The Jamestown Sun

What The Jamestown Sun does

The Jamestown Sun is a privately-held daily newspaper serving Jamestown, North Dakota and the surrounding Stutsman County area, operating as a division of Forum Communications Company, a Fargo-based regional media conglomerate. Founded in 1926, the publication is staffed by a small newsroom (1-10 employees) under long-tenured Editor Kathy Steiner (in role since 1995) and Publisher/Advertising Director Rob Keller, producing local news, sports, weather, obituaries, opinion, and community-event coverage across print and digital channels.

The company's core product is a multi-vertical news platform delivered through jamestownsun.com, an E-Paper digital edition, and a physical newspaper, supplemented by StormTracker Weather (via partnership with WDAY), podcasts (Growing Together, Plain Talk, Hot Mic with Dom Izzo, The Vault), email newsletters, and an archive service. Supporting verticals include Classifieds (powered by classifieds.forumcomm.com), JobsHQ (employment listings), Public Notices (legal advertising via column.us), Obituaries, and a Community Calendar. Content is widely syndicated through the parent company's Forum News Network, which distributes Sun stories to InForum.com, WDAY television, and sister regional newspapers.

The Jamestown Sun monetizes through four streams: print and digital subscriptions (tied to a $2-for-6-months promotional entry point), advertising (display, classified, sponsored content, video production, commercial printing, and TV advertising all booked through Forum Communications' shared ad platform), legal and public-notice placement (a statutorily protected revenue line for newspapers of record), and obituary/community announcements. Its go-to-market is sales-led and local, targeting Stutsman County residents as subscribers and area SMBs plus government entities as advertisers. Strategic positioning leans on Forum Communications' shared back office, advertising network, and cross-platform distribution as the primary lever for operational efficiency beyond what a stand-alone 1-10 person newsroom could sustain.

Name

The Jamestown Sun

Legal name

The Jamestown Sun

Website

https://jamestownsun.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1926

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Jamestown Sun is a daily local newspaper in Jamestown, North Dakota, operating as a division of Forum Communications Company. It delivers print and digital news, sports, weather, obituaries, and advertising services to Stutsman County residents and local SMBs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

News & Public Affairs Syndication (MPABAMAF)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news subscription
• Community journalism
• Newspaper advertising sales
• Classified advertising marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Jamestown

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

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Subscriptions: Subscription revenue from print and digital access to news content, including e-paper option
2. Advertising: Digital advertising, print advertising, TV advertising, video services, and commercial printing services offered through Forum Communications advertising platform
3. Classifieds and Legal Notices: Classified advertisements, legal public notices, obituary listings, employment ads through JobsHQ
4. Sponsored Content: Paid sponsored content and community announcements

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Jamestown Sun publishes a daily local newspaper and operates an associated digital news platform serving Jamestown, North Dakota and Stutsman County. It sells print and digital subscriptions to readers, advertising (digital, print, TV, video) to local businesses, and publishes legal public notices for government and private customers, with content verticals covering local news, sports, weather, and obituaries.

Product overview

The Jamestown Sun is a traditional local newspaper offering a multi-platform news operation. Its core products include digital news content delivered via its website (jamestownsun.com) and a print edition, with key content verticals covering local news, sports, weather (StormTracker Weather), and obituaries. The organization operates various add-on services including E-Paper digital editions, JobsHQ employment classifieds, Public Notices, Podcasts (Growing Together, Plain Talk, Hot Mic, The Vault), Newsletters, Archives, and a Community Calendar. The company also offers advertising services across digital, print, and video production channels through Forum Communications Company's advertising network. The newspaper serves as a division of Forum Communications Company, leveraging shared corporate resources for advertising, technology, and content distribution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Forum Communications CompanycoreOthersParent company that owns and operates The Jamestown Sun as a division. Provides shared advertising platform, content syndication through Forum News Network, and cross-platform distribution including InForum and WDAY television partnerships.
• Forum News NetworkcoreTechnology or IntegrationContent syndication network allowing The Jamestown Sun stories to appear across Forum Communications properties including InForum.com, WDAY, and regional newspaper websites.
• WDAY TelevisionminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTelevision partnership for weather content (StormTracker Weather) and shared news coverage including WDAY Live video content.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Minot Daily News: North Dakota regional daily newspaper. Comparable as a small-market daily newspaper operating print and digital editions with subscription, advertising, and classified revenue models similar to the Jamestown Sun.
• The Dickinson Press: Sister newspaper also owned by Forum Communications Company, serving Dickinson, ND and surrounding Stark County. Directly comparable as a small-market North Dakota daily newspaper operating under the same shared advertising and content syndication infrastructure.
• Williston Herald: North Dakota community newspaper serving the Bakken oil region. Directly comparable as a small-market daily print and digital newspaper with local advertising, classifieds, and obituaries as primary revenue streams.
• InForum (Fargo Forum): Forum Communications' flagship daily serving Fargo-Moorhead. Directly comparable as a Forum-network print and digital newspaper; InForum sets the shared advertising and content standards that flow down to properties like the Sun.
• Grand Forks Herald: Forum Communications-owned daily newspaper serving Grand Forks, ND. Directly comparable in business model, distribution (print + digital), and Forum-network affiliation, with a slightly larger market footprint.
• Bismarck Tribune: Long-standing North Dakota daily newspaper (Forum-affiliated for distribution/advertising). Comparable as a regional print + digital newspaper operating in a similar small-state market with shared Forum ad platform.

Others

• The Daily Herald (small-market US daily): Representative US small-market daily newspaper illustrating the broader competitive set the Jamestown Sun operates within — local dailies facing the same digital transition pressures. Included as a thematic reference peer rather than a direct competitor.

Broad incumbents

• WDAY-TV (Forum Communications): Forum Communications' flagship television station, which already partners with the Jamestown Sun on StormTracker Weather and WDAY Live video content. Comparable as a Forum-network local media property with overlapping audience and advertising inventory.

Regional players

• Prairie Public Broadcasting: Regional public broadcaster serving North Dakota and surrounding states. Comparable as a local news and information provider in the same geographic market, though funded differently and offering overlapping local weather, news, and community content.

Emerging players

• Agweek: Forum Communications' agriculture-focused publication distributed alongside the Sun. Comparable because it shares Forum's syndication infrastructure and overlaps with the Sun's agricultural coverage in the same North Dakota/South Dakota footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/jamestownsun
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheJamestownSun

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

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 The Jamestown Sun