About 25 years ago, coming up on the first anniversary of my decision to step away from my newspaper career to focus on raising my young family, I had a conversation with former colleague Patrick Martin.
He was partnering with Glenda O’Tool and Pam LaPlant to start a new weekly newspaper in Jefferson County. It would be called the Leader, he said. Did I want to jump aboard?
Well, yeah. And so began one of the most rewarding adventures of my life.
In the weeks before the Leader’s Aug. 25, 1994, kick-off issue I spent many hours gathering information about the second-degree murder conviction of former Festus Police Chief Bill Pagano in the March 26, 1990, shooting death of Tim Todd.
We figured we would run a piece, maybe a series, about the infamous case a few weeks after the paper launched. Not our first issue, though.
But as we neared deadline on Aug. 23, we learned that Pagano’s appeal had failed, and when law enforcement went to his house to take him away to jail, he retrieved a handgun and ended his life.
Tear up Page 1, start over. I pulled out my notes from the research I had already done and wrote the tragic tale.
It was a clue that the Leader, where I would first work part time and then full time, was going to be a job like no other.
From that first issue, we gave the paper our hearts. Three charter employees still report to work every day, and a fourth – Martin himself – helps out from the bleacher seats of retirement.
Over a quarter-century, we have kept our pledge to provide our direct-mail newspaper for free to our readers, covering our costs through advertising sales.
The model has worked well for our advertisers, who signed on to our project with growing confidence, and for our readers, who have told us over and over through the years how much they like “that little paper.”
Local businesses remain loyal to us, believing, as we do, that the Leader is the most effective way they can inform Jefferson County residents about the goods and services available here.
However, with growing competition from online shopping, businesses are being forced to watch the bottom line, and sometimes that leads to less money for advertising.
Can Leader readers help?
Yes, in several ways. First, please make sure you have an up-to-date three-year subscription to the paper. The United States Postal Service charges a little less for delivery if you are a “requester.”
Second, you can contribute news and opinions toward our content, support our advertisers and let businesses know when you are responding to an ad you saw in the Leader.
And third, you can participate in our Support Local Journalism campaign.
Page 13 has information on how you can become a Leader supporter and help cover costs to produce, print and mail our 70,000 newspapers across four editions.
Since that first issue in 1994, the Leader has told thousands of stories, striving to provide readers not only with what they need to know, but also with information they want to know.
We are immensely proud of our achievement toward those goals, and in 2018, the Leader won the Missouri Press Association’s Gold Cup as the best large weekly newspaper in the state.
Sometimes, readers disagree with editors’ columns or editorials. Dissent is welcome, and gets published. (I have some lumps on my own head to prove it.) Our Editorial section is for ALL views.
The Leader is a proudly nonpartisan newspaper, with stubbornly independent editors, and our editorial views and endorsements reflect those values.
Not long ago, the Leader was invited by the state press association to declare allegiance to one political party or the other, with advice that doing so could help business. We declined. That’s not who we are, and it never will be.
Our news stories are written by “observer” reporters, without bias. We edit commentary from readers for truth, clarity, length and space, but not on the basis of political persuasion.
When elections come around, we provide voters guides, on our own dime, for all candidates to share their views, and we report on ballot measures, providing space for comments for and against.
We sponsor or co-sponsor 10 community events a year, several of which raise money for charity, and our employees donate their time to staff the events. The list includes five senior expos, a wedding fair, a pet expo, a holiday shopping spree, the De Soto Home Show and the Leader Holiday Dinner.
The newspaper has already received some unsolicited contributions from readers, in advance of our campaign, and, with his permission, I quote from one contributor here:
“I’ve been thinking of this for some time and it’s time to take action,” wrote Imperial reader Stephen Golden. “I really appreciate your fine Leader Publications. You should be deriving a great deal of satisfaction for the fine work done.
“Keep up the good work. Fight the good fight. Always remember there’s a deadline around the corner and coming fast.”
Golden’s words were so appreciated. His check was, too.
If you want to follow Golden’s example and contribute financially, we thank you.
Please note, however, readers are not required to participate, and the newspaper will keep coming to your mailbox – for free – regardless.
After all, it’s your eyeballs we want, most of all.
And if they made it from the headline of this column all the way down to this sentence, we thank you from the bottom of our ink-stained hearts.
If you have any questions about our Support Local Journalism campaign, please contact us: 636-931-7560 or nvrweakly@aol.com.
