High Plains Daily Leader Buys The Southwest Times

Today, Seward County Publishing Co., the parent company of the High Plains Daily Leader, purchased the Southwest Times from Liberal Publishing Co. Both papers will be combined.

The owners of both organizations said the goal of having one newspaper in Liberal needed to be realized.

??I appreciate all that I have been able to learn while working with the Lancaster family and management, ? Daily Leader publisher Earl Watt said. ??This could not have been accomplished without their help and support. ?

Immediate changes would be that Times customers would be receiving a newspaper daily.

In addition, the new name of the combined publication will be the Leader&Times.

Other combined products will be the Shopper ??s Weekly and the Southwest Shopper. This products will be known as the High Plains Shopper ??s Weekly. Los Tiempos and El Lider will also be combined and will be called El Lider.

??The Times has been developing name recognition since the 1930s, ? Watt said. ??It was paramount that we keep that name for historic purposes. ?

There will be other slight differences as the papers are combined, and Watt asked for patience from the community during the transition. Subscribers to both publications will continue to receive their newspaper.

??We will do our best to make this a seamless transition and to try to keep the features that readers enjoy, ? Watt said. ??As always, we invite any of our customers to contact us with any concerns. ?

Watt said the transaction could not have occurred without the support of the local community.

??Several people helped make this happen, and we appreciate what they have done, ? he added.

The terms of the sale were undisclosed.