Leader Publications, Jefferson County’s only weekly newspaper company, was founded in 1994 in Festus, Mo. It publishes four community newspapers with a combined circulation of more than 75,000. The West Side Leader began as a monthly on May 30, 2013, quickly grew in popularity and readership and became the company’s third weekly newspaper on May 14, 2014. It covers the western Jefferson County communities of Fenton, High Ridge, House Springs, Cedar Hill, Byrnes Mill and Dittmer. The company always has emphasized strong local news content, running a 40 percent “news hole,” an unusually high percentage for free newspapers.