Gering Courier
 Front page of December 29, 1899, issue | |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Lee Enterprises |
| Founder(s) | A.B. Wood |
| Editor | Rich Macke |
| Founded | April 27, 1887 |
| Ceased publication | December 5, 2024 |
| Headquarters | 1405 Broadway, Scottsbluff, Nebraska |
| Circulation | 321[1] |
| OCLC number | 32034477 |
| Website | starherald |
The Gering Courier was a weekly newspaper serving the Gering, Nebraska community from 1887 to 2024. It was printed in Gering's sister city of Scottsbluff.[2] The Courier shared resources with two other nearby newspapers, the Star-Herald and the Hemingford Ledger, both also owned by Lee Enterprises.
History
[edit]Established by Asa Wood in 1887[4][5] as a Republican-leaning weekly,[6] the Gering Courier was the first paper in Gering.
By the mid-1910s, it had a good reputation, with the Alliance Herald calling it one of the best papers in the West.[5] In 1915, it moved into the new Gering Courier Building, a structure now on the National Register of Historic Places.[7] In 1927, it absorbed competing paper the Gering Midwest.[8]
For over fifty years, Wood was publisher and editor. A one-time president of the Nebraska Press Association,[9] he was also a breeder of cattle,[10] a state senator from 1924 to 1930, and, like many publishers of that time, the local postmaster.[11] Described as a "walking encyclopedia" of western Nebraska history,[11] he was one of the best known newspapermen in the state.[5] He left the paper to his son, Warren Wood, on his death in 1945.[11]
Under the younger Wood, the paper continued to expand, buying out Banner County's Banner News in 1955.[4][8] Following the death of Warren Wood in 1978, Wood's daughter Carol became publisher of the Courier and her husband Jack Lewis oversaw the paper's general operations.[12]
Ownership transitions away from the Wood Family
[edit]In April 1999, Carol and Jack Lewis sold the Courier to Robert Van Vleet's Excellence in Publishing, Inc., which owned the Sidney Daily Sun in nearby Sidney, Nebraska.[13] The Courier was then sold by Van Vleet to the Omaha World-Herald Company in February 2000 as part of a deal where the World-Herald Company turned over ownership of the Sidney Telegraph to Van Vleet (and the Daily Sun and Telegraph were consolidated into The Sidney Sun-Telegraph).[14] The Omaha World-Herald Company, whose holdings included the Courier, was in turn purchased by Berkshire Hathaway in 2011.[15]
The Courier was part of Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiary BH Media Group, although starting in 2018 it was managed by Lee Enterprises.[16] In January 2020 it was announced that Lee Enterprises was purchasing Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper holdings.[17][18] The Courier published its final edition on December 5, 2024.[19][20]
Accolades
[edit]The Courier has won top honors in the Nebraska Press Association's Better Newspapers contest, including the Loral Johnson award in 2006.[21]
References
[edit]- ^ "Nebraska Newspaper Locator Map | Nebraska Press Association". 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
- ^ "Western Nebraska Newspapers". Nebraska Press Association. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "Gering Courier Building". National Park Service. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ a b "Gering Courier Buys Banner News". Lincoln Journal Star. 11 July 1955. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ a b c "Past, Present and Future". The Alliance Herald. 24 February 1916. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ Nebraska State Historical Society Publications. The Society. 1907.
- ^ Gering, Scottsbluff, and Terrytown. Arcadia Publishing. 2009. ISBN 9780738560748.
- ^ a b "About The Gering courier". Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Editor Becomes Candidate". Lincoln Journal Star. 18 May 1922. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Editor Becomes Candidate (cont'd)". Lincoln Journal Star. 18 May 1922. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ a b c "Publisher at Gering Dies". The Lincoln Star. 8 May 1945. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "Gering Courier Building". National Park Service. 2004. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
- ^ "Daily Sun company buys historic Gering paper". Sidney Daily Sun. Sidney, Nebraska. April 8, 1999. p. 1. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
- ^ Tustin, Gordan R. (March 2, 2000). "Excellence in Publishing buys Sidney Telegraph". The Sidney Telegraph. Sidney, Nebraska. p. 1. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
- ^ Bundy, Jeff (November 30, 2011). "Buffett to buy The World-Herald". Omaha, Nebraska. Archived from the original on December 8, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
- ^ Jordon, Steve; Davis, Brad (June 26, 2018). "Scottsbluff, Gering and Hemingford papers among BH Media newspapers to be managed by Lee Enterprises". Star-Herald/BH News Service. Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ "Lee Enterprises to buy Berkshire Hathaway newspaper operations; Berkshire Hathaway to finance all debt". lee.net. Lee Enterprises. January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NYSE: LEE), a trusted local news provider and leading platform for advertising in 50 markets, has entered into a definitive agreement with Berkshire Hathaway to acquire BH Media Group's ("BHMG") publications and The Buffalo News for $140 million in cash.
- ^ Stephen, Kamie (January 29, 2020). "New era begins at the Gering Courier". Gering Courier. Gering, Nebraska. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "A Letter to Our Readers". Gering Courier. 2024-11-21. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
- ^ "'First of all, the news': Reflecting on the history of the Gering Courier and its community". Star-Herald. 2024-12-03. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
- ^ "Gering, Grand Island newspapers honored". Lincoln Journal Star. 25 April 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
