Montana’s oldest newspaper shifts gears

Town Crier “Briefs from the Region” (2) – 3/1/21

The state of Montana joined the U.S. in 1889, making it younger than Montana’s oldest newspaper. For 150 years, The Missoulian has been around in some form or another making it the state’s oldest continuous news source. Last week, the Missoulian announced that they are closing the doors of their historic newsroom building and printing press and—like many other small media companies across the country—are shifting gears in order to survive. According to a Feb. 26 article announcing the news, the 56,000 square foot brick building downtown was listed by Lee Enterprises for $8.58 million last August. If the sale goes through, publisher Jim Strauss says they hope to find a smaller office in a high-visibility location in Missoula. The closure of the printing press however, will move operations to Helena and affect 12 full-time employees.