The Monitor Newspaper

The Monitor newspaper continues the legacy of local journalism begun with the area’s first newspaper the Lawndale Ledger in the 1880s and brought forward by the Mabank Banner, which chronicled events for 70 years, until it burned down. In 1986, businessman Paul Austin launched The Monitor. The Monitor was the first area newspaper to add full color to its front page and the first East Texas paper to put up a website. Today, The Monitor is published twice weekly and includes the free mid-weekly publication The Lake Area Leader.

It now has a circulation of 36,000 serving the entire Cedar Creek Lake area. The Lake Area Leader reaches homes in Caney City, Enchanted Oaks, Eustace, Kemp, Gun Barrel City, Log Cabin, Mabank, Malakoff, Seven Points, Tool, Trinidad and Payne Springs. Our devoted, award-winning staff works hard to bring local news and events to local mailboxes and newsstands every Thursday and Saturday. The Monitor is a recipient of many Texas Press Association and North and East Texas Press Association awards for excellence in photojournalism, news coverage, columns and features.