Staff report
  After more than 150 years in business, The Southern Reporter will cease publication at the end of September. The Sardis-based newspaper will put out a final edition on Sept. 26 and merge with The Panolian.

    “This was a difficult decision, we appreciate all of our loyal subscribers and advertisers during the last 15 years,” Reporter editor David Howell said about the decision. “It has been a real pleasure to record the happenings of north Panola County.”

    Howell said that in recent years it has become more and more obvious that one publication would better serve the county’s readers and advertisers. The move also comes as retail business in Sardis has declined and changes in the entire newspaper business that brought unique challenges for one of the smaller weekly newspapers in the state.

    Current Reporter subscribers will begin receiving The Panolian twice-weekly in October.

    “We will honor unexpired Southern Reporter subscriptions, giving them the same duration but with two editions of The Panolian each week,” said Panolian publisher John Howell. Customers who currently subscribe to both publications will receive an extension of their subscription to The Panolian equivalent to their unexpired subscription to The Southern Reporter, the publisher said. John Howell is the father of David Howell.

    Howell Publications, Inc. purchased the business from Cris Fletcher in 1998, a move that marked the end of three generations of Fletcher publishing dating back to 1930.

    David Howell will continue to publish the North Mississippi Herald in Water Valley.