Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
Rochelle, Illinois, USA
News Media Corporation (NMC) was an American family-owned newspaper company headquartered in Rochelle, Illinois. The company ceased all operations on August 6, 2025, and no longer exists as an operating business.
NMC was founded in 1975 by John C. Tompkins. In January 2022, his son JJ Tompkins was promoted to CEO and president to lead the family-owned business into a second generation.
NMC had sold off newspaper clusters in prior years, including its Colorado newspapers to Louie Mullen (2023), its Oregon newspapers to Country Media, Inc. (2023), and had agreed for Carpenter Media Group to manage its remaining papers with an option to acquire the company (2024). After that acquisition attempt failed, NMC abruptly closed all remaining operations on August 6, 2025, terminating employees immediately; several of its Illinois titles were subsequently acquired by Shaw Media.