Marion County newspaper returns to local ownership, historic name April 1

Editor Robert Lyons, Jr. and Office Manager Peggy Mason have purchased The Mountaineer Echo in Flippin from CherryRoad Media, Inc., effective April 1. The announcement of the sale comes with news of a name change and the move of the offices to Yellville.

The Mountaineer Echo dates from the October 2001 purchase of The Mountain Echo, then owned by Rupert and Sandra Phillips of Yellville, by Dale and Jane Estes, owners of The Mountaineer in Flippin. The Esteses merged the two newspapers into a single edition under the new name and published out of Flippin, as the offices in Yellville were not included in that sale. CherryRoad Media purchased the newspaper from the Esteses in June 2021.

The Mountain Echo was founded in 1886, and is one of Marion County’s oldest continuously operated businesses. Lyons and Mason plan to revert to the newspaper’s original name and location.

“In addition to changing the name back to The Mountain Echo, the location of the paper will be moved back to the original The Mountain Echo building in Yellville, just off the square,” said Lyons in the announcement.

“Moving back to Yellville will not change coverage of any city in Marion County or events. This location is both historic and central, and will allow for better coverage of Flippin, Bull Shoals, Rea Valley, Summit, Bruno, Pyatt, Peel and outlying areas of the county and surrounding areas.”

“Thank you to Robert Lyons and Peggy Mason for stepping up to acquire The Mountaineer Echo. The newspaper industry needs people in the community to take on the risk of running their local newspaper,” said Jeremy Gulban, CEO, CherryRoad Media in the announcement. “We will be here to help Robert and Peggy succeed and I hope the community in Marion County will support them with subscriptions and advertising.”