The Anaconda Leader shuts down after run of 55 years

[mahatmakanejeeves]

News
The Anaconda Leader shuts down after run of 55 years

The newspaper’s owner cited inflation and rising operational costs as the reason for closing the only print publication in the southwestern Montana town.

by Zeke Lloyd
06.08.2026


A "Permanently Closed" sign hangs in the window of the Anaconda Leader's office at 121 Main St., as the Leader announced on Monday morning, June 8, 2026, that is has closed for business. Credit: James S. Rosien / the Anaconda Leader

The Anaconda Leader, a twice-weekly newspaper that had served its community in southwest Montana for more than half a century, announced Monday that it had closed. Its demise follows a nationwide trend of local outlets struggling to stay in business.

The newspaper published its last print edition Friday, according to editor James Rosien. In a story posted Monday on its website, owner Van Neitz cited inflation and rising operational costs as the reasons for the closure. Montana Free Press could not reach Neitz for comment.

Founded in 1970, The Leader, which included a commercial printing business in addition to the newspaper, employed about half a dozen people, two of whom were journalists, according to Rosien. Most employees were part-time.

Rosien said the news of the closure came as a surprise. ... “I was actually looking forward to writing up a piece on Sunday night’s A’s [American Legion baseball] game, when they had a big win over East Helena,” Rosien said. It was those stories, “the little ones,” that Rosien said provided the backbone of the paper’s coverage.

“It’s local sports. It’s students’ achievements,” Rosien said. “Gosh, I was just photographing the graduation on Friday. We were going to have a lot of coverage from that.”

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[MontanaMama]

1. This makes me sad.

Most newspapers in MT are owns by Lee Enterprises and are almost unreadable. The Leader is a wonderful little paper.