Wyoming Newsrooms Gutted Overnight as Corporate Chain Shuts Papers Without Warning

That’s the harsh reality for nearly 30 journalists and staff across Wyoming after News Media Corp. (NMC)—a corporate publisher that owned newspapers in small towns around the West—pulled the plug Wednesday morning without warning.

At least eight Wyoming communities just lost their local papers. For some, like The Pinedale Roundup, that means the end of a 121-year-old legacy—gone in an email.

“This was a punch to the gut,” said Cali O’Hare, managing editor of the Roundup, who learned she was out of a job from a call placed by another newspaper editor. “I had no idea. No heads-up. Just blindsided.”

Turns out, O’Hare and her coworkers weren’t alone. The Illinois-based company closed all its newspapers in five states, citing “financial challenges, revenue losses and rising expenses.” Their statement—posted on Facebook, not even emailed directly to staff—claimed the decision “was not made lightly.” But for employees like O’Hare, that’s hard to believe.

The closure hits places like Torrington, Lusk, Kemmerer, Wheatland, Guernsey, Evanston, Lyman, and Pinedale. These aren’t just publications—they’re the source of news for many small towns, the watchdogs over local governments, and the scrapbooks of generations.

“Thirty people across Wyoming and Nebraska are out of work. More importantly, nine communities now have no newspaper,” said Wyoming group publisher Rob Mortimore. “It’s devastating.”

Mortimore, who was just promoted earlier this year, said he was as shocked as anyone.

“We were ready to go to print Wednesday morning,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “Then it all stopped. It sucks.”

To make things worse, the company isn’t even clear on whether staff will get their final paychecks. The separation letter sent to employees reads like legal hedging:

“We will make all reasonable efforts to pay you all remaining compensation…”

“‘All reasonable efforts’? That doesn’t sound like Friday’s paycheck is coming,” said Madeline Kosiba, the Roundup’s office manager who left a 20-year job to join the paper. “This is disgusting. I’m heartbroken. And I’m angry.”

Other reporters echoed that sentiment.

“We pour everything into this work, and they pull the rug out with no warning,” said Marie Hamilton, a reporter for the Platte County Record-Times. “No time to tell readers goodbye. No final edition. Just silence.”

The closure of NMC’s papers adds to a worsening crisis in rural journalism. According to the Poynter Institute, the US lost 127 newspapers last year alone. The void left behind—often called a “news desert”—means fewer eyes on public meetings, no watchdogs on government, and no record of local life.

“We’re losing our connection to the community,” O’Hare said. “What happens now at city council meetings? Who’s holding the school board accountable?”

Tim Franklin of Northwestern University’s Medill School calls rural counties the hardest hit.

“There’s just not the financial support to keep local news alive out there,” he told Poynter. “We’re becoming a nation of news haves and have-nots.”

In Pinedale, the last issue of the Roundup was fully laid out and ready to hit the press. It was supposed to cover a big local story—the grand opening of a new hospital. That edition will never be printed.

“Our community deserved to celebrate that. Instead, the paper got axed,” O’Hare said. “No farewell. No closure.”

The company’s CEO, JJ Tompkins, included an email address in the layoff letter, encouraging employees to reach out with questions. Staff who tried say they got radio silence.

“It’s infuriating,” said O’Hare. “No answers. No leadership. Just crickets.”

For some, the fight isn’t over.

“I won’t stop reporting. I’ll find a way,” O’Hare said. “The fire in my belly hasn’t gone out.”

Longtime Wyoming journalist Bill Sniffin says the closure is a massive loss—but not the end.

“These were good newspapers in good towns. But I believe local entrepreneurs will step in and fill the void, probably with digital offerings,” he said. “That’s how local news survives now—community-driven, not corporate.”

Kosiba agreed:

“These communities aren’t just going to give up. And neither will we.”

For now, though, rural Wyoming is left quieter—its small-town stories untold, and its local press rooms suddenly, eerily empty.

With input from Oil City News and Cowboy State Daily.