A prominent advocate for policies to sustain local journalism, Francis Wick, is resigning as CEO of his family’s publishing business.
Wick isn’t ready to discuss what he’ll do after stepping down in October. But he readily shared his perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing local news, legislative support, Google and more.
Wick also told me during a phone interview that he’ll continue advocating, once he’s no longer so busy leading Arizona-based Wick Communications.
“I feel like in a newer capacity I will be able to contribute just as much, if not more, to those efforts,” he said. “My departure from Wick is not a departure from the industry by any means.”
One signature effort was Wick’s push for refundable tax credits to save newsroom jobs.
That took shape as the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, which came close to passage in 2021.
A new version, the Community News and Small Business Support Act, was introduced in July 2023 but it’s a longshot to pass before 2025.
Wick, 43, worked at several of his family’s newspapers before becoming CEO in 2016. He tried at one point to buy his own paper, in California, but the seller backed out at the last minute. Now he’s planning to strike out on his own again, though he’ll continue to be a Wick Communications board member.
As CEO, Wick grew the century-old company with acquisitions. They included The Wenatchee World in 2018 and The Daily Sun of Flagstaff, Ariz., which it bought from Lee Enterprises last year.
Wick Communications now publishes 18 titles in 10 states and is considering another, smaller acquisition.
“However, I would tell you that our financials are no different than anyone else’s, in the stress that exists for the industry,” Wick said. “And, you know, like everyone else we are trying to figure out ways to either be profitable or sustain some level of profitability to maintain our focus and effort in this space.”
Wick believes recent newspaper closures and layoffs are convincing policymakers to help the industry survive.
“I think we will find a path forward,” he said. “And I think over the next year or two, we’re going to see some leaders, maybe people we didn’t expect, come forward and really support our efforts … there’s no other alternative.”
Here are edited excerpts of our conversation:
Dudley: Will the tax-credit bill happen? Lawmakers say they support it but it isn’t getting done.
Wick: I think first of all, it can get done, and we’ve seen it be completed at a state level, right? We’ve seen similar legislation get passed in New York state, we’ve seen another piece of legislation in Illinois take place. We’re starting to see lawmakers who can and will pass policy at a state level engage with this topic. Obviously, we’re seeing a lot of focus in California and so we’re seeing true leadership step up and actually make a move.
Q: That’s great but we need federal action, not just a few states. How do we bridge that gap, and are you concerned that blue states taking the lead could hold back a bipartisan solution?
A: I agree that ultimately, the gold standard is to have federal support, 100%. Blue states seem to have a stronger appetite to support local journalism right here, right now, a bit more than what I have seen from red states. This could create an environment of news deserts that are perhaps more proliferated in red states. But at this point, we have to do whatever we can to ensure that journalism succeeds in some communities, if not all. It’s not one or the other, right? I think we just continue to focus on both in hopes that we eventually get leadership to step up and get something across the line.
Q: I hope so.
A: Many of my papers are in red states, and all I get is targeting from the legislature about pulling out public notices (from newspapers). We’re already seeing a closure rate that is unacceptable in this country, but if you saw public notices go away tomorrow, you would see over 50% of newspapers close within a week.
Q: That’s terrifying.
A: It is terrifying. It’s horrible. And, you know, no one wants to really discuss it. The business model around supporting local journalism in every kind of parameter is very challenged.
Q: Papers used to be canaries, reflecting economic conditions in their communities.
A: Yeah. The part that is exciting for me in all this is there’s an opportunity to continue to change the way we have looked at our business because of technology. That to me is very exciting. It’s an era of innovation and a moment of survival that gives you a lot of latitude to change in ways we’ve been very uncomfortable to do, whether that’s the consideration of how AI can be a supportive tool in our journalistic efforts and our marketing efforts. It’s looking at community partnerships in a different way.
Q: Partnerships worked here.
A: The Seattle Times, it’s kind of a cornerstone of how to look at community support, through the labs you all have established. It’s phenomenal. Now granted, most towns don’t have Starbucks or Microsoft to help underwrite it, but there are dollars out there, people who want to support, and I think that’s a key component in this process.
Q: For sure.
A: My biggest concern is the vulnerability of these franchises that have served their communities for 100-plus years. They are at a place where they can easily be taken advantage of by different types of actors. We’ve seen, not just in the newspaper business but in legacy media in general, a lot of political actors start to inch their way into our environment and that makes me nervous.
Q: Like pink slime outlets?
A: Correct. Also funding from political actors to back different organizations, or perhaps lend money in acquiring newspaper or radio assets. I think that’s a very uncomfortable environment when we’re talking about big political assets that could be engaged in those efforts.
Q: We’ve seen influencing by Google through grants, with some recipients opposing legislation requiring it to pay for local news.
A: I want to choose my words carefully here. Google is a supporter of local journalism through Google Showcase and various funding models. But the amount they give is so insignificant to the challenge we’re faced with that it ends up creating an environment where we struggle to come to consensus on how we can solve this problem together. I think the capitalist aspect of Google in this case prohibits them from making decisions that probably go along with more of their ethos to do good.
Q: What are your thoughts on recent layoffs, sales and closures at Washington and Oregon newspapers?
A: There’s no question the landscape of what’s happening to newspaper ownership in the Northwest is significant. The recent transactions and changes of ownership have started to really raise some awareness of what’s happening at local newspapers. It speaks to the vulnerability, where newspapers and local media assets are today, the fact that Sound Publishing and Black Press went into effectively a form of bankruptcy. That is a big company. I mean, there are important journalistic families that want to continue to serve their communities, and that doesn’t even take into account all the very small papers that are still out there and struggling to exist … it’s really tough out there.”
Brier Dudley on Twitter: @BrierDudley is editor of The Seattle Times Save the Free Press Initiative. Its weekly newsletter: https://st.news/FreePressNewsletter. Reach him at bdudley@seattletimes.com.
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