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Huntington County TAB becomes 12th paper of Hoosier Media Group

Don Hurd (middle), CEO of Hoosier Media Group, looks over an issue of The Huntington County TAB after he purchased the free newspaper from previous owners Russ Grindle (left) and Scott Trauner on Friday, June 19. The TAB is the 12th newspaper owned by Hoosier Media Group.
Don Hurd (middle), CEO of Hoosier Media Group, looks over an issue of The Huntington County TAB after he purchased the free newspaper from previous owners Russ Grindle (left) and Scott Trauner on Friday, June 19. The TAB is the 12th newspaper owned by Hoosier Media Group. Photo provided.

In 1985 two young men decided to lay it all on the line and quit their jobs to pursue their dream.

Russ Grindle and Scott Trauner wanted to start their own newspaper in Huntington County.

Russ and Scott previously worked at The Paper of Wabash County. They saw how successful the Rees family was with their newspaper. Grindle and Trauner knew if they followed The Paper’s formula they too could be successful in Huntington County.

Thirty-five years later, Russ and Scott have grown The TAB into the largest and most read newspaper in Huntington County. The TAB is also the number one communications medium that area businesses use to reach their customer base.

Russ and Scott are also extremely proud of the community partnerships they have developed over the years with Huntington County organizations with The TAB. They felt it was their duty to work with local organizations to help them serve the citizens of Huntington County.

Grindle and Trauner have worked endless hours over the past 35 years to make The TAB the best newspaper in Huntington County. They swell with pride when they hear someone mentioning good things about their “baby”.

Like many business owners there comes a time when you want to enjoy the fruits of your hard-work over the years. That time has come for Russ and Scott.

On June 19, Russ and Scott turned over the ownership of The TAB to Don L. Hurd. Hurd is president and owner of 11 other newspapers in Indiana. According to Hurd, he considers each one of his newspapers as his babies.

Hurd operates newspapers in Benton, White, Lake, Wabash, Miami, Grant and Pulaski counties. Each publication is dedicated to providing solid local news to its readers each and every week. Hurd’s publications reach over 185,000 readers each week.

“We are very happy and excited to have purchased the Huntington County TAB,” said Don L. Hurd, Hometown Media Inc., Hoosier Media Group and Heartland Media Group founder and CEO. “All of our newspapers are hyper-local. We will be featuring stories about the people and places of Huntington County that our readers will love.”

“I call it refrigerator journalism because my parents would always cut out articles about their children and post them proudly on their refrigerator for all to see,” Hurd commented.

Hurd is a 40-year publishing veteran in Indiana, Michigan and Illinois. His career in print media started when he was 11 years old as a paperboy for the Warsaw Times Union. He grew up in the Warsaw area. Hurd went to Mentone High School and was in the first graduating class at Tippecanoe Valley. Hurd was also the first Viking mascot at Valley.

At one point in his long career, Hurd was president of more than 30 newspapers in Indiana and Illinois. He is a graduate of Ball State University with degrees in telecommunications, marketing and journalism.

Hurd has been the recipient of more than 80 national and state advertising, editorial and graphic design and photography awards from several industry organizations. He was also a 16-year Hoosier State Press Association Board member, where he served as president and vice president.

Additionally, Hurd served on the Illinois Press Board of Directors and was president of the Indiana Advertising Executives Association.
Hurd’s staff members have more than 100 years of combined local community newspaper experience. Each staff member is totally focused on keeping local journalism alive and vibrant.

“We look forward to working with the residents of Huntington County to provide them with an all-local community newspaper. We want our readers to be proud of their hometown newspaper,” said Hurd. “We encourage all local residents to let us know what they want to see in their local newspaper.”

Hurd encourages reader engagement about the newspaper. You can contact Hurd by emailing him at president@hoosiermediagroup.com.

Grindle and Trauner expressed their thanks to the Huntington County community for what they termed “35 great years.”

“Thank you for literally inviting us into your homes twice a week for all these years,” Grindle said. “We want to thank all of our readers and advertisers for their faith and trust in us. And we want to also thank our great staff for the many great years they have given to us. We couldn’t have done it without them.

“We wish Mr. Hurd continued success as he moves The TAB onward.”