Industry News

Industry news published in the January edition of the Texas Press Messenger

Diboll Free Press resumes publication
DIBOLL – The Free Press has resumed publication in Diboll under new ownership.
Hicks Media acquired the rights to The Free Press during the summer and reestablished the newspaper’s website and social media sites. The newspaper resumed print publication on Nov. 11 with a Veteran’s Day edition.
The Free Press is the eighth newspaper in the Hicks Media group, which also includes The Silsbee Bee, Red River Sun, Post Dispatch, Knox County News-Courier (all in Texas) and the Altus Times, Mangum Star-News, and Frederick Press-Leader in Oklahoma.
A former longtime employee, Christy Roach, is publisher of The Free Press and several other newspapers in the Hicks Media group. Roach worked for The Free Press from 1978 until 2005.
The Free Press got its start in 1947 as “The Buzz Saw,” an employee newsletter for the Southern Pine Lumber Company, predecessor of Temple-Inland. By 1952, Paul Durham began publishing the Diboll News-Bulletin, which became The Free Press. 
During the late Durham’s tenure, the newspaper acquired its own press and became known as one of the best weekly newspapers in the state. In the 1970s and 1980s, the newspaper’s parent company, Temple-Inland, also owned and published Time Magazine.
Temple Inland sold the newspaper in 2005 and ownership changed several times over the following years. Publication ceased in 2017.

The Jewett Messenger publishes last edition
JEWETT – The Jewett Messenger ceased publication with the Nov. 10 edition, which included a history of the newspaper, along with historic photos.
The newspaper began in 1885 under the direction of H.S. Robinson, who purchased The Independent Farmer from Ed Farrar and changed the name to The Jewett Messenger.
Robinson sold the newspaper to his son, J.S. Robinson, who ran the newspaper until 1941 when his daughter, Anna Belle, took over. When she passed away in 1964, her son L.D. Pettey and his wife Carolyn Easley Pettey began running the newspaper, with the help of their children.
They sold The Messenger to Peggy Estep in 2000. In 2011, David and Gail Clute purchased the newspaper and continued The Messenger’s tradition of excellence.
In a letter published in the final edition, the Clutes expressed appreciation to the community for support of the newspaper. “This will be the last issue of The Messenger until someone decides to bring it back,” the letter read. “This marks the end of a publication that has spanned nearly 137 years. Hopefully someone will continue the local newspaper, but as of now, the last paper on the newsstands will be this one, Nov. 10, 2021.”