Joplin Globe publisher shuts down Mississippi newspaper

After publishing for slightly more than a century, the Laurel Leader-Call, Laurel, Miss., will publish its last edition tomorrow.

The Leader-Call is published by Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. (CNHI), the same company that publishes the Joplin Globe.

Readers did not get much advance notice; the story ran in Tuesday's edition. CNHI also provided no information on why the newspaper was going out of business, just six short paragraphs.

Publisher Mitchell D. Lynch advised the paper’s 18 employees of the decision Monday afternoon. He said subscribers who had paid for the paper in advance would be reimbursed.

“The paper has been privileged to serve the community for many years,” said Lynch.

The paper was founded Aug. 11, 1911, as the Laurel Daily Argus, and later changed its name to the Laurel Daily Leader, and then in 1930 to the Laurel Leader-Call. It was purchased by a subsidiary of Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., an Alabama-based media company, in 1999.

The Leader-Call had been a seven-day a week paper until six months ago when it reduced publication to four days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Lynch praised the “dedicated people” working at the paper, and thanked the community for its support over the years.