In January 2021, Lewis County-based CT Publishing entered the world of journalism, purchasing The Chronicle in Centralia, the Nisqually Valley News in Yelm, and The Reflector in Clark County.
Six years later, the local newspaper company is taking its next big step with Thurston Chronicle, a new weekly newspaper published each Tuesday and made available throughout Thurston County.
The print publication comes about a year after the launch of ThurstonChronicle.com, an effort that has found success in returning a focus to local news, high school sports and opinion after years of erosion and decline in the county’s legacy media landscape.
CT Publishing is owned and operated by CEO Coralee Taylor and Publisher Chad Taylor, Chehalis residents who bought their newspapers from now-defunct Lafromboise Communications effective Jan. 1, 2021.
The Taylors maintain an intense focus on providing communities they serve with hyperlocal news that zeroes in on what matters most in an age of declining professional media operations and heightened debates over truth and shared perceptions — local people, local events and local matters.
As Nisqually Valley News in Yelm remains the official newspaper of record in Thurston County, Thurston Chronicle is being built as a publication with a broader and better-staffed focus — covering all the happenings in Thurston County.
“People ask, ‘Why are you creating a newspaper in Thurston County?’” Coralee Taylor said. “The answer is, The Chronicle has been publishing a newspaper in Thurston County since its inception in 1889. We’re simply creating a new publication under a new flag that will be supported by better investment and staffing with a sole focus on Thurston County. We believe Thurston County deserves something that Lewis County already has — a reputable local newspaper that allows the county to define itself from within and not a corporate entity kneecapped by decisions made on the other side of the country. We are not here to replace The Olympian. We are here to build something new, sustainable and dedicated to the people who live, work and recreate in Thurston County.”
Longtime CT Publishing reporter and editor Emily Fitzgerald has served as editor of Thurston Chronicle since its online launch in November. Partnering with her in leadership is Thurston Chronicle Sports Editor Dylan Reubenking, who in the past year has already gained a reputation as a tenacious writer and photographer who will stop at nothing to prove local student-athletes with the coverage they deserve.
Fitzgerald worked as The Chronicle’s crime, courts and education reporter for over four years, eventually being promoted to assistant editor before gaining her newest job title. Reubenking, also a former assistant editor for The Chronicle, started working in CT Publishing in 2023 with the Nisqually Valley News before moving over to The Chronicle in 2025 as a news and sports reporter. He’s a graduate of Timberline High School.
“Simply put, Emily and Dylan are a dream team for us,” CT Publishing Editor-in-Chief Eric Schwartz said. “Both are among the most skilled and dedicated journalists I have had the pleasure to work with over two decades at The Chronicle. Over the past year, they have paved in-roads throughout the community to make way for our ultimate goal — a local newspaper the community can be proud of.”
In addition to Fitzgerald and Reubenking, Thurston Chronicle has contracted with renowned local photographer John Holman and writer Candra Burns to form the foundation of their local news team.
But the newsroom is bigger than that.
Nisqually Valley News Editor Jacob Dimond acts as a correspondent for Thurston Chronicle, bringing news and sports content from Yelm, Rainier, Roy, McKenna and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, The Chronicle is contributing the same Thurston Chronicle coverage it has focused on since 1889 — Rochester, Grand Mound, Tenino, Bucoda and unincorporated Thurston County.
With Fitzgerald and Reubenking honing in on the population center of the county — Olympia, Tumwater and Lacey — CT Publishing is looking to leverage all available resources to fashion a weekly newspaper the community can take pride in.
At launch, Thurston Chronicle will share a customer service, design, delivery and support staff with The Chronicle and Nisqually Valley News.
From there, CT Publishing plans measured growth in line with the support it receives from the community through subscriptions, advertising and visitors to its website.
Coralee and Chad Taylor, co-owners, last year said they saw a gap in local news coverage in Thurston County and decided to step in.
“I realized that I wanted to be up there more when Tumwater parents were driving down and buying the newspaper to see their children in it,” Coralee Taylor said. “That’s exactly where it came from. They love seeing their kids in the paper. With the Nisqually Valley News as the Thurston County paper of record, this fills our circle there.”
Chad Taylor said there should be no mystery to CT Publishing’s goals in Thurston County. They are already well established through the example of The Chronicle, the company’s flagship publication.
“We aim to become the dominant reliable source of local news for Thurston County,” Chad said. “It won’t happen overnight, but we’re not talking years, either. From day one, we have remained calculated and resolute in our goals. We launched ThurstonChronicle.com, and the community immediately and resoundingly asked for more. More local news. More local sports. More reasons to celebrate and document what Thurston County is while working to explain to residents where it is going. More local kids getting public praise for their accomplishments in the classroom and on fields of competition. More reasons to highlight and celebrate the accomplishments of residents. More transparency for local governments. More of what used to be the essence of Thurston County’s newspaper — a daily reflection of the community it serves.”
Schwartz described the journalistic philosophy of CT Publishing as being in stark contrast to what Olympia has been offered in recent years.
“We’re not pivoting to video or reaching to celebrity news and clickbait as the answers to journalism’s woes in 2026,” Schwartz said. “There isn’t some magical formula or answer within an algorithm or corporate strategy to save local journalism. It’s local news. That’s it. Readers intrinsically know that even as corporations flail in pursuit of some non-existent portal to profitability. The newspaper operations that are thriving in 2026 are those who respect their local communities and treat them with fairness and accuracy. That’s what we have brought to Thurston County over the past year, and it is on that foundation that we will build.”
CT Publishing this year sold The Reflector in Battle Ground to new local owners as part of a strategy to reinvest in Thurston and Lewis counties.
With the launch of the first Thurston Chronicle print edition this week, the Taylors have made good on their long-planned next step in realizing their vision.
“Thurston County has been a news desert for too long,” Coralee Taylor said. “We’re joining other individuals, publications and organizations to correct that wrong. We’re not the whole answer, but we are part of it. And we are thrilled to join others who believe Thurston County deserves news that takes its residents seriously and informs them properly.”
Visit ThurstonChronicle.com to subscribe and see a growing list of locations where the weekly newspaper will be available for purchase. Call 360-245-6737 or 360-736-3311 for more details.
