Hagadone Media Group names Kaufer regional publisher

The following press release was sent out from Editor & Publisher:

The Hagadone Corporation formally announced that long-time Hagadone Media Montana regional publisher Rick Weaver retired at the end of January this year. In the same statement, Hagadone Corporation Chairman and CEO Brad Hagadone and Media Division president Clint Schroeder named Montana regional advertising director Anton Kaufer as the newspaper group’s next regional publisher.

Kaufer joined the Daily Inter Lake and Hagadone Media Montana in January 2017 as regional advertising director. Before moving to Montana, he was advertising director for the Shreveport Times in Shreveport, Louisiana.

He started in the newspaper industry with his hometown newspaper, the Berkshire Eagle, in 2001 and has held leadership positions in newspapers in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and Louisiana.

“I feel honored to follow in Rick’s footsteps and lead our Montana newspapers alongside our talented teams,” Kaufer said. “As our region continues to grow and evolve, it’s our responsibility to keep folks informed of what’s happening in their communities — whether in our printed newspapers or online through our websites, news app, newsletters or podcasts. These papers are a vital part of our communities, and our commitment to producing top-notch local journalism and marketing solutions is as strong as ever.”

“I am extremely pleased that Anton will be taking my place,” Weaver added. “I can’t think of a better person or a better succession plan that will ensure Inter Lake and Hagadone Media Montana continues to be the leading news source in Northwest Montana.”

Originally from western Massachusetts, Kaufer attended Berkshire Community College and the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

He is a board member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Glacier Country and Glacier AERO. He is the current vice president of the Montana Newspaper Association board. In 2021, Kaufer was honored as volunteer of the year by the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce.

Kaufer and his wife, Betsy, live in Creston and have a grown son, Alex.