MARION, Kan. (KWCH) - Four days after losing computers and cell phones to a police raid, journalists at the Marion County Record on Tuesday returned to work. Owner and editor Eric Meyer said the plan is to have a paper come Wednesday morning. The newspaper returned to business Tuesday despite all the challenges over the past few days including not only Friday’s raid, but the death of Meyer’s mother, Joann Meyer, Marion County Record co-owner.
Law enforcement also raided Meyer’s home and that of a Marion City Council member, looking into a claim that the newspaper illegally obtained and used personal information about a local business owner. Meyer and the Marion County Record’s attorney have condemned the raid as illegal. The KBI said once its investigation is complete, it will forward all facts to prosecutors for review.
Meanwhile, it’s back to business at the newspaper.
“They’ve been working hard for the last four days to get this paper out,” said Kansas Press Association Executive Director Emily Bradbury.
Less than a week after Marion police took their cellphones, computers and files, the Record staff recreated their newspaper from scratch. The publication’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes, said the staff plans to meet its goal to print, no matter what.
“It’s terribly impacted them, you know. We’re back to the days of putting it together by hand, but it’ll get done, I assure you,” Rhodes said.
Despite everything going on, Rhodes said publishing the news is more important now...
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