Jack Smyth

Notable work and positions

Delaware State News - Founder
Independent Newspapers, Inc. (predecessor company) - Founder

Biography

Jack Smyth (1916-1996) founded the media company that became Independent Newspapers, Inc. (now Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA). After his discharge from the Army, he purchased his hometown newspaper, the four-page Renovo Record in Pennsylvania, learning the newspaper business by running it. In 1952, he sold the Renovo Record to purchase the Delaware State News in Dover, Delaware, then a weekly, and in September 1953 launched it as a five-day daily serving the state capital. In 1969, facing health problems, Smyth moved to Arizona and sold the Delaware State News to his four children, including his son Joe, who was then the paper's 26-year-old managing editor. Joe Smyth later bought out his siblings' stock in the early 1970s and renamed the corporate entity Independent Newspapers, Inc. as the company expanded beyond Delaware into Arizona and Florida. Jack Smyth wrote an autobiography titled From Diamonds to Deadlines, chronicling his path from an early interest in baseball to a career in newspapers.

Career highlights

• Founded the Delaware State News 1953 · Launched as a five-day daily serving Dover, Delaware, after purchasing the paper as a weekly in 1952.
• Founded the company that became Independent Newspapers, Inc. Sold to his children in 1969; expanded under his son Joe into a multi-state community newspaper company.