Filing into a Springfield auditorium 15 minutes late, four children in tow, I was nervous and excited to hear Eric Meyer speak in person. His talk at the Hatch Auditorium was the highlight of the annual Ozark Press Association Convention that I attended last week.
With unabashed admiration for this modern-day champion of the free press, I followed the story of this small newspaper in Kansas since 2023. I even wrote a column for our Howell County paper about my observation that what happened in Marion, Kan. in 2023 could have happened anywhere.
It’s true what they say about meeting your heroes. My starry-eyed admiration fizzled pretty quickly as I heard Meyer’s disparaging comments about law enforcement officers in general.
To be fair, after what he’s been through, Meyer has every reason to view the profession of law enforcement with suspicion. In my wanton admiration, I had read everything I could find about the raid, but details in Wednesday’s talk were new to me.
Yet, I listened with a dismal familiarity as Meyer laid out the small-town grudges and secrets that led to the search that has prompted a multi-million-dollar lawsuit, a front page of the New York Times, an upcoming HBO documentary, and ultimately the death of his 98-year-old mother.
The cast of characters involved a police officer with a checkered past, a waitress with a love/hate relationship with the newspaper (and an open secret of a long-suspended driver’s license), and about a half a dozen small grudges over reporting, or mere inquiries, done by the Marion County Record.
The seizure of all the newsroom computers and phones in pursuit of a single public document, alleged to have been illegally obtained by the newspaper, is an extreme example of the intimidation I know every good journalist has faced. Despite overwhelming difficulties, and the tragic death of Meyers’ mother the day after the raid, the Record made it to press with an iconic headline: SEIZED BUT NOT SILENCED.
Representatives of two (2) Howell County school districts have contacted businesses that advertise in that paper asking them to pressure me to retract a story or “back off.” I’ve had a school board appoint a subcommittee of members to answer my questions because they had been advised “not to engage in a dialogue” with the press. There is one city in Howell County where I now refuse to send inexperienced female reporters. There have been threats of lawsuits, personal insults, public insinuations of varying gravity.
At the bottom of it all was solid, factual reporting exposing uncomfortable truths. It’s the cost of good journalism. Impartiality sometimes reveals unflattering truths.
In this respect, Howell County News is not alone. Every small-town newspaper tackling hard news with integrity gets similar levels of backlash. It’s my understanding the Record has faced similar pressure over the years.
Refusing to bow to pressure or threats over the years has come with an unexpected blessing. Today, Howell County is a great place to train a new generation of journalists. I am prouder of this than any award, recognition, or paycheck I’ve ever received.
Here in Lebanon, you will have noticed the fine work of a young reporter in recent editions, Jadzia Jaynes. It’s an incredible honor to be able to invest in the future of journalism here in Laclede County – as well as to relay on the considerable skills of two talented newspaper men who require no training and whose work has shaped the Record into what it is today – Steve Smith and Kirk Pearce.
Unlike my work in Howell County, I’m not the sole member of the newsroom here. It’s a new and weighty experience to lead a team and to serve as the newsroom’s shield between the inevitable pressure that will come our way if we do our jobs right.
But training good journalists is only part of the work. Communities must also stand behind newspapers when truthful reporting makes powerful people uncomfortable. By reading your local newspaper, you’re already fighting that battle. If you picked this up from a newsstand, subscribe if you can. Support the businesses that advertise in these pages and send a word of encouragement as our reporters ask the hard questions on your behalf. Good journalism has a cost, but it’s one we’re prepared to pay.
Amanda Mendez is the publisher and co-owner of the Laclede Record. She is the Missouri Press Association's 2025 Journalist of the Year and winner of the 2024 Golden Quill, awarded by the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors. In 2023, Mendez earned the Tilghman Cloud Memorial Editorial Award from Missouri Press Association. Mendez serves on the board of the Ozark Press Association and the Missouri Press-Bar Commission. Along with her husband, Ron Mendez, Mendez has owned and operated the Laclede Record since September 9, 2026. She is an enthusiast of all things Ozarks and old-fashioned.
