It was the first newspaper Paul Hyde owned: now he’s selling to a neighbour who already owns ten small-town newspapers in the same state.

Media merger and acquisition firm Dirks, Van Essen & April has announced that Hyde Media Group has sold the Hood County News and its associated publications and websites – but not its print operations – to Texas-based South Texas News. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

The weekly Hood County News, serving Granbury and communities throughout Hood County, had been owned by longtime Hood County resident and Hyde Law Firm founder Hyde, who had acquired the newspaper from Roberts Publishing.

Publisher Sam Houston had helped strengthen the paper’s presence across print and digital platforms, drawing on experience in marketing, radio and television.

Albert Reynolds, who founded the Beeville-based South Texas News, had begun his career with a 20-year tenure at the local newspaper there before purchasing it and other county titles in 2023.