Billy Stuver, above right, publisher and editor of the Powder River Examiner, in Broadus, Mont., stands alongside the newspaper presses in Spearfish with Scott Lister, operations manager and co-owner of the Black Hills Pioneer. (Photos courtesy of Black Hills Pioneer staff)
Eric Lovec, publisher and editor of The Ekalaka Eagle, in Ekalaka, Mont., second from the right, joins Pioneer pressman Chris Schmidt, left, circulation manager Scott Trimble, and mailroom manager Seth Sterner.
May 6, 2023
Pioneer staff reports
Article courtesy of The Black Hills Pioneer
SPEARFISH - The first week of May marks a new chapter for The Ekalaka Eagle and Powder River Examiner weekly newspapers in Montana, as they are now being printed at the Black Hills Pioneer plant in Spearfish.
Both newspapers were previously printed at the Miles City Star in Miles City, Mont., by Adams Publishing, but that service ended when the publishing company recently decided to shutter their printing presses in that community.
The Powder River Examiner started publishing in 1919. Billy Stuver is the publisher and editor of the weekly newspaper that is also the legal publication for Broadus, Mont., and Powder River County.
The Ekalaka Eagle is the official newspaper for the town of Ekalaka, Mont., and Carter County, and it has continuously published since 1909. Publisher and editor Eric Lovec purchased the paper in 2014, becoming only the fourth owner in the paper's 114-year history.
"It's our privilege to provide affordable and reliable printing services to other publishers in the area," said Scott Lister, operations manager, "Our entire team is committed to doing the job right and helping to keep these newspapers rolling."
The Black Hills Pioneer has a long track record in the printing and publishing business. The presses fired-up and published the first issue of the Black Hills Pioneer on June 8, 1876 in Deadwood Dakota Territory. The next week there were two more newspapers publishing in Deadwood. Some folks like to note that the Black Hills Pioneer along with one of its founders A.W. Merrick were both featured in HBO's television series, "Deadwood."
Over the years numerous newspapers have come and gone, with their titles being taken over by the original company. In 1946, the Seaton Publishing Company of Nebraska, owned by Fred Seaton purchased the Black Hills Pioneer. In addition to journalism, Fred had a deep interest in politics that started in college. He would go on to serve in the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration in numerous high-ranking capacities including Assistant Secretary of Defense, for which he was awarded the Medal of Freedom, and Secretary of the Interior. He was instrumental in bringing Alaska and Hawaii into statehood.
His son Donald R. Seaton took over the family publishing business in 1974. He later purchased the Queen City Mail and Weekly Prospector in the 1980's adding to the company's list of titles. Eventually all of their newspapers in the Northern Black Hills came back under the title of Black Hills Pioneer for streamlining and historic name preservation purposes.
The Seaton Publishing Company has always encouraged their publishers to own shares in the privately held company, and long-time managers Letti Lister, the publisher of the Black Hills Pioneer and Scott Lister decided to do just that in 2014, resulting in them being the largest single shareholders in the South Dakota property.
Around 2010, when many publishers were shuttering their pressrooms, Letti and Scott made the decision to do the opposite and invest in technology and upgrades in order to make the Pioneer a printing hub for other publishers. It worked. Today in addition to their own products the Pioneer prints four weekly newspapers in Wyoming including The Sundance Times, The Wyoming Pioneer and The Moorcroft Leader for publisher Jeff Moberg; The Weston County Gazette for publisher Lisa LeVasseur; the Native Sun News Today weekly newspaper based in Rapid City for publisher Jackie Giago; The Powder River Examiner; The Ekalaka Eagle and numerous specialty products including award-winning glossy magazines for the communities of Belle Fourche, Deadwood, Spearfish, and Sturgis.
"Working together, along with the support of our subscribers and advertisers, we can keep local journalism alive and well," said Letti Lister, publisher. "This was always the vision of the Seaton family. It's our privilege to continue this tradition of nearly 147 years. Rural America needs local newspapers. Democracy demands local journalism."
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