RALEIGH — North State Media, the parent company of North State Journal, announced Thursday that it has acquired Stanly News & Press from Carpenter Media Group. North State Media plans to combine Stanly News & Press, which has been published in Stanly County under different names since 1880, with Stanly County Journal, the local edition of North State Journal that publishes weekly.
“We are excited to welcome the Stanly News & Press to the North State Journal family,” said Neal Robbins, CEO of North State Media and publisher of North State Journal. “We believe in the future of local journalism and see this as a key opportunity to expand our mission of delivering meaningful, independent reporting to communities across the state.”
The merged publications will publish twice weekly, with the weekday edition also including the weekly edition of North State Journal, the statewide publication started by North State Media in 2016, once the sale is closed at the end of April.
“This acquisition will enhance coverage, improve reach and deliver more of the journalism that matters most to local readers,” said Robbins. “Our local mission will continue to be focused on allowing readers in Stanly County to join the conversation at the local, state and national levels.”
Carpenter Media Group owns four other community newspapers in North Carolina among its catalog of 240 across the country.
“We are pleased to see the Stanly News & Press continue in the hands of a publisher who values independent, community-focused journalism,” said Tim Prince, CEO of Carpenter Media Group. “Neal Robbins and his team at North State Media bring a clear vision and deep respect for Stanly County and for the role local newspapers play in keeping citizens informed and connected.”
North State Media publishes local editions in six other counties — Chatham, Duplin, Forsyth, Hoke, Moore and Randolph — and announced last month the launch of North State Journal News Foundation, a nonprofit committed to expanding coverage of local news across the state by making content and photography available to other publishers in North Carolina.
“Bringing the history, tradition and staff of Stanly News & Press into North State Journal’s culture of providing readers across North Carolina with objective news reporting, timely business stories, captivating features and photography, committed sports coverage, thought-provoking opinion articles and award-winning design is another step forward in our efforts to revitalize newspapers in our state,” North State Journal senior editor Cory Lavalette said. “We’re excited to bring in the hard-working people who have made Stanly News & Press an institution in the county and collaborate with them to create something even better for the community.”
