Origins Country Media, Inc. was largely founded by Steve Hungerford, a Nebraska-native who earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska and a master's in journalism from the
University of Oregon. He moved to Oregon in 1973 to purchase the weekly
Milwaukie Review newspaper. In the mid-1980s, he was named director of human resources at the
Salem Statesman Journal and, in 1988, became executive editor and publisher of the
Daily Enterprise Courier in
Oregon City. Hungerford and his wife Carol moved to Nebraska in 1990 when he was named publisher of the
Scottsbluff Star-Herald. A decade later Hungerford left his job in March 2000 to found Country Media, Inc.
Midwest business operations In September 2000, Country Media purchased several papers from the
Virginia-based Dickson Media, Inc. Included in the sale were South Dakota newspapers based in Sturgis, Deadwood, Newell, Lemmon and Belle Fourche; and North Dakota newspapers based in Hettinger, Langdon, Killdeer, New England along with Baker, Montana. A national
agribusiness weekly based in Sturgis called
Tri-State Livestock News was also included in the sale. In October 2000, Country Media purchased the
Chadron Record in
Chadron and the
Hot Springs Star in
Hot Springs from
CNHI, which had owned the two papers since March 1998. In December 2004, Country Media sold eight weekly newspapers, two shoppers and a monthly gaming publication to
Lee Enterprises. The sale included South Dakota papers
Meade County Times-Tribune,
Black Hills Press,
Butte County Valley Irrigator,
Belle Fourche Post,
Belle Fourche Bee,
Lawrence County Centennial and
Hot Springs Star. Lee also bought the
Chadron Record in Nebraska,
Star Extra shopper in South Dakota,
Your Neighbor shopper in Nebraska, and monthly
Deadwood Gaming in South Dakota. Country Media retained ownership of eight newspapers and two agriculture publications. In February 2014, Country Media shuttered the
Lemmon Leader. The paper founded in 1906 was closed due to "a financial challenge," in part attributed to competition from rival newspaper
The Dakota Herald. In November 2019, Country Media announced plans to close three North Dakota newspapers: the
Adams Country Record in
Hettinger,
The Herald in
New England, and the
Dunn County Herald. According to Steve Andrist, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association, Country Media told him the company's newspapers were profitable, but that profit didn't justify the time and effort it took to properly manage them. The
Dunn County Herald closed for good in 2019. In May 2021, Country Media sold the
Bowman County Pioneer in
Bowman and
Fallon County Times in
Baker to a joint venture between Little Missouri Media owner Dudley Stuber and The Badlands Patriot, a company owned by Stuber's daughter and son-in-law, Mikki and Brandon Pryor. That same year in November, Country Media shuttered the
Cavalier County Republican in
Langdon. The paper had been published since 1889. After its closure, County Media had no business operations in the midwest.
Oregon/California business operations Country Media purchased its first Oregon newspaper, the
Cannon Beach Gazette, in October 2006. A few years later Country Media in February 2009 acquired the
St. Helens Chronicle and Sentinel Mist. In January 2011, Country Media acquired the monthly
Coast River Business Journal. The business publication had been founded in
Astoria five years prior. The same year in June, the company acquired the biweekly
North Coast Citizen newspaper in
Manzanita. The paper had previously been owned by the East Oregonian Publishing Company (now
EO Media Group), who had purchased it in 2007 from Jan and Dave Fisher. In February 2013, Country Media sold the
Seaside Signal,
Cannon Beach Gazette and
Coast River Business Journal to
EO Media Group. In July 2014, Country Media acquired the weekly newspaper
The Chief in Clatskanie. The paper had previously been owned by two families under the name Clatskanie Chief Publishing Co. for 92 years. In May 2019, Country Media re-acquired the
Cannon Beach Gazette from
EO Media Group. The company had previously owned the
Gazette from 2006 to 2013. Following the sale, the paper's publishing frequency changed from twice monthly to weekly. The sale price for both papers was $350,000. In January 2020, Country Media acquired daily newspaper
The World in Coos Bay, as well as the weekly newspapers
Western World in Bandon and
The Umpqua Post in Reedsport from Southwest Oregon Publishing Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Lee Enterprises. Due to the
COVID-19 recession in the United States,
The Umpqua Post ceased operations in June and
The World reduced its print days from five to two. The
Bandon Western World printed its final issue in July 2020. In September 2023, Country Media acquired three weekly newspapers, the
Newport News-Times,
Cottage Grove Sentinel and
Siuslaw News, from
News Media Corporation. News Media Cooperation had purchased the
Siuslaw News in 2000, and the other two papers in 2006. In October that same year, Country Media acquired the
Polk County Itemizer-Observer from Scott J. Olson. In December 2023, County Media announced
The Chronicle in St. Helens
and The Chief in Clatskanie will merge into a single weekly newspaper called
The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief. In January 2024, Country Media merged
Lincoln City News Guard and the
Newport News-Times into a single newspaper named after the
Lincoln County Leader, which had published for 94 years from 1893 to 1987. The plan was first announced in the previous October. Also in January, the
Cannon Beach Gazette switched to monthly publication. In September 2024, the company closed
The Columbia County Chronicle & Chief due to declining revenue and difficulty hiring staff. The
Del Norte Triplicate was also closed a year later for similar reasons. After closing, Dan Schmidt bought the
Triplicate and relaunched it. In February 2026, Country Media discontinued the
North Coast Citizen and the
Cannon Beach Gazette. == Newspapers ==