Flint Hills Media buys Clay Center Dispatch

An agreement has been reached for the sale of The Clay Center Dispatch to Flint Hills Media Group based in Salina.

The formal agreement was to be signed Nov. 4. It will mark the first time a local newspaper hasn’t been owned and operated by a member of the Valentine family since 1881.

“We’re very excited about the change,” Dispatch publisher Ned Valentine said. “Flint Hills has exceeded all our expectations for new ownership and we believe our readers will be delighted with the change.”

The newspaper is expected to continue as a daily publication. A new six unit press line will be added to provide color capability.

Flint Hills currently publishes one small Kansas daily and three Kansas weeklies in other facilities that will be printed in the Clay Center plant.

All current employees will be retained. Alicia Paul will be general manager and in charge of ad sales for the paper, while Ryan D. Wilson will be news editor. The printing operation will be run by Dale Worley of Abilene for an unspecified time.