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Two newspapers to become the new Wright County Journal in June

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In order to continue providing quality Wright County coverage to readers and advertisers of both the Mountain Grove News-Journal and Mansfield Mirror for now and many more years to come, a decision has been made to officially merge the two newspapers into one publication.

Wright County Publishing has set June 3 as the first issue date for a merged publication to be called the Wright County Journal.

The June 3 Wright County Journal will be delivered to existing Mountain Grove News-Journal and Mansfield Mirror subscribers and be for sale at current single copy locations.

More details regarding subscription and advertising rates will be published in the upcoming May 20 and May 27 issues.

“The decision to merge two tradition-rich newspapers into one publication was not an easy one to make,” said Publisher Ron Schott. “There’s a lot of history with both newspapers. I had several discussions within the company, and personally, I lifted up a few prayers. Both resulted in a clear path to this decision, in large part due to the economic impact of COVID-19 felt by our company and felt by advertisers countywide and in the regional area. We now have a much smaller staff taking on more responsibilities while remaining focused on the main goal: providing a high quality product week in and

week out for readers and advertisers.”

Back on March 25, a decision was made to temporarily merge both newspapers together as a COVID-19 cost-cutting move. Schott said that decision has led to several readers calling him and telling him just how much they like being able to read about news from all over the county.

“I have enjoyed the many phone conversations I’ve had with readers over the past month, who on their own, brought up to me just how much they have enjoyed the opportunity to read stories on issues from all over Wright County,” Schott said.

“Many readers have family living in other Wright County towns. Some residents grew up in one town, but have lived in another Wright County location for perhaps just as long. Now they can keep up with things going on in both towns with one single subscription. The new Wright County Journal will also help advertisers market their message to a much larger readership base than they had in the past when they advertised in just the Mountain Grove News-Journal or just the Mansfield Mirror. Now their ad will get better reach throughout the county and nearby areas.”

Web programmers are currently building a website for the Wright County Journal. It will be a more user friendly website than what the previous two newspapers used in the past. An existing Facebook page will be updated as the new Wright County Journal page.

With questions, contact Publisher Ron Schott at 417-926-5148 or email ron@ozarkmedia.com.