WISHEK, N.D. (KFGO) – It’s been nearly six months since Tony Bender died, and his family is still working to sell the two newspapers he published in south-central North Dakota.
Bender was a well-known publisher, author, and columnist who owned the Wishek Star and Ashley Tribune since the 1990s. He died in November and his family took over operations of both papers. His daughter India and his sister Sherry Slycord hosted a town hall meeting in Wishek Wednesday to discuss the future of the papers.
North Dakota Newspaper Association Executive Director Cecile Wehrman gave a presentation on the importance of the papers, what it would mean for the communities if they close, and requirements for publishing legal notices.
Wehrman said weekly newspapers must be published once a week and, if they aren’t, they could lose their official newspaper status. If that happens, local governments and school boards have to find another newspaper to place those minutes and legal postings. She said those notices are a bedrock for weekly newspapers’ income.
On top of losing official newspaper status, the postal permit for commercial mailings would be lost. To get the official legal status back, Wehrman said a publisher would have to produce a weekly for a full year before becoming eligible again.
In her experience, because of the difficulty of getting the official status and postal permit back, Wehrman said newspapers that close don’t open again.
The newspapers’ closing is something Wishek Mayor Brenda Dohn said would be devastating for the community for many reasons, not the least of which is that government business would have to be published in another paper.
“Our residents would almost have to buy a subscription to those newspapers to get that information for us, and it doesn’t mean anything else would be in that paper besides those minutes – the city and school board minutes,” Dohn said. “It would be a loss. We wouldn’t maybe get the small stories about the special things in our communities. That would all be lost.”
The risk of the papers closing is very real and very close to happening.
India Bender lives in Pennsylvania and has a career there. She has been publishing the newspapers remotely since taking over from her brother in March when he went back to his career. India says she loves the papers, but the stress of balancing her career and the papers is becoming overwhelming.
“I’ve been working pretty much nonstop since March – day in and day out,” she said.
India said they have had some interest, but if they can’t find a buyer within the next month, the papers may need to close.
The newspapers and a building in Ashley are listed for $100,000, but the price – and separating the papers from the building – is up for discussion. More information is available on the North Dakota Newspaper Association website.
There are 73 newspapers in North Dakota, and 63 of them are weeklies.
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