Industry News Briefs

Katy Times still publishing print edition after Hartman-Fenice agreement
CEDAR PARK – The Katy Times has continued publishing, thanks to a deal negotiated between Fenice Community Media and Hartman Newspapers, Inc. 
The announcement was made July 23 by Fenice Community Media Founder and Chairwoman Brandi Chionsini. 
Hartman Newspapers Inc., which has owned the Times since 1973, announced earlier in July that it planned to cease publishing the print edition of the newspaper after July 25. Hartman has sold its interest in The Katy Times to Chionsini Children Ltd., which is managed by Cedar Park-based Fenice Community Media.

See this month's edition of the Texas Press Messenger for more details on this and other stories.

M. Roberts Media forms new East Texas digital marketing agency
M. Roberts Media, the largest media and marketing company in East Texas, has created the region’s largest digital marketing agency to serve markets across the state.
Known as M. Roberts Digital, the new agency combines digital teams from six existing agencies. It will provide services such as website creation, digital advertising, social media management, videography and email marketing to businesses in East Texas, the Dallas area and Victoria.

Halperns retire as new owners take over Big Bend Sentinel, Presidio International
MARFA – Robert and Rosario Halpern have retired with an agreement to sell the Big Bend Sentinel and The Presidio International newspapers to Maisie Crow and Max Kabat.
The Halperns published the Sentinel for 30 years and the International for 25 years. The newspaper offices will move to the former Padre’s building, which is now called The Sentinel.

Hearst announces leadership changes in Texas Community Group
NEW YORK – Clarice Touhey has been named president of the Texas Community Group for Hearst Newspapers. She succeeds Mark Adkins, who, having served as the publisher of Beaumont Enterprise since 2013, will assume the role of chairman of Hearst Newspapers’ Texas Community Group. 

Forward Times publisher leads National Newspaper Publishers Association
HOUSTON – Karen Carter Richards, publisher of the Houston Forward Times, is the newly elected chair of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade organization representing more than 200 black-owned media companies across the United States.
Carter Richards, who in 2018 won the NNPA’s Publisher of the Year Award, succeeds Dorothy Leavell, publisher of the Chicago and Gary Crusader Newspapers.
She is the second generation of her family to publish the Forward Times, founded by her father, Julius P. Carter, in 1960. After Julius Carter’s death, Lenora “Doll” Carter assumed responsibility for the Forward Times with Karen Carter Richards working alongside her.
The NNPA is celebrating its 79th year as an association and 192 years of the black press in America.

Temple, Killeen put website content behind paywall
BELL COUNTY – The Temple Daily Telegram and Killeen Daily Herald have stopped allowing non-subscribers to read up to three free articles per month on their websites. All content is now behind a paywall and visitors are asked to subscribe to access content.
The websites draw audiences of hundreds of thousands, whichPublisher Sue Mayborn said notes is an indication of the strong interest in the local news produced by the staffs.
Expanding coverage through FME News Service, the Temple and Killeen newspapers form the region’s largest news organization.

SNI names new publisher for Lawton Constitution
LAWTON, OK – David R. Stringer, a newspaper veteran who has worked in Texas and four other states, is the new publisher of The Lawton (Oklahoma) Constitution.
The announcement was made by Dolph Tillotson, president of Southern Newspapers, Inc., The Lawton Constitution’s parent company.
Southern Newspapers acquired the Lawton Constitution, its first newspaper outside Texas, in early 2018.