News Publishing Company, Inc. changing hands as the new year gets underway
You probably know your local newspaper by the name on the front of it. Behind that name is News Publishing Company, Inc., the ownership company which has existed since January 3, 1978 when Curtis Witte bought a group of publications in western Dane County and Green County from Bill and Dolores Griffith.
The company has been a family-owned corporation from its inception and has been managed by publishers Dan and Mark Witte over the past 45 years. During that time, News Publishing has purchased and sold a number of publications and is now comprised of 14 weekly community newspapers and multiple shoppers that still serve the original communities in addition to the counties of Jackson, Trempealeau, Clark, Sauk, Marquette, Outagamie, Calumet and Brown in Wisconsin, and in Allamakee County in Iowa (The Standard Newspaper and Northeast Iowa Extra shopper).
The Witte family decided earlier this year that it was time to fully retire and sell the newspaper company, but they wanted to make sure it stayed intact and continued their vision of community journalism, which is to provide unbiased local coverage in each of our communities. We are excited to announce that our papers will continue to provide the best coverage of local news and events and an advertising medium that works for our local customers. The Wittes decided the best way to continue that vision was to sell the company to Tom Finger, who has been their Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the past 25 years.
“The Witte family wishes to thank all the employees over the decades as well as a special thank you to all our subscribers and advertisers,” said News Publishing CEO Mark Witte.
The new corporation behind the newspapers will be called Finger Publishing, Inc. The readers and recipients of our papers and shoppers will not be impacted by the sale. All employees will be retained and continue in their current roles. Finger Publishing, Inc. will continue to run the publishing, printing, and delivery operation out of the Black Earth, WI location.
“We are thankful to the entire Witte family for their support and unwavering commitment to the role of community journalism over the years,” said Matt Geiger, managing editor with News Publishing. “And we are both excited and comforted to know the publications we care so deeply about will be in the hands of a new owner who has vast experience overseeing the newspapers that chronicle the communities we call home. We know we will flourish under Tom’s leadership.”
“We are dedicated to continuing the vision of community journalism the Witte family strived to achieve,” said Tom Finger. “Community papers are vitally important to the communities they serve. As times change, we will adapt to those changes, but these papers will continue to serve our communities for the foreseeable future.”
