Lawton newspaper to change to local owners with heavy political affiliation
While some people are happy the newspaper will be locally owned again, others have shared concerns over the crossover of political affiliations.
Changes are coming to Southwest Oklahoma’s news outlets. On Sept. 3, The Lawton Constitution announced that Hilliary Communications would be purchasing them. The sale is set to finalize within the next few weeks. The Constitution, previously owned by Southern Newspapers Inc, is Lawton’s only printed newspaper, and one of the only news sources for the area in general.
Hilliary Communications is a broadband company with operations stretching across Oklahoma, but started locally. The company also owns the Southwest Ledger, a newspaper out of Elgin. The Assistant Vice President of External Affairs of Hilliary, JJ Francais, is also the Associate Publisher of the Southwest Ledger.
While some people are happy the newspaper will be locally owned again, others have shared concerns over the crossover of political affiliations. The Dark Roast reached out to Francais about this upcoming transaction.
Political Endeavors
While holding multiple titles with Hilliary Communications, Francais also holds a position in office as the Mayor of Elgin. He was first elected in 2021 and reelected in 2025. Francais has also campaigned for Senate District 32.
Like Francais, the Hilliary family has a lot of political outreach. Members of the family sit on multiple boards and often contribute to political campaigns, backing a multitude of candidates. Some of these include current Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, current Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and Congressman Tom Cole. Members also donate to Political Action Committees or PACS.
People often donate to PACs for a few reasons, to include supporting their candidate of choice, being part of a larger effort or increasing their chances of influencing policy.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
While there is no legal issue with involving yourself in politics, many journalism ethics codes, such as the Society of Professional Journalists, advise to stray away from political activities that may compromise journalistic integrity. Specifically in their code, it states, “avoid political and other outside activities that may compromise integrity or impartiality, or may damage credibility.”
You can read a more detailed SPJ article here.
Francais said their company does not have that policy. Within the Southwest Ledger, he said he doesn’t see stories prior to them going to press. The role of Publishers and Editors differ in the sense that one covers more of the business aspect and the other covers the story’s contents. However, he will hold the Executive Editor title in addition to Publisher at the Lawton Constitution. This will make him directly involved, overseeing what is covered.
Although Francais and the Hilliary family are so politically involved, according to Francais they only have a brief disclosure policy. Whether a story covers Elgin and Francais contributes or it’s a story over one of the boards they sit on, Francais stated it will be disclosed within the article.
“In our roles, what we try to do is avoid the appearance of conflict,” Francais said. “We just lean on disclosure.”
However, leaning on disclosure only applies to stories published and not those that go untold. While Francais doesn’t see any of these things as conflict, he believes it's up to the reader to determine whether the story contains bias or not.
The Outlook for the Constitution
Despite being owned by the same company, the Constitution and the Ledger will still operate as different entities. According to Francais, they plan on expanding the Lawton newspaper’s resources, from increasing the number of employees to putting a focus on the county as a whole. Even though the two papers will act separately, there will be a sort of exchange of services.
“If Scott turns in a 1,500 word story, the top 500 may only appear in the constitution and when he gets into the weeds that would go in the Ledger,” Francais said.
Francais explained most people who read a community paper don’t want to read a lengthy story.
“We’re seeing a lot of consolidation of newspapers in Texas. We’re seeing newsrooms, you know, shrunk in half or even worse,” Francais stated. “We’re trying to put more resources into journalism in Southwest Oklahoma.”
Francais went on to say this won’t be the last media purchase in Southwest Oklahoma under Hilliary.
With all of this being said, it poses the question as to whether this move is in support of local journalism or politically motivated.
