The Roswell Daily Record is no more.
The newspaper first founded in the 1900s announced Monday that it was “ceasing operations.”
The announcement was made as the Daily Record is “undertaking an orderly liquidation of its assets to satisfy outstanding liabilities, obligations, and operating expenses to the extent possible,” read an article posted on the newspaper’s website at about 10:30 a.m., July 13.
Leadership said the paper was “actively pursuing” new owners or “another sustainable arrangement” to resume publication but that “we cannot make any guarantees.”
It was unclear from the announcement what such an arrangement would entail or if the newspaper had any potential buyers.
The announcement read as follows:
“It is with great regret that we inform you that the Roswell Daily Record is ceasing operations. The company is undertaking an orderly liquidation of its assets to satisfy outstanding liabilities, obligations, and operating expenses to the extent possible.
“At the same time, we are actively pursuing a solution that could allow the Roswell Daily Record to continue serving the community under new ownership or another sustainable arrangement. While we cannot make any guarantees, we remain committed to exploring every viable option.”
Amid the transition, El Rito Media said it will work to expand its coverage area to include Roswell and Chaves counties. New Mexico-based El Rito Media was founded in 2022 with its purchase of the Rio Grande Sun in Espanola, Artesia Daily Press in 2024 and the Alamogordo News, Carlsbad Current-Argus and Ruidoso News in 2025.
El Rito plans to offer online coverage in the immediate aftermath of the Roswell Daily Record’s closure, with plans to offer a print newspaper in the near future. The company is also offering free subscriptions to any of its papers for the next 13 weeks following the Roswell Daily Record’s closure.
“Our company is committed to advancing New Mexico journalism, especially in the southeast region amidst this loss,” said Managing Editor Adrian Hedden. “The Roswell Daily Record has been a titan of New Mexico journalism for more than a century, and we will work to fill the gap left by its’ cessation.”
The sale of the Daily Record comes after significant changes were announced in 2024, when the newspaper’s print frequency dropped from five days a week to three days with two digital “e-editions” on days the paper was not printed.
And in October 2025, the Daily Record announced it was ceasing its in-housing print operations, closing a local printing press and moving such operations to Santa Fe.
“It’s about connecting a community’s history with the present reality and then adapting so that our community and the newspaper can move into the future successfully together. I would like to thank all our employees for their dedicated service to the newspaper throughout the years,” wrote Publisher Barbara Beck in an Oct. 8, 2025 editorial announcing the changes.