaper based in Lake Havasu City, Arizona formed from the merger of Wick's Daily Herald and Western's Today's Daily News.[51] Wick also transferred ownership of the Parker Pioneer over to River City.[52]
In 2022, River City purchased the Mohave Valley Daily News, Wickenburg Sun, Laughlin Times and Needles Desert Star from Brehm Communications. Also, River City acquired the Kingman Miner and the Central Printing Facility in Golden Valley, Arizona from Western News&Info.[53]
| State | City | Newspaper | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman | |||
| Anchorage Press | |||
| Arizona | Flagstaff | Arizona Daily Sun | |
| Arizona Range News | |||
| Bisbee Review | |||
| The Weekly Bulletin | |||
| Copper Era | |||
| Douglas Dispatch | |||
| Eastern Arizona Courier | |||
| Green Valley News & Sun | |||
| Nogales International | |||
| Parker Pioneer (50%) | |||
| San Pedro Valley News-Sun | |||
| Sahuarita Sun | |||
| Herald Review Media | |||
| The Daily Territorial | |||
| Today's News Herald (50%) | |||
| Delta County Independent | |||
| Montrose Daily Press | |||
| Independent-Enterprise | |||
| Sidney Herald | |||
| The Daily Journal | |||
| Richland County News-Monitor | |||
| Wahpeton Daily News | |||
| Williston Herald | |||
| Argus Observer | |||
| Capital Journal | |||
| Madison | Madison Daily Leader | ||
| The Wenatchee World |