What Is Wick Communications?

Updated

Wick Communications is a family-owned, multi-generational media company that owns and operates local newspapers and news media across the United States. It was founded in 1926 by brothers Milton and James Wick with the purchase of the Niles Daily Times, and it describes itself as having grown from a small Midwest operation into a lasting media presence. If you are trying to understand who publishes or owns a particular local paper, or what kind of organization Wick is, the short answer is: a community-newspaper group with a century-long family history.

What the company does

Wick Communications' core business is owning and running local news outlets. Its stated purpose is keeping communities informed and "rooted," with an emphasis on civic leadership and journalistic integrity. The company frames its newspapers as having a distinct role in the communities they serve — a point echoed by Francis Wick, a Wick family member and board member/president, who is quoted saying he is "proud of the legacy and difference our newspapers mean to their respective communities."

In practical terms, that means the company's output is local journalism: reporting and publishing for specific markets rather than a single national audience.

How it has changed over time

The company's own history highlights two long-running themes:

  • Expansion through acquisition. Wick has grown by acquiring newspapers and media operations across the U.S., which is how a single Midwest purchase became a multi-market group.
  • Adaptation to the media landscape. Its history spans reporting from behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War through to what it calls award-winning digital initiatives.

Where it stands now

Wick Communications is active on both the ownership and digital sides of local news. Recent items it highlights include:

  • Receiving a grant from the Local Media Association and the Family Independent Media Sustainability Group to launch a newsroom text messaging service.
  • Selling the Frontiersman to Mat-Su Sentinel.
  • Selling its Colorado newspaper group and printing operations to Grand Junction Media.

Those moves show a company that both launches new audience channels and reshapes its portfolio through sales — useful context if you are checking whether a given paper is still part of Wick.

How to use this

  • If you want to know whether a paper is a Wick publication: check the company's "Our Reach" / markets section, since its portfolio changes through acquisitions and sales.
  • If you are researching local news ownership: treat Wick as a family-held community newspaper group founded in 1926, not a single-title publisher.
  • If you need current details on any specific title, grant, or sale, go to the source pages linked from Wick's site, as the portfolio is not static.