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(Sheldon, IA) -- Small town newspapers are still holding strong, and keeping them going and thriving is the mission of one Iowa publisher.
"There's this idea out there that newspapers are dying or newspapers are dead, and there's no possible future, and being in the newspaper business, the exact opposite is the truth, " said Peter Wagner, owner of Iowa Information Media Group, which publishes several newspapers in western and northwest Iowa. He says his biggest challenge is finding qualified staff to fill open positions.
Wagner originally worked in radio broadcasting, and then with his wife in 1962, started a shopping magazine called the "Golden Shopper," which is still being published. Ten years later, Wagner started the paper that would eventually become the "N'West Iowa REVIEW" in Sheldon. The company now has three generations of the Wagner family involved and owns papers in several other Iowa towns, including, Jefferson, Carroll, and Sioux Center. The company also recently acquired the Coon Rapids Enterprise, in Coon Rapids, just over an hour northwest of the Des Moines metro.
In late November of 2023, Vivek Ramaswamy, at the time a Republican presidential candidate, said in a post on X that he was considering buying the Coon Rapids Enterprise, which had just announced that it was shutting down operations after 140 years because the owner had not been able to find a buyer. However, in the months that followed, Wagner's company was able to acquire the Enterprise and continue its role in the community.
Wagner says small town newspapers are making a comeback.
"Interestingly, small is now the new big," Wagner said, "you say, 'how are we going to stay sustainable?' That's because we're doing business with smaller businesses in the community, and those who really care about it."
Wagner also says newspapers are the first note in history, and that younger generations are turning back to print. He encourages those interested in a writing career in journalism to contact him.