Newspaper sold by longtime owners to editor

WHITEVILLE — The High family, owners and publishers of The News-Reporter here since 1938, have sold the newspaper.

Justin Smith, editor since 2018, became the new owner and publisher Sunday in a transaction announced Friday. He takes over from Les High and his sister Stuart High Rogers, who are going to be in consulting roles in the immediate months of transition.

Financial terms were not announced. The High family will retain ownership of the building at 127 W. Columbus St.

Smith, elected city councilman in 2017, resigned his seat effective Friday. He said during his time running the newsroom, a “firewall” of sorts was in place whereby he directed no coverage on the city of Whiteville and read what reporters wrote, or Les High wrote in editorials, on the website like other readers.

“But as publisher, the buck stops with me, and it’s not possible to maintain the firewall,” he said in a story published Friday.

The News-Reporter was bought by Leslie S. Thompson in 1938. He’s Les High’s grandfather. Jim High, his father, became the publisher in 1959 at the age of 25. Les High joined the paper directly out of UNC’s journalism school in 1984.

“Stuart, Becky and I decided that, if we were ever going to leave The News Reporter in someone else’s hands, it would be to a caretaker who would preserve its integrity and reputation,” Les High said. “Justin checks those boxes. He shares the same values, principles and ethics that we do.”

Smith, before coming to the paper, worked at UNC Pembroke as an assistant to the chancellor for communications and research. His background also includes economic development, marketing, public affairs, politics and broadcast journalism.

Les High, through a grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, launched a nonprofit newsroom called the Border Belt Independent earlier this year. It works to help meaningful journalism survive in rual communities of Columbus, Bladen, Robeson and Scotland counties. The Bladen Journal and its sister papers owned by Champion Media have embraced the affiliation that helps provide in-depth coverage.