The Decorah Public Opinion and its associated shopper, the Driftless Journal, were acquired by Enterprise Media as of July 1. The Charles City-based publishing company was founded in 2016 by Christopher Hall and his wife Kristin Hall. The pair of Decorah publications were previously under the editorship of Kate Klimesh of Driftless Multimedia, whose family purchased the local newspaper in July of 2021 after being involved with the publications for several years.
The publications will be renamed as part of the transition — the Decorah Public Opinion will be redubbed the Decorah Leader, while the Driftless Journal will simply be known as The Driftless moving forward. The Decorah Leader will be helmed by incoming News Editor Seth Boyes, while Enterprise Media CEO Christopher Hall will oversee much of the business and advertising aspects of the operation alongside the local staff.
“Decorah has a proud history of notable newspaper work, dating back to the early days of the Decorah Posten, and we’re thankful to Kate and her crew for the opportunity to write the next chapter in that legacy,” Hall said. “Kate has led the Public Opinion and Driftless Journal for several years now. She and the team here have made connections across the community, and we hope to build on the momentum they have gained among their readers.”
In addition to the updated mastheads, Enterprise plans to place a renewed focus on local news and sports coverage within the core Decorah market. Moving forward, byline news coverage, sports and legal notices will be published in the Decorah Leader, while the Driftless will serve as the area’s free advertising shopper.
“We’re going to grow the Decorah Leader by cultivating more in-depth local coverage of the Decorah market,” Hall said. “That is something that we will need the community’s help and support in doing, but ultimately we aim to improve on many of the things the paper is already doing and hopefully make the Decorah Leader into one of the best newspapers in the state.”
The Decorah operation will join Enterprise’s roster of Iowa publications, including the Charles City Press — where the two Decorah products are physically printed — the Kossuth County Advance, the New Hampton Tribune, the Spencer Reporter and the Dickinson County News.
Boyes has written for both the Spencer Reporter and the Dickinson County News over the course of his eight years in the industry. He began his news career as a staff writer at the Spencer Reporter in the spring of 2016, transitioning to the Dickinson County News early the following year. In 2021, he was named news editor at the DCN and served as the sole news writer for the weekly newspaper and its 1,200 subscribers in northwest Iowa. He was also responsible for supplying news content in the Okobojian — a free weekly summer publication circulated throughout the Iowa Great Lakes region — as well as the annual Experiance Okoboji visitors guide.
“I actually gave my notice to the company earlier this spring, thinking my family’s move to Decorah this summer would mark the end of my time behind a news desk,” Boyes said. “Unbeknownst to me, Chris had already been looking at purchasing the Deocrah paper for some time before that, so when he approached me several months later about filling the editor’s position in the very town I was moving to, I didn’t hesitate to jump on board.”
During Boyes’ eight years writing local news, he has earned 10 first-place awards individually from the Iowa Better Newspaper Association for his writing and photography, in addition to more than 25 second and third-place honors. His work also contributed to numerous staff awards for the Dickinson County News, which has placed among the top three newspapers in its competition category 14 times since 2011 — taking the top slot seven times, two of which occurred during Boyes’ time on staff there.
“I’ve been fortunate to have learned from some very experienced editors and publishers who are dedicated to print journalism before I ever sat in an editor’s chair myself,” Boyes said. “I’m excited to share my skills and knowledge with the talented staff here in Decorah can continue providing quality news coverage for the community they know so well.”
Northeast Iowa isn’t entirely new territory for Boyes and his family. The news editor was born in Elkader, where his mother worked for the Clayton County Register. Though the family moved while he was still young, they often visited family and friends in communities like Guttenberg and Garnavillo. Boyes’ wife Janet is a 2009 graduate of Luther College, and her family has owned property in Glenwood Township since the early ‘90s, prompting many a visit each year.
Submit A Comment
Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.