Rick and Karen Stewart, the owners of the Kenly News and Johnston News Group, have announced their retirement and the sale of his newspaper group.
The Wilson Times will purchase Kenly News, Pine Level News, Princeton News Leader and The Selma News and combine the four publications into a county-wide weekly newspaper under the Johnstonian News banner.
“Wife Karen and I have enjoyed serving the communities we’ve covered,” Rick Stewart told WTSB News on Tuesday. “We have met some incredibly wonderful people over the past 36 years — people who invited us into their homes and who supported our business with their businesses. While we will still be part of our community, this new chapter in our lives will give us an opportunity to do and see things that have not been possible in the past.”
The Wilson Times Company is a family-owned business and understands the importance of community and the people who live in those communities. I believe our readers will see great strides in community coverage, both in print, online and in social media. The new leadership from The Wilson Times will join an already dedicated staff that has worked at the Johnstonian News Group for many years. I see nothing but positive changes in the newspaper.
“While each paper covers its community well, we believe it makes sense to centralize Johnston County’s local news in one edition to serve readers of each city and town together,” said Keven Zepezauer, Wilson Times president and publisher.
Readers, advertisers and friends of the Kenly newspaper are invited to a floating retirement reception on Thursday, Aug. 30th from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the newspaper office at 201 West 2nd Street in Kenly, for retiring newspaper owners Rick and Karen Stewart, who have operated the paper for 36 years.
The transition to the Wilson Times takes effect on September 1st.
