Mary Hoisington, publisher of the Great Bend Tribune in Great Bend, announced that she will be leaving the Tribune later this month. The Great Bend Tribune has been owned since 1972 by Morris Multimedia Inc., a privately owned Savannah, Ga.-based media company.

Mary has been the publisher of the Tribune since 2006, and prior to that held various leadership positions in Morris Multimedia’s operations in Kansas and Georgia, including regional controller of the Gainesville Times (Georgia), Publisher of the Ellsworth County Reporter and regional accounting manager for Southeast Georgia operations. Mary started her career with Morris Multimedia as the bookkeeper at the Great Bend Tribune in 1994.

In the interim while the Tribune looks for a new fulltime Publisher, Karma Byers and Jana Hestand will co-lead the Tribune, with Byers handling all day-to-day operating matters, Hestand will oversee administrative functions. Dale Hogg will continue to serve as managing editor of the Tribune. All have extensive experience with the newspaper and associated website.

“Mary has been with the company for 28 years and we have all enjoyed working with her and watching her grow and prosper during her time with us,” said Charles H. Morris, president and CEO of Morris Multimedia. “We wish her well in her new position and hope that we will be able to help each other and collaborate in the future. Mary has been a huge advocate for Great Bend and has helped maintain the Tribune’s strong standing in Barton County. These last couple of years have been challenging ones in the newspaper industry, and Mary has been a big part of the Tribune maintaining its relevance and standing in the community. She will be missed.”

“I call Great Bend home and have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to lead the Tribune for the last fifteen years,” Mary said. “I feel blessed to know and to have been able to work with so many wonderful people in the Great Bend community and I look forward to remaining an advocate for Great Bend as I change my career path. I have also been fortunate to have worked with so many wonderful people throughout Morris. I’m thankful for their friendship, advice, mentoring and support over the past twenty-eight years.”

Morris Multimedia Inc. is one of the largest privately owned media companies in the United States. It owns and operates network affiliate television stations, community newspapers, an out-of-home advertising business, a digital services company and digital operations for its various media businesses. It operates in nine states, including Kansas.

The Great Bend Tribune has been the local news and information source for Great Bend and Barton County since 1876. It is published on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday each week, as well as on its website gbtribune.com.