Southwest Times Record

What Southwest Times Record does

Southwest Times Record is a daily local newspaper founded in 1884 serving Fort Smith, Arkansas and the surrounding River Valley region (Sebastian, Crawford, and Logan counties). It is owned and operated by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) as a local property within the USA TODAY Network, one of the largest newspaper chains in the United States. The publication's headcount is reported at 1-10 employees, indicating it operates as a lean community news outlet rather than a staffed regional daily, with editorial and operational resources largely centralized through Gannett's parent infrastructure.

The core product is the swtimes.com digital news platform, delivering local news, politics, sports (including Arkansas Razorbacks coverage), entertainment, opinion, and lifestyle content. Adjacent productized offerings include a digital eNewspaper replica, an obituary platform with submission and archive functionality, a dedicated public notices/legal publishing vertical, a real estate marketplace integrated with AddressUSA, email newsletter subscriptions, and classifieds/jobs marketplace access via Gannett's classifieds network. Underlying technology is Gannett's centralized content management system with category-based web delivery and digital subscription gating.

The business model combines three revenue streams: (1) recurring individual reader subscriptions for print and digital access including the eNewspaper; (2) local and national advertising across display, classifieds, and sponsored content, including self-serve and direct sales channels targeting SMBs and government/financial institutions for public notices; and (3) public notice revenue from legally mandated Arkansas notice placements. Go-to-market is multi-channel: organic social media (Facebook, X, Instagram), SEO on local search queries, email newsletters for mid-funnel retention, and cross-promotion through the USA TODAY Network. Pricing is not publicly disclosed but is transacted through subscribe.swtimes.com.

Name

Southwest Times Record

Legal name

Gannett Co., Inc.

Website

https://swtimes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1884

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Southwest Times Record is a daily local newspaper serving Fort Smith, Arkansas and the River Valley region, owned by Gannett Co., Inc. within the USA TODAY Network. It delivers local news, sports, and public notices via print, digital subscriptions, eNewspaper, and a website serving a small, distributed local readership and advertiser base.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper / Community News Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJADAB

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news subscriptions
• Public notice advertising
• ENewspaper platform
• Community news coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Smith

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Print and digital subscriptions for individual readers, including eNewspaper access, providing recurring revenue from local readership in the Fort Smith, AR metropolitan area
2. Advertising: Local and national advertising placements across the newspaper's print and digital platforms, including display ads, classifieds, and sponsored content
3. Public Notices/Legals: Legally required public notice publications including mortgage foreclosures, estate notices, court filings, and municipal announcements published in compliance with Arkansas public notice requirements

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Southwest Times Record is a daily local newspaper and digital news platform that publishes local news, sports, entertainment, opinion, real estate listings, obituaries, and Arkansas-mandated public notices for Fort Smith, AR and the surrounding River Valley region. It distributes content through a print edition, a digital website (swtimes.com), an eNewspaper digital replica, and email newsletters, monetized through reader subscriptions, advertising, and statutory public-notice fees. The publication operates as a local property of Gannett Co., Inc. within the USA TODAY Network.

Product overview

Southwest Times Record operates as a local digital news platform as part of the USA TODAY Network (Gannett). The core offering is its news website delivering local news, sports, entertainment, and opinion content for Fort Smith, AR and surrounding communities. Additional products include eNewspaper (digital edition), Obituaries service, Public Notices platform, Real Estate marketplace, and subscription-based newsletter and content access. The site also features classifieds, jobs marketplace, and shopping integrations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• USA TODAY Network: National media network that includes Southwest Times Record along with hundreds of local newspapers across the United States.

Products and services

• Southwest Times Record Website (swtimes.com) The main digital news platform providing local news, politics, sports, and entertainment coverage for Fort Smith, AR and the River Valley region. Organized into category sections including News, Sports, Entertainment, Opinion, Real Estate, Obituaries, and Public Notices.
• eNewspaper Digital edition of the newspaper accessible through user.swtimes.com, allowing subscribers to read the full newspaper online as a digital replica of the print edition.
• Obituaries Online obituary listings with submission capabilities for funeral homes and families, including a searchable archive of past obituaries.
• Public Notices Legal public notice publication platform featuring foreclosure notices, estate filings, court filings, and government announcements, published in compliance with Arkansas public notice requirements.
• Real Estate Listings Real estate property search marketplace integrated with AddressUSA for homes in the Fort Smith region and beyond.
• Email Newsletters Email newsletter subscriptions delivering daily or weekly news updates to subscribers, including offerings such as the Obituary Daily Digest.
• Subscription Services Paid digital and print subscription tiers providing access to premium content, the eNewspaper digital edition, and exclusive features.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gannett CompanycoreOthersSouthwest Times Record is owned and operated by Gannett Company, one of the largest newspaper publishers in the United States. The publication is part of the USA TODAY Network, which provides shared resources, content syndication, and operational infrastructure.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is the largest newspaper in Arkansas and serves overlapping regional audiences across the state, including Fort Smith. It competes directly with the Southwest Times Record for Arkansas readers, advertising dollars, and state-level political and Razorbacks sports coverage.
• The Oklahoman: The Oklahoman is a fellow Gannett/USA TODAY Network daily newspaper serving Oklahoma City and the broader region. It operates the same business model (print + digital subscriptions, display and classified advertising, public notices) and provides a directly comparable template for how Gannett positions and monetizes local flagship dailies.

Broad incumbents

• Lee Enterprises: Lee Enterprises is one of the largest U.S. newspaper publishers, operating local dailies and weeklies across the Midwest and South. It is broadly comparable as a multi-local-market newspaper chain pursuing the same subscription, advertising, and digital transformation strategy as Gannett's properties.
• McClatchy: McClatchy is a major U.S. newspaper chain operating regional dailies and digital platforms. It competes with Gannett for digital subscriber acquisition in mid-sized markets and pursues a similar local-news-plus-network-content strategy.
• Tribune Publishing: Tribune Publishing operates a portfolio of regional metropolitan and local newspapers across the U.S. It is broadly comparable as a multi-market newspaper operator navigating the same print-to-digital transition, subscription monetization, and public-notice revenue dynamics.
• Gannett Co., Inc. Gannett is the publicly traded parent company of the Southwest Times Record and the largest U.S. newspaper publisher. It is comparable as the broader operator of hundreds of local properties sharing CMS, advertising technology, and content syndication infrastructure.

Regional players

• KFSM-TV (CBS Fort Smith): KFSM is the CBS-affiliated local TV station serving Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas. It competes with the Southwest Times Record for the same local audience and local advertising dollars across news, weather, and sports, but through broadcast rather than print/digital publishing.
• KHBS/KHOG-TV (ABC Fort Smith): KHBS/KHOG is the ABC affiliate serving Fort Smith and the River Valley. It operates as a competing local news outlet in the same geographic market, vying with the Southwest Times Record for local advertisers and breaking-news audience attention.

Emerging players

• Patch: Patch is a digital hyperlocal news network covering thousands of U.S. communities, including Fort Smith-area neighborhoods. It competes with the Southwest Times Record for digital local news readership and local SMB advertising, particularly among younger, online-first audiences.
• Axios: Axios is a digital-native national news outlet that has expanded into local markets through Axios Local partnerships. It overlaps with the Southwest Times Record as a digital-first competitor targeting local advertisers and newsletter subscribers in mid-sized U.S. metros.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/timesrecord
• Facebookfacebook.com/SWTimesRecord
• Instagraminstagram.com/timesrecord
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/times-record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southwest Times Record