General Info

The Little River News is the oldest business institution in Little River County. First established in 1888 in the town of Richmond, the newspaper was relocated to Ashdown in 1898, where it has continued to operate at the location of 45 East Commerce Street. W.F. Joiner was the owner of the newspaper in Richmond. The name was changed to the Ashdown Herald when R.P. West bought and moved it to Ashdown in 1892. O.T. Graves and F.M. Graves bought the Herald and changed the name back to the Little River News in 1898. There were 11 owners until the time of J.Y. Wright in 1940. Mr. Wright died on Feb. 16, 1956. W.B. Coley Jr., who had owned and published the Foreman Sun, which he bought from his father, Coley Sr., succeeded J.Y. Wright as owner and editor of the Little River News. The last issue of the Foreman Sun was published on Dec. 26, 1974, and the Little River News has been the only newspaper in Little River County since that time. Jim Williamson and Gerald Stripling bought the Little River News in August 1978 and published the newspaper until they sold it on March 1, 2004, to NorTex Press of Mount Pleasant, Texas. The Little River News is operated by Red River Media, Inc, a NorTex Press subsidiary. Robert Palmer, president of Red River Media, is the publisher.