News Media Corporation

News Media Corporation (NMC) is an America family-owned newspaper corporation that publishes 65[3] different newspaper titles in eight[4] states across the United States. Currently, it operates in smaller cities and towns with populations between 5,000 and 50,000. NMC operates in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

News Media Corporation
TypePrivate
IndustryMedia
Founded1975
FounderJohn Tompkins
HeadquartersRochelle, Illinois
Key people
John Tompkins (Chairman)
John Shank (COO)[1]
Mike Tompkins (Vice President)
Lori Laye (CAO)[2]
J.J. Tompkins (CRO)
ProductsNewspapers
SubsidiariesNews Media Digital
Websitenewsmediacorporation.com

History

News Media Corporation (NMC) was founded in 1975 by John C. Tompkins.

In 2012, NMC created a new strategic business unit called News Media Digital, which is responsible for the organization's digital marketing and advertising ventures.

People

John C. Tompkins served as company President and CEO of NMC from 1975 until August of 2018. Day-to-day operations were overseen by Chief Operating Officer, Mike Tompkins, and Chief Financial Officer, Mike Rand until August of 2018.

In August of 2018 Mike Rand resigned from NMC after being hired as CFO of Wick Communications.[5] Rand’s departure coincided with the departure of Mike Tompkins, John Tomkins’ brother, who had been the organization's Chief Operating Officer for over 20-years.

In August of 2018, Nick Monico joined NMC as President and John C. Tompkins was named Chairman. Before joining NMC, Monico was Chief Operations Officer of Wick Communications, vice president of community publishing for GateHouse Media, vice president/COO and chief strategic officer for Trib Total Media in Pittsburgh, president of Gannett Media Network of Central Ohio and COO of Thomson Newspapers’ Chicago and Kansas City divisions.[6]

Nick left News Media Corporation in October of 2019[7] and John Shank was promoted to Chief Operating Officer.[8] Shank, who has worked his entire 31-year multimedia publishing career with NMC, is based in Rochelle and will oversee the company’s entire operation, while continuing on in a dual role as Illinois group publisher.[9]

Finance

In April of 2019, NMC received $2-5 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, from Byline Bank, through the CARES Act — passed by Congress in March. [10]

Controversy

Media War

On July 23, 2015, the owner of two online daily news sites, Scott Brennan, posted a recording[11] of a voicemail left for him by John C. Tompkins. In the message, Tompkins takes issue with the presence of Brennan’s two online daily news sites, which compete with News Media Corp.’s publications Atascadero News and Paso Robles Press. The call was apparently triggered by the launch of Atascadero Daily News in May, and it was the first time Brennan said he heard from anybody at Tompkins’ company.

A month later Brennan received a email from San Francisco-based attorney Brandon Stroy, an intellectual property and technology attorney with Maynard Cooper & Gale, that told Brennan that a cease and desist letter was being sent via FedEx. The next day, Brennan received the letter, which told him he must stop using the name ‘Atascadero Daily News’ and the site’s Twitter handle @atascaderonews.[12]

Although Brennan did not feel that using the name ‘Atascadero Daily News’ infringed upon NMC’s purported trademark rights, he announced that he was changing the name of the Internet news site to A-Town Daily News, referencing the town’s commonly used nickname.[13]

Publications

Arizona

Colorado

Illinois

Nebraska

Oregon

South Dakota

West Virginia

Wyoming

References
  1. "Nick Monico departs and John Shank is promoted"
  2. "Lori Laye changed from CFO to CAO"
  3. "Number of states"
  4. "States of operation listed on Corp. website"
  5. https://wickcommunications.com/meet-the-team/mike-rand/
  6. "Nick Monico's employment history"
  7. "Nick Monico joins Adams Publishing"
  8. "John Shank is promoted to COO"
  9. "John Shank bio"
  10. https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2020/7/6/21315362/search-ppp-loans-illinois-small-business-administration-coronavirus-relief
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kPejUzyEFk&feature=emb_logo
  12. https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/media-war-ends-in-concession-from-the-online-news-site-formerly-known-as-atascadero-daily-news/Content?oid=2935997
  13. https://www.newtimesslo.com/files/news_AtascaderoNewsletter2_7-30.pdf
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