After 127 years, Sun Valley’s Wood River Journal Closes
Assets Sold to Idaho Mountain ExpressBy Sun Valley Online, 10-22-08
After more than 127 years in the Valley, the Wood River Journal is closing its doors. However, the name of the newspaper will live on in the Idaho Mountain Express.
Faced with a deteriorating economy and falling real estate market, the Journal’s owners have reluctantly concluded the Valley cannot support two newspapers. The assets of the Journal have been sold to the Idaho Mountain Express.
“We are deeply saddened by this,” said publisher Jerry Brady, president of the Journal and Post Company, which has been managing the newspaper since May 1. “All of us who tried to save the Journal and its long tradition gave it our best shot. However time and capital ran out on us. Sale to the Express was the best course open at this time.”
The Wood River Journal name will replace the Valley section in the Wednesday edition of the Express. Today’s edition will be the last for the Journal.
As part of the sale, Express Publishing acquired archived copies of the Wood River Journal and its many predecessors, and its online presence.
“When the management of the Wood River Journal approached us this month, we were extremely pleased to have the opportunity to maintain local ownership of this valley’s century old newspaper history,” said Express Board Chairman Martha Poitevin Page.
“The archives are perhaps the most exciting part,” said Express Publisher Pam Morris. “Newspapers record history on the fly, and these archives stretch back to the mining days of the 19th Century.
“As native Idahoans and residents of the Wood River Valley, our stockholders have always been anxious about the protection of that record as they watched the Hailey newspaper frequently change hands,” she said.
The Wood River Journal, LLC, a group of local investors, bought the newspaper from Lee Enterprises in May. However, the dramatic turn in the economy became evident in September and it appears headed into a long rather than a short recession, which made prospects bleak, investors concluded.
Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.
Comments
Add your comment below