About

Founded in 1886, The Leader (formerly The Covington Leader) is Tipton County's oldest business. For 130 years, The Leader has never missed putting out an edition.

The paper has a storied history, starting with L.D. Hamner exiting the train in Mason in the early 1880s with a shirtful of type, its early days on East Liberty Avenue in downtown Covington, the decades the paper was published on Hwy. 51 South under the guidance of George Whitley. The Leader moved back downtown, on South Munford Street, in December 2015.

In April 2019, Magic Valley Publishing acquired The Leader as well as several other papers in West Tennessee. Matthew Richardson became the publisher in May 2019 and Scott Whaley became the publisher in May 2020.