Carpenter Media Group Acquires Missouri Titles

Carpenter Media Group is continuing its acquisition spree by purchasing the assets of Salem Publishing Company, a family-owned company based in Missouri. 

The acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, includes The Salem News, Phelps County Focus, Pulaski County Weekly along with their websites and social media, Action Graphics Sign Company, magazines and special publications and the company’s commercial printing operation.

The deal is expected to close on January 31. 

The titles are owned by the Vickery and Dodd families. Donald Dodd has been publisher for 27 years. 

“We are pleased to succeed Donald and family and to join their team in this important work,” says Todd Carpenter, chairman of the Mississippi-based Carpenter Media Group. “The foundations they put down position us for future success.”

Mississippi-based Carpenter has acquired several publications over the past year, including some in the Pacific Northwest. But things have not always gone smoothly, at least for staff.

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For example, the company laid off several Oregon staffers in December 2024. In addition, it faced a one-day strike earlier in the year to protest layoffs at the Everett Herald and “the  employer’s failure to set bargaining dates and meet other demands,” the Everett NewsGuild alleged.

And, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reportedly planned to lay off 5% of its staff — 13 people — months after Carpenter acquired owner Oahu Publications.

Carpenter also acquired 10 Southern newspapers and a Georgia printing facility from Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. in 2024.

Last June, Carpenter Media Group and Boone Newsmedia, Inc. ended their joint ownership of several newsrooms.

 

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