BNI buys Farmville newspaper

Published 7:00 pm Thursday, May 7, 2015

Farmville Newsmedia, LLC, a new Virginia entity wholly owned by Carpenter Newsmedia, LLC (CNL), purchased The Farmville Herald from the Wall family on Friday. CNL is an affiliate of Boone Newspapers Inc. with offices in Natchez, Miss., and Tuscaloosa, Ala.

BNI Vice President Steve Stewart, a Suffolk resident, succeeds Steve Wall as publisher. Former Suffolk News-Herald Publisher James B. Boone Jr., of Tuscaloosa, is BNI’s chairman. Todd Carpenter, of Natchez, is BNI’s president and chief executive officer and is principal owner of CNL.

The sale ends three generations of ownership by the Wall family.

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“The Herald celebrates its 125th birthday in 2015 and the 94th year the paper has been published by the Wall family,” said third-generation Publisher Steve Wall, whose grandfather J.B. Wall purchased the newspaper in 1921.

“The industry has undergone major changes in the last couple of years. My dad, Bill, who joined the staff in 1954, is planning to completely retire, and after 37 years in the business full time, I’m ready for another newspaper family to take the helm.”

The Herald is the newest addition to BNI’s East Coast Group, which includes the Suffolk News-Herald, The Tidewater News in Franklin and newspapers in Ahoskie, N.C., Washington, N.C., and Salisbury, N.C.

“We will work hard to honor the Wall family’s legacy and publish a first-rate newspaper and related print and digital products that are interesting to readers and thus provide good marketing solutions for local businesses,” Stewart said.

“Farmville is a vibrant community with a rich history, and we look forward to chronicling its people, places and institutions for many years to come.”

The Herald has published continuously in Farmville since 1890.