Stewards of the Newspaper

In an op-ed in the West Branch Times (Iowa), Jake Krob, the co-publisher, describes why he is comfortable selling the newspapers he owns to an employee-owned company. Newspaper owners, he says, are stewards. Krob and his partner, Stuart Clark, bought up local newspapers whose owners approached them because they believe that those newspapers needed stewards. Krob writes of their new owners, "The employee owners of Woodard recognize they are stewards for their newspapers. And that's the reason for this sale. Our communities deserve new stewards. So do our employees."