Peter Wagner

Peter Wagner

Peter W. Wagner has spent most of his life in the communications business and it shows in the quality of his newspapers, magazine and niche publications.

The American Journalism Review, in a feature story on the America’s weekly newspapers, said Mr. Wagner’s flagship publication, The N’West Iowa REVIEW “is arguably the best weekly newspaper in America.” The New York Times, in a story about the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center, said The N’West Iowa REVIEW provided coverage as good as any daily newspaper.

That’s a long journey for Mr. Wagner, who started in the business as the evening staff announcer at KIHO-AM in Sioux Falls, SD while still a sophomore in high school. By his senior year he was host of the city’s top-rated program, the Top 40 Show, on rock station KISD.

Since 1962 Mr. Wagner has made his home in Northwest Iowa, carving out a formidable niche as the president of Iowa Information, Inc., a regional publishing firm. The group’s The N’West Iowa REVIEW was established in 1972. The REVIEW has been named Iowa’s Newspaper of the Year 14 of the last 21 years and Best Small Community weekly in the nation by the National Newspaper Association the last six years in a row. Today the 5,000-plus circulation REVIEW is a national leader in process color production, publishing as many as 20 full color news and advertising pages in every issue.

Also in the Iowa Information group is the 128-year-old Sheldon Mail-Sun and the free circulation Golden Shopper. The firm also publishes a tri-state travel tabloid, DISCOVER and the bi-monthly OKOBOJI magazine.

In addition to their publishing interests, Mr. Wagner and his family oversee Creative House Print Media consultants and provide training programs on all aspects of publishing across the United States and Canada. Peter’s wife Connie and daughter-in-law Myrna also operate White Wolf Web, a separate corporation printing full color newspapers and circulars on a seven unit Harris V-25 offset press. Other Sheldon-based, newspaper associated businesses include Idea Marketing, a full service public relations agency; The Print Shop, a sheet fed printing firm four regional specialty tabloids: Herds & Plowshares; Happy Days, Brides & Bouquets and Parent and Child.

Mr. Wagner has served as chairman of the Iowa Newspaper Association Marketing Committee where he helped launch The Exchange. He recently retired as the National Newspaper Association Region 6 Director. Before Joining the NNA board he served as chairman of the NNA Better Newspaper Contest. While on the board he served various terms chairing the membership committee, Publisher’s Auxiliary committee and the professional development committee. He is currently servicing on the recently formed Iowa Newspaper Association Promotion Task Force looking into finding new advertising revenue sources for Iowa newspapers.

Along with his publishing interests Mr. Wagner enjoys garden scale model railroading reading murder mysteries, preaching and boating on beautiful Lake Okobji. He is the author of six books and producer of four video-training tapes for the newspaper industry. Mr. Wagner and his wife, Connie, make their home in Sibley, IA. Their oldest son, Jeff, and his wife, Myrna, serve as general manager and art director for the family’s newspaper group.