RIPON – After 57 years of Lyke family ownership, The Ripon Commonwealth Press and Ripon Printers will have new owners in 2020, the newspaper announced Wednesday.
Delta Media Group, an affiliate of O’Rourke Media Group and owner of the Tri-County News in Kiel, Wis., is purchasing the Commonwealth Press and its affiliated publications. Separately, Ripon Printers will be sold to Walsworth, an 82-year-old family-owned commercial printing company based in Missouri.
Both sales are effective Jan. 1, 2020. Nearly all employees are expected to be retained with both companies.
Tim Lyke, whose parents Doug and Audrey Lyke bought the newspaper in 1962, will step down as publisher as part of the sale. Jim O’Rourke, head of Delta Media Group, will take over the role. Both Tim and Doug Lyke are past presidents of the WNA Board of Directors, with Doug holding the title in 1980 and Tim in 2006.
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The Ripon Commonwealth Press has consistently ranked as one of the top weekly newspapers in Wisconsin. From 2012 to 2017, the Commonwealth Press was named Weekly Newspaper of the Year six times over seven years in the WNA Foundation Better Newspaper Contest.
