1 week Ago By April Baumgarten
FARGO — Children of the late Forum columnist Tony Bender are trying to save two small-town newspapers owned by the well-known writer. The Ashley Tribune and Wishek Star in south-central North Dakota are for sale for $100,000, Bender’s daughter, India Bender, told The Forum. She and her brother, Dylan Bender, have been working to put out weekly editions since Tony Bender, 66, died on Nov.
23 at his home in nearby Venturia. ADVERTISEMENT Dylan Bender, a landscaper in Bismarck, ran the newspapers until mid-March. India Bender, a legal assistant who lives in Pennsylvania, took over for her brother at that time and gave herself a three-month deadline to find a new owner.
“I understand how important it is to have a community newspaper,” she said. “If at the end of three months we don’t have someone, I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure there is a newspaper. If that involves me doing it, I’ll do it.
” Years have passed since a North Dakota newspaper’s sitting publisher has died, said Cecile Wehrman, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association. But in recent months, another newspaper in the northwest corner of the state had a similar situation. LaVonne Erickson, editor and publisher of the Renville County Farmer in Mohall, died from cancer on March 18.
Erickson received a terminal diagnosis in January, Wehrman said. While devastating, the Farmer had time to find a new owner, she said. “I first got a call from somebody saying, ‘We’re not going to be able to publish the paper next week in Mohall,’” Wehrman said.
“I said, 'No, we can figure out a way to keep it going.'” Family members, past and current employees, and nearby publishers came together to keep the paper going while Erickson received treatment, Wehrman said. ADVERTISEMENT “By a wing and a prayer, they kept it operating,” Wehrman said.
Mohall is about 45 miles northwest of Minot and home to almost 700 residents. Rene Duckett, a domestic violence and sexual assault victim advocate in Minot who had previously worked for Erickson and a weekly newspaper in California, attended a meeting at the Mohall City Hall during which Wehrman explained the possibility of losing the paper and solutions. Duckett came forward almost immediately and worked out a deal to purchase the paper, Wehrman said.
She hopes that model can help Tony Bender’s newspapers, too. NDNA has offered resources and assistance in finding creative ways to save the two newspapers, Wehrman said. Local support The Ashley Tribune published its first issue in 1915, India Bender said.
The Wishek Star started printing in 1945. India Bender’s parents bought the two newspapers in 1998, according to Tribune archives. Her mother, Julie Bender, worked for Dickson Media, and her father worked for other newspapers, including the Williston Herald.
“When the opportunity came up to buy both of these newspapers, it was really a no-brainer for them,” India Bender said. “They loved media, and they made a really great team and did great work for the communities.” The Benders created Redhead Publishing.
In 2017, Tony Bender became the sole owner after the pair divorced. ADVERTISEMENT Having local owners for newspapers is critical, India Bender said. Publications with corporate owners tend to become “ghost newspapers” that don’t focus on local stories, she said.
“It might be state news and certainly national news, but there’s nothing about the Spelling Bee or the football team or graduation, any of these community happenings, like a big water project,” she said of the difference. India Bender said being a newspaper owner was not her dream and it's too much work for one person. Her brother became burnt out, she said, adding that she decided it was her turn to “pick up the slack.
” She does get help from her aunt, she said. India Bender said being the editor-in-chief of two newspapers at 24 years old is surreal and bizarre. She said she is still focused on finding a buyer, but she seemingly has changed her mind about closing the papers if a buyer can't be found.
She gets calls from customers who didn't get their papers or want to renew their subscriptions. She said that shows how much the communities value the Tribune and Star. India Bender also has received a lot of support from the communities, as well as messages from people who have the means to buy and run the papers, she said.
She spoke to the Ashley City Council about her situation, which sparked multiple suggestions. ADVERTISEMENT NDNA has introduced India Bender to other newspapers that can offer their expertise. One paper helped design pages and sell ads, she said.
“The support that I've received from community members has really been overwhelming, and they’re very grateful that we’re sticking in there,” she said. 'They deserve a newspaper' NDNA focuses on supporting the families of the late publishers while educating them on the current market. Missing a week of publication could risk losing legal status and postal permits, Wehrman said.
Re-establishing that status could take a year, she said. A newspaper has to publish continuously for a year and have a certain number of subscribers under North Dakota law, she said. “The first part is educating the family, who may not be engaged in the newspaper business, about why we want to do everything we can to keep it operating,” Wehrman said.
How the Mohall newspaper was saved is a "success story" that could serve as a model for similar situations in the future, Wehrman said. With a population of almost 850 people, Wishek is about 95 miles southeast of Bismarck. Ashley, population 600, is another 25 miles southeast, near the South Dakota border.
Both cities are in McIntosh County. ADVERTISEMENT North Dakota has 73 newspapers that cover almost every county. If the newspapers shuttered, McIntosh County would join three other counties in North Dakota that don’t have a newspaper.
The other three are Slope, Sioux and Dunn counties. Losing a local newspaper means losing coverage of how government officials spend local taxpayer dollars, Wehrman said. Residents also engage less with their communities and governments without newspapers.
“If those newspapers are not reporting on those things, then how do the citizens know that government is operating properly?” Wehrman said. Dylan and India Bender are doing a “fabulous job” keeping their father’s newspaper alive on such short notice, Wehrman said. India Bender fears that the newspapers will never reopen if they close.
“That’s the biggest thing we want to avoid,” India Bender said. “I love the communities of Ashley and Wishek, and they deserve a newspaper. It’s so important.
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