On June 2, 1954, Lincoln O'Brien, president of New Mexico Newspapers, Inc., first published the Artesia Daily Press. It was launched as a rival to the much older Artesia Advocate. O'Brien owned papers in Tucumcari, Las Vegas, Gallup and Farmington. James K. Green was made publisher of the Daily Press. He was an investor in the company was publisher of the Farmington Daily Times.[1][2][3] In 1956, O'Brien bought the Advocate and absorbed it into the Daily Press.[4]
O'Brien was inducted into the New Mexico Press Association Hall of Fame in 1973,[5] and Green was inducted in 1986.[6] Green died in 2006 at age 91, and the paper was then solely owned by his son Walt Green. [7] His widow Lajuana Green died two years later.[8] After 70 years of ownership by the Green family, El Rito Media acquired the Daily Press in 2023.[9][10]