By Lynda Wilkinson

This is not the kind of story I ever wanted to write. But the truth is unavoidable: The Morning Sun is in serious financial distress, and without swift, meaningful support from the community we serve, this newspaper may not survive.

The past two decades have been a challenge for newspapers across America, and The Morning Sun is no different. A family-owned newspaper that embraced this community since the late 1800s, The Morning Sun in recent years has gone through several corporate ownerships who stripped down local news and replaced it with Associated Press stories while slashing staff to remain solvent. It is a familiar pattern repeating itself all across the U.S.

In September 2021, 17 local families came together and bought The Morning Sun to save it from closing or being bundled in a sale with 13 other Gannett-run, small-market newspapers. Through this purchase, our hope and desire was the return of the local life stories to the readers. One of the important lessons we have learned in the past five years is that the traditional model for local newspapers is broken and is beyond repair. Collapsing advertising revenue, rising operational costs, and the relentless shift of information to unvetted national platforms, often filled with AI-generated content — have arrived at our own doorstep with full force. We have reached a point at which the future of this newspaper is no longer guaranteed.

Let’s be clear: if The Morning Sun disappears, it will not return. Communities that lose their newspapers rarely get them back. The consequences are immediate and lasting. We are one of two five-day-a-week print newspapers still surviving in the 13-county area of southeast Kansas. Think about this: When a community loses its newspaper, the community loses far more than a printed product. It loses oversight. It loses accountability. It loses a shared record of its own life. City commissions, councils and school boards operate with less scrutiny. Local elections draw fewer voters. Rumors replace reporting. National noise drowns out local voices. And a community that once saw itself reflected in its newspaper begins to lose its sense of identity.

We have cut to the bone. There is nothing left to cut. Our staff has already absorbed reductions that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. We have consolidated roles, trimmed expenses, and stretched every resource we have. The people who remain in this newsroom do the work because they believe in this community and in the mission of local journalism.

But belief alone cannot keep a newspaper alive. Our last lifeline is for the community to embrace and financially contribute to the Support The Local Journalism Project Fund at the Community Foundation of southeast Kansas. This collaboration between the Foundation, PSU and The Morning Sun is the only way forward to keep our local print news alive. What gives us hope is that similar collaborations across the United States are successful models that are holding up other newspapers.

This is the moment to decide whether our local newspaper matters enough to save. Over the years, this community has come together to support projects that matter — from the steps at Russ Hall and the Fox Theatre to Memorial Auditorium, the Recycling Center, the Humane Society, and the miniature golf course at Four Oaks. Given that history, it would be heartbreaking to conclude that we value all of those landmarks, yet not the local newspaper that has documented our community’s story for generations.

If you read us, rely on us, or simply believe Pittsburg deserves a source of independent local news, we are asking — urgently — for your support:

Write a check to the Support The Local Journalism Project c/o the Community Foundation of southeast Kansas 100 South Broadway, Pittsburg, Ks 66762. Or scan this code and go directly to the website and make a donation. This is a tax deductible donation and strictly goes to support the local reporters covering sports and news.

Every action counts. Every subscription matters. Every dollar helps keep reporters in the field and the lights on in this newsroom.

This Community Deserves a Newspaper — But Only You Can Decide Whether It Has One.

Pittsburg is a place that values its history, its institutions, and its sense of community. We have always believed that a strong local newspaper is part of that fabric. But we cannot continue without you.

If you want The Morning Sun to remain a voice for Pittsburg and the surrounding communities — to continue covering your schools, your government, your victories, your challenges, your stories — then now is the time to stand with us.

Not next month. Not someday. Now.