Local Group Acquires Daily Trinidad (CO) Chronicle-NewsBack to News

TRINIDAD, CO – November 2, 2018 – A newly formed local group has acquired the Trinidad (CO) Chronicle-News, a five-day-a-week publication that has served Trinidad and surrounding communities since 1877. The former owners, Shearman Company in Lake Charles, Louisiana, had owned the newspaper for 75 years.

Dirks, Van Essen, Murray & April, a media merger and acquisition firm based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, represented Shearman Company in the transaction. Terms were not disclosed.

The new owner, The Chronicle-News Media Group, LCC, includes area residents Julie and Kirk Louden and Kim and Rich Hoffman; the sale took effect Wednesday, October 31.

“It is a very emotional day for our family that has owned the paper since 1943,” said president and publisher Tom Shearman III. “My grandfather, Tom Shearman Sr., started the Shearman Company newspaper group in 1943 with the purchase of The Chronicle-News and the Lake Charles (LA) American Press.”

Shearman said the company’s new owners are local families who “want to keep the paper alive.”

“That is really important to us,” Shearman said. “After 75 years of ownership, selling The Chronicle-News was not an easy decision for our family. There is not a succeeding generation of our family working in the business, so we came to the very difficult decision a year ago that selling was the best option for our employees and the Las Animas County communities.”

Shearman said he would like to thank the newspaper’s employees and the surrounding communities of Las Animas County for their trust and partnership over the years. 

“We welcome the Louden and Hoffman families and know that they will be good stewards,” he said. “We are confident the new owners will continue to deliver strong local news and information to the communities.”

Shearman will continue to own newspaper operations in Lake Charles and Hobbs, New Mexico.