The Mercury Manhattan KS

The Manhattan Mercury is the daily newspaper in Manhattan, Kansas. Together with its website, www.themercury.com, it covers news and distributes information and advertising in the Manhattan area, including Riley, Pottawatomie, Geary, Wabaunsee, Marshall, Clay and Washington counties in northeast Kansas.

The Mercury has a long and distinguished history. It has operated as a daily newspaper since 1909. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1884. Its roots, through acquisition and merger, go back to the first newspaper in Manhattan’s history, the Western Kansas Express. That weekly paper was founded in 1859, just four years after settlers got together to create Manhattan.

Over the years, The Mercury has won hundreds of awards for quality from the Kansas Press Association, the Inland Press Association, and the National Newspaper Association. Those awards have been for writing and editing excellence; photography and design; public service; and for service to advertisers.

The Mercury is politically independent. For most of its existence, the newspaper has been owned and managed by the Seaton family of Manhattan. Fay N. Seaton, formerly a top assistant to a U.S. Senator from Kansas, bought the newspaper in 1915. His son, R.M. Seaton, was the chairman for many years. Fay’s grandson, Edward L. Seaton, is the company chairman; his great-grandson, Edward (Ned) M. Seaton, is the current publisher and editor-in-chief. Edward L. Seaton and R.M. Seaton are members of the Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame.