MISSOULA, Mont. – The presses shuttered to a halt Tuesday morning at Missoula’s weekly independent newspaper.
Derek Brouwer a staff reporter at the Missoula Independent confirmed to MTN News that he received a letter from the Missoulian at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, with a follow-up phone call 20 minutes later to not report to work.
The letter to Brouwer stated that the Missoula Independent was closed as of September 11th, 2018 and that staffers should not report to work. Brouwer told MTN News they are still employees of the paper until October 10th, saying they are trying to understand what “we can say about the situation.”
The Missoulian newspaper bought the Missoula Independent 17 months ago, with Independent staffers unionizing five months ago. An online effort “Save the Indy” was launched a few weeks ago to garner public support for keeping the weekly operating.
MTN News reached out to Missoulian General Manager Matt Gibson for comment about the shutdown but he has not yet responded.
We’ll have more information on this developing story as it becomes available.
Story by Melissa Rafferty, MTN News
