Linda Geist, senior strategic communications consultant for MU Extension’s Ag and Environment Extension program, was inducted into the Missouri Newspaper Hall of Fame in late September for her service to the industry and her community.
Each year, the Missouri Press Association (MPA) recognizes Newspaper Hall of Fame inductees. To be considered for induction, a person must have made exemplary contributions to the newspaper industry over a number of years, lived honorably, influenced unselfishly, thought soundly and displayed community involvement. MPA founded the Hall of Fame in 1991; past inductees include Joseph Pulitzer, Walter Williams and Samuel Clemens.
Geist’s lifelong interest in community journalism started in third grade when she began reading the St. Louis Post-Dispatch daily; in sixth grade she and her classmates published a handwritten school newspaper that she read out loud to the other classes as the school didn’t have a mimeograph. At just 16 years old, she was hired for 12 hours a week at her hometown newspaper, The Monroe City News, where she earned $1 an hour. As a teenager Geist produced her first special edition of the News, and as a student journalist she was editor of her high school newspaper, The Panther Growl.
At the Mizzou School of Journalism, Geist not only excelled in her classes and worked for the Columbia Missourian and the Columbia Daily Tribune, but she also did it all as a single mother – her son was born during her junior year of college. Upon graduating in 1977 with her bachelor’s of journalism, she received the Cowgill Blair Award for most potential in newspaper publishing in addition to her diploma.
“Through the next 20-plus years, she worked for me on and off,” wrote Michael Sell in Geist’s nomination letter. Sell, late News publisher and fellow Mizzou journalism school graduate, served as a mentor for Geist throughout her career. “Her hard-hitting investigative stories and to-the-point editorials helped make the Monroe City News a respected and desired publication for the readers in northeast Missouri.”
After Sell sold the News, Geist ultimately took over as publisher, but was fired after voicing her stance to the new owners on quality news over advertising sales. Undeterred, she founded The Lake Gazette in 1997 in competition with the News. Under her leadership, the publication grew into one of the largest circulation weeklies in northeast Missouri. Nominators described her work – and, ultimately, success – with the Lake Gazette as being both “cheerleader” and “watchdog” for the community. The News folded after three years under the new ownership.
In 2006, a tornado destroyed the Gazette’s building and much of the town. Geist switched operations to her sister’s beauty shop, putting out two special editions in the first two weeks after the disaster, plus the regular paper. She “rebuilt the paper from scratch,” nominators recalled.
In 2007, the Gazette helped celebrate Monroe City’s sesquicentennial by publishing two history books and a cookbook of readers’ recipes. Celebratory anniversary events kicked off with an open house at the newspaper’s new permanent building.
“I think the newspaper is the first author of the town’s history,” Geist said in a video celebrating her Hall of Fame induction (watch on Youtube).
Following the sale of the Gazette in 2012, Geist joined MU Extension, where she works alongside agricultural experts, bringing accessible information to the public to help expand the reach of MU Extension’s resources and research. Geist plans to retire in early 2027.
“The educational aspect was just really exciting for me because every day I would go to work and I would learn new things,” she said of the new role. “I would learn about agriculture and I would learn about the environment, but I also kept abreast of new technology. And that’s been invaluable to me in staying interested in the business and staying interested in life in general.”
Geist is also helping her daughter Sarah restart The Monroe City News, continuing her legacy into the next generation.
Over the years, Geist has attended Missouri Press Association meetings across the state, and recalls reading its magazine as a high school student in the News office – and learning about the Hall of Fame.
“I would read it and wonder, ‘who are these people?’,” Geist said. “That’s the greatest honor a journalist in Missouri can receive. I’m humbled and I’m honored by it.”
The 36th class of honorees was inducted during Missouri Press Association’s 160th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Columbia. Inductees’ plaques will join the permanent display of inductees in the MPA office in Columbia and in the student lounge in Lee Hills Hall at the Missouri School of Journalism.
