A community without coverage: Pinedale Roundup closes
JACKSON — For 120 years, the Pinedale Roundup was a staple of Sublette County life.
Residents turned to it for sports scores, government coverage, obituaries and the everyday happenings of a close-knit mountain community tucked into the Wind Rivers.
“We have a lot of people that like to read the paper,” Pinedale Mayor Matt Murdock said. “Not everybody wants to livestream a town council meeting on YouTube.”
On Wednesday, the Roundup and all of its sister newspapers across Wyoming closed their doors permanently after parent company News Media Corporation announced it was shutting down effective immediately.
The closures span eight counties — Goshen, Niobrara, Platte, Laramie, Sublette, Uinta, Hot Springs and Lincoln — meaning 35% of Wyoming’s counties lost one or more newspapers from a single owner in a single day.
“[People] like to know what your neighbors are doing,” Murdock said. “We like to laugh with those who laugh and weep with those who weep. And losing our local paper kind of takes that away from us.”
Though the Roundup had faced cutbacks in recent years — a “death by a thousand cuts,” as former Managing Editor Cali O’Hare put it — the paper held on, buoyed by what town officials described as “a very committed team.”
Employees were notified of the closure in a letter from News Media Corporation CEO J.J. Tompkins. The announcement came without warning. Today’s edition, which staff said was finished and ready for press, will never be printed. The July 31, 2025, issue is the last that will ever hit newsstands.
“We weren’t given the opportunity to say goodbye,” O’Hare said. “This paper has been the heartbeat of the community for 120 years, and now that heartbeat has stopped. I think this makes it even harder because I’m aware of the damage this will do. People rely on us for reliable information.”
Beyond the emotional fallout, the town faces a legal and logistical dilemma: The Roundup served as Pinedale’s official paper of record. Under Wyoming law, local governments must publish public notices — such as ordinances, budgets and meeting minutes — in a newspaper within town limits.
Pinedale officials have already begun consulting with attorneys to understand how the loss of their newspaper of record will affect legal obligations. State law requires public notices to be published within specific jurisdictional boundaries, and it remains unclear whether posting them online would satisfy those requirements.
For years, Wyoming municipalities have pushed for legal reforms that would allow such notices to be posted electronically, but those efforts have repeatedly failed in the state Legislature. Beyond the legal confusion, Murdock said the loss of a trustworthy, local voice leaves the community vulnerable to misinformation.
The Wyoming Press Association called the sudden closure of eight News Media Corporation newspapers “disheartening” and warned of a ripple effect on local communities.
“Today’s announcement creates a deep crater in Wyoming’s news landscape,” said Adam Meyer, publisher of the Jackson Hole Daily and the Jackson Hole News&Guide. “I’m saddened that tens of thousands of Wyomingites across eight communities won’t see their local newspaper this week.
“The Pinedale Roundup has been printed in Jackson by our press team for decades. It felt horrible that we weren’t able to print the paper for our friends in Sublette County today, but I’m confident that hardworking journalists across the state will persevere. We’re fortunate to publish news in Jackson and the surrounding communities, where people are highly engaged and inspired by staying informed.”
The news rippled through the broader journalism community, especially among those who launched their careers in the Roundup’s newsroom.
“The Pinedale Roundup is where I began my now 20-year career in journalism,” said Anna Gustafson, a reporter for The American Independent based in Philadelphia. “I fell in love with journalism, and specifically community journalism, at the Pinedale Roundup. The loss of a community newspaper is an erasure of stories, of history, of connection.”
“To the Pinedale Roundup and all those who have worked there: Thank you. You have filled our world with an ode to community, to the belief that we are stronger when we listen, when we ask questions of those in power, when we share with our neighbors, and when we can sit, coffee in hand, and learn about the place we call home,” Gustafson said.
This story was published on August 7, 2025.