Three years after launching a community weekly, “with nothing more than a computer and a dream of keeping local news alive”, Melanie Latamondeer has expanded with the purchase of a second title.
Media merger and acquisition firm Dirks, Van Essen & April has announced the sale by Main Street Media of the Glasgow Missourian to Latamondeer’s Salisbury-based J3 Marquee Ventures. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Both The Missourian and The Marquee will continue to operate as independent publications, serving Glasgow and Chariton County respectively.
“When I launched The Chariton Marquee in 2022, it was with nothing more than a computer and a dream of keeping local news alive.
“Now, just a few years later, I have the privilege of continuing The Glasgow Missourian, a publication that began in 1867. It’s a rare honour to carry forward both a startup built from scratch and a paper with more than a century of history – each with the same purpose: preserving our communities’ stories and fostering hometown pride for generations to come,” she said.
MSM publisher Frank Mercer said that “having seen Melanie’s devotion to local journalism through her startup of the Chariton Marquee, we knew the Glasgow Missourian would be in good hands.”
The October 2 edition will be the first under new ownership.
Main Street Media – for decades “the heartbeat of small-town news” – continues to operate 23 newspapers across Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
Pictured: Melanie Latamondeer (second left), with Frank Mercer, Mariska Bixenman, and Mike Heying (picture The Chariton Marquee)