The printing press serves as the gateway to information in a community. However, it's become an increasingly-rarer commodity in a digital world of news.
The news runs are essential for keeping communities informed, especially in small towns where it's the only medium available.
The Manhattan Mercury is one of few presses still in Kansas — and they now have two. But what goes in to running these intrepid engines?
Mammoths of machines, the Manhattan Mercury's printing presses consume the entire room, dwarfing the people they depend on. Just like any machine, they need nurturing, care and maintenance — and there's no such thing as press-and-play with these. They need attention, and a lot of it.
The press runs are for more than Manhattan's papers (the Mercury and the Kansas State Collegian). The Mercury prints 14 newspapers for the surrounding area, allowing those communities to stay informed and history alive with a recurring historical document. It's a mutual tradeoff — printing the other papers helps the Mercury fund its work.