A long time coming

The adventure of starting this newspaper began for me a little over two years ago. Watching what has happened to print news coverage in Jackson over the past several years has been hard to say the least. My father and I had discussed several possibilities for getting a new publication off the ground. We knew that as publishers in our position, we had an obligation to do something about it.

We had what we thought was a pretty good plan put together in early 2021 to spend the summer getting things in place and launching in early fall, just in time to give Madison County high school football the coverage the players, coaches, parents, and fans deserve. Not to mention all the buzz that begins in fall going into the holiday season.

Then something happened that none of us expected. Dad died suddenly on July 26 of last year and everything got put on hold - everything.
A little over a year later, we did end up starting that newspaper in Jackson with The Jackson Post’s launch in November 2022.
Shortly after the successful launch of The Jackson Post, I began looking for a home for our next publication. It wasn’t long before Martin made it’s way to the top of the list.

Due to the tornado leveling our Dresden office in late 2021, we were already operating out of an office in Martin and I was in the area regularly.
Our roots run deep in Martin. My parents met at UTM, Dad graduated from UTM and, some 30 years later, so did I. Dad spent time covering Martin news at the Weakley County Press early in his career, working with Lynette Wagster, who continued to work with the Press until this year. I grew up hearing stories about his time in Martin. My wife, Lena and I married in 2011 and lived in a house in South Fulton where she worked full-time at The Fulton Leader while I drove to Martin every day to finish my business degree at UTM. Until we moved to Camden to be closer to both of our families in 2015, Martin is where we went to eat, took our kids to play, and often went to church, and we always loved the time we spent there.

For a brief moment last summer, I thought we might have the opportunity to make a bid for the Weakley Co. Press when the Critchlowes decided to sell, but that wasn’t meant to be.

So here we are with The Martin Post, Tennessee’s newest newspaper in a town celebrating its 150th anniversary. I hope that you’ll enjoy the news and information you find in these pages, and I hope you subscribe and read us every week. Subscriptions are what keeps journalism alive. Conducting effective journalism is a labor-intensive and expensive operation, and we need your support.
We encourage you to follow us on social media and visit our website often - www.martinpost.news.
Enjoy!

Write to Daniel at
daniel@magicvalleypublishing.com