It was 8:10 p.m. on Thursday in Cardiff, Wales, when I got the news.

Three local newspapers and our press ceased operations — effective immediately.

I was at the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors annual conference, preparing to speak on a panel about the future of journalism in the digital age, and to ultimately accept my fourth column-writing award from the organization in the last five years.

As excited as I was for what was in store for the Friday panel and Saturday award gala, the news gave me pause.

The fact the Branson Tri-Lakes and Crane Chronicle-Stone County Republican newspapers both shuttered is sad enough for the state of local journalism, and adding in the loss of the press we’ve relied on for the last three years since my wife, Jordan, and I bought the Democrat, well, that amplified the feeling.

Yet, what hit me hardest was the loss of a publication dear to all of our hearts — the Barry County Advertiser.

I started at the Cassville Democrat in January 2014, and the very first thing I learned about my new position is I had a more than worthy competitor. Just over three years removed from the death of his wife, Jean, Emory Melton sat at the helm of the free weekly mailed to 13,000-plus mailboxes each week. 

I met Emory in his office just a few weeks after my arrival. If I could describe the man at that time in one word — sharp. His editor at the time, Charlea Estes-Jones, was equally as such. I knew from the start I would have two people who would challenge me as a journalist in the best of ways, and Charlea, full disclosure and with her as the main interviewee in this week’s ode to the Advertiser in our top story, has become one of my best friends over the dozen years we’ve known each other.

There’s no counting the number of people over the years who have hinted to me, or said outright, that print is a dying industry. The fact that the Advertiser and the Democrat coincided for as long as we did can still be thrown in the face of every one of those people who hold that belief.

The loss of any local newspaper is sad, but the loss of the Advertiser should hit all of us exponentially. I, like all of you, will greatly miss having that publication in my mailbox weekly.

Having two publications printing weekly in Barry County made us better. At times we covered the same stories, as weeklies should, but more often, we covered different stories. That breadth of coverage, the chronicling of our history in real time, is something few communities have had for many years.

Less than a week out, we’ve yet to see the total impact, but having been in this business for nearly half my life, I can assure you it’s bigger than any of us can see at this point in time.

Since the news broke beyond my inbox, the reaction has met the moment. Multiple TV and print publications across the region have reported on the hows and whys of the Advertiser’s conclusion.

Those details are of interest to many, but not to me.

In this newfound absence is a newfound duty. The Monett Times, Crane County Chronicle, Branson Tri-Lakes, Barry County Advertiser — gone. 

The term “news desert” sits in the back of my mind. Day by day, month by month, there are new news deserts.

Barry County will not become one.

In the past week, many have called to subscribe to our publication, and while we are grateful for any new readers, we recognize it has come at a great cost. 

Also in the past week, we have had an equal number of calls asking if we still send a print edition — hopeful folks who want to hold a newspaper in their hands and who will read it from front to back.

We shall not, and never will,  take those folks for granted.

The closing of the Branson Tri-Lakes print shop has put us in a minuscule bind. I’m very proud to say that through our connections with other weekly publications across the Ozarks, the Cassville Democrat is not going anywhere.

Last week, we printed in Eldon, a three-hour drive we are more than willing to take, and we are thankful we have like-minded folks willing to help us not miss a single issue. That said, it’s not easy, nor will it be any time soon. We are exploring the best options to continue to deliver a product in which you, and we, can take pride. There are many behind-the-scenes processes we are working diligently to sort out, and while the future may not be easy, it is a future on which we are encouraged to deliver.

If there’s one takeaway from the last week, it’s resilience. I can’t say for certain, but I surmise Emory Melton would push any local news source to carry on, not only to record history, but to make good on community journalism’s promise to keep printing the faces, names and happenings of a county that deserves the best any one-handed newspaper hanger, flooded in work as I may be, can give.

We won’t let you — or Emory — down in that regard. Cheers to the success of a 60-year publication that met its end far too soon.

The future looms, but not in fear, in optimism.

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He is a three-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or [email protected].