Weekly Cass County Democrat-Missourian newspaper to cease publication in June
After delivering news to its region for roughly 140 years, The Cass County Democrat-Missourian will cease publication of its weekly newspaper following a final edition on June 25.
Based in Harrisonville, the weekly newspaper has changed hands and operated under different titles over years of consolidations. But it is considered one of the oldest businesses in the county.
Established as The Cass County Democrat in 1881, the newspaper was born only one year after The Star. It was acquired in 1954 by J.W. Sexton, an editor and printing press owner who ran a competing paper called The Missourian, before beginning operations under its current name.
The weekly newspaper was later purchased by Knight Ridder, The Star’s former owner, before being bought by The McClatchy Company, the parent company of The Kansas City Star, in 2006.
Over its lifespan, The Democrat-Missourian has long focused the attention of its pages on day-to-day life within the county of roughly 100,000 people. Recent headlines have included stories about program offerings at area libraries and a major road-improvement project in Belton.
The weekly has also received accolades for its work over the years.
In 2008, the weekly won first place in a Missouri Press Association competition against newspapers of a similar size and style for the best news or feature series of the year. It has also been recognized for breaking news, coverage of local government, investigations and feature photography among other categories.
The end of the longstanding weekly comes as many newspapers have shuttered across the U.S. in recent years amid declining advertising revenues and an audience shift away from printed media. Recent studies by the Pew Research Center found that newspaper circulation dropped in 2018 to its lowest level since 1940; another study found that newsroom employment for newspapers fell by roughly 50% between 2008 and 2019.
In addition to The Star, McClatchy owns nearly 30 dailies, including The Sacramento Bee, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Miami Herald.
