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The Missouri Times to expand distribution in mid-Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Today, The Missouri Times announced they will expand their circulation and begin print distribution in Columbia, Missouri.

Faughn
Faughn

“Expanding our distribution area to include Columbia was a goal of ours when we began the newspaper, and it’s exciting that our small business is growing to where we can justify expanding,” said The Missouri Times publisher Scott Faughn. “With our expanded distribution, we are adding a reporter and a portion of her time will be to help us better cover the University of Missouri at Columbia and its pivotal role in the state.”

Initially, there will be 10 distribution locations that the The Missouri Times will be available at in the Columbia area, with the first being Las Margaritas Mexican Restaurant on Southampton Drive in Columbia. Las Margaritas in Poplar Bluff was the first distribution location for the SEMO Times, a Faughn-owned newspaper in southeast Missouri.

“We are proud to have The Missouri Times available to pick up for our customers just as we were the SEMO Times in 2010,” said Francisco Esquivel owner of Las Margaritas.

Columbia area legislators are who are familiar with The Missouri Times were positive about the expansion.

“I think it’s great,” Sen. Kurt Schaefer (R-Columbia) said. “[The Missouri Times] covers the Capitol and politics on a level that no one else does. It’s a great asset to provide more public information about Missouri politics.”

“It’s great to see The Missouri Times moving into Columbia,” Rep. Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) said. “It’s always good to see more opportunities for mid-Missourians to stay more informed on the work being done on their behalf in Jefferson City.”

Faughn continued, “We are very interested in getting involved in the community. We are in the process of joining the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, and want to find a way to contribute to what is already a great community.”

Thus far, the community has been very welcoming to the expansion.

Trapp
Trapp

“Congratulations and welcome to Columbia,” said Columbia 2nd Ward Councilman Michael Trapp. “Columbia is a media-oriented town and niche publications’ ability to target specific populations vastly increases the value of the information presented.”

Columbia is the fifth largest city in Missouri, and will be a political hotbed in 2016 with Senator Schaefer the presumptive republican nominee for Attorney General, and one of the hottest state senate races in the state will be over who will replace him, in addition to potentially competitive state house races that could include a comeback attempt by Rep. John Wright.

“Not only are we looking forward to a better vantage point for the 2016 races we are also excited to write for a population of very savvy readers many of whose livelihood depends on directly or indirectly the state public policy process. The more engaged the readers are, the more we enjoy writing for them.”

Faughn continued, “The students and faculty at the University are a target readership for us as well as the many public advocacy groups based in Columbia such as Progress Missouri, MSTA, etc. It’s just a very natural market for us. In the next few weeks we will be announcing a Columbia area columnist and promotion campaign.”

The Missouri Times has been expanding through 2014, with increased subscriptions, web hits, and sister publications. This Week in Missouri politics, hosted by Faughn, premiered on KDNL ABC30 in St. Louis last week. The show is expected to be in all Missouri media markets in the second quarter of 2015.