Civic Media is acquiring the state’s first Black-owned radio station and its sister weekly newspaper, according to a USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN story that appeared in the Dec. 19, 2025 issue of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
According to the story:
The Wisconsin news and progressive-talk radio network announced Dec. 17 that it is adding WNOV 860 AM/106.5 FM based in Milwaukee, and the weekly Milwaukee Courier newspaper. The Courier is one of three Black-owned print newspapers in Milwaukee.
Civic Media will assume programming responsibility for both outlets beginning Jan. 1.
Dr. Jerrel Jones founded the weekly Milwaukee Courier newspaper in 1964 and was its president and CEO for 61 years. Jones’ Courier Communications bought WNOV in 1972, making it the first Black-owned radio station in Wisconsin and one of 30 in the U.S., according to the station’s website.
Jones expanded his media holdings in 2013 with the purchase of the Madison Times, a Black newspaper in Madison. Jones died earlier this year at the age of 85.
Civic Media operates a growing network of broadcast, digital and streaming platforms airing across Wisconsin and Michigan. In August 2024, Civic Media acquired The Recombobulation Area, a Milwaukee-based online political news and opinion site.
African Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population, but own fewer than 180 — or 1.6% — of the more than 11,000 commercial radio stations in the U.S., according to the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters.
