Another historic Mississippi newspaper set to close. See the location of this one

One century-old weekly newspaper in Mississippi is set to close its doors by the end of July, shortly after two other newspapers confirmed to the Clarion Ledger their closures.

The Leland Progress in Washington County, owned by Stephanie Patton, will cease publication after its July 31 issue due to financial and time-management concerns.

Unlike the Jasper County News and the Smith County Reformer where Buckley Newspapers Inc. was forced to lay off 11 full-time employees, the Leland Progress does not have a full staff to terminate.

Patton, the Leland Progress owner for the past 13 years, does it all for the Leland Progress. She is the “editor, graphic designer, photographer, circulation manager, ad sales manager and maintenance personnel” for the newspaper. Patton said there are only a couple of columnists that contribute to the weekly newspaper.

“I've really been doing it as a volunteer job for like the last, probably, seven or eight years. But I was telling myself, as long as it broke even, then that was fine. And then, it started getting to where it wasn't breaking even, and I was having to put more money into it. I ended up taking a full-time paying job with a local hospital to kind of help subsidize the newspaper,” said Patton, who will continue working at the hospital after the newspaper closes.

This became a financial routine for Patton, until Patton's accountant asked her last year if she knew how much she was subsidizing the newspaper.

“I thought I had an idea, and then he showed me what it actually was," Patton said. "I was like, oh no. I did not have an idea that it was quite that much. So, I just decided it was time. I'm not going to have the opportunity to grow the circulation in my community, even though the community that I have, and that subscribes to it, really enjoys it. They are pretty disappointed that it's going to go away, and I am too. But it just doesn't have the financial support it needs to keep going."

Patton told the Clarion Ledger that the Leland Progress has seen a significant drop in circulation over the past decade, becoming what she believes is the “smallest circulation paper in Mississippi” in a town of at least 3,500 people.

As of Patton’s latest records, she said the newspaper has a total of 400 subscribers and newsstand buyers with 250 being print subscribers, 100 digital subscribers and about 50 newsstand sales each week.

The Leland Progress used to have between 750-800 subscribers and newsstand buyers approximately 13 years ago, Patton said.

“It's a population decline. People are moving away, more readership is passing away and the younger generation isn't as engaged in print as they used to be," Patton said. "It's more about digital. And even though I have a digital product, it doesn't always resonate with some of the younger folks. Also, unfortunately, the post office doesn't always deliver the newspaper in a timely fashion, and so a lot of readers get frustrated with that. Even though I would try to encourage them to take the digital edition, because that would definitely be delivered on time, some of them just don’t think that’s what a newspaper should be and just let their subscriptions go.”

The Leland Progress used to operate under a few different titles such as the Leland Record in 1888, the Leland Times in 1889 and the Leland Enterprise in 1897. The Leland Enterprise went out of print during World War II, and was revived in 1944, when W.R. Wilkins published the first issue of the Leland Progress.

Retired Mississippi journalist Mac Gordon, who was once the owner of the Leland Progress as well as a sports editor for the newspaper from 1978-90, told the Clarion Ledger that with the newspaper disappearing, the town may lose the identity of itself and the connection to its people.

“I covered every Leland High football game for almost 13 years and stuff like that will not happen anymore,” Gordon said. “It's a sad fact that small weekly newspapers in towns like that are disappearing across the county, not just in Mississippi.”

Gordon and Patton both acknowledged how in small town areas, the need for local publications seems to grow but the supply of those publications tend to dwindle overtime.

Patton, owner of the newspaper since 2011, said loss of the Leland Progress is not just about a community losing its newspaper but a community losing “its voice.”

“I think journalism is just evolving, and the digital world has certainly had a big impact on that,” Patton said. “That doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. It's just changing. The way people are getting their information is different these days, and we all have to realize that and embrace it.”