Carthage newspaper sold to Florida businessman

CARTHAGE — Leake County’s weekly newspaper has been sold to an out-of-state buyer.

Street and Curb Publishing, a Tennessee-based corporation, led by Stephen Carvelli, purchased the newspaper last month, Waid Prather, editor and publisher of The Carthaginian, announced.

Carvelli is a real estate broker, builder, investor and entrepreneur, who lives in Florida.

Street and Curb also hosts a radio program about “commonsense conservative thinking,” called Street and Curb, which can be heard at 9:30 a.m. Sundays on WJDX.

He said plans call for Prather to continue the next few months as editor-publisher at the weekly paper, and no changes in staffing will be made..

The transaction last week ended more than 150 years of local ownership of the Carthage newspaper.

For much of that history the paper operated under the leadership of the Keith family, starting with M.M. (Big Mack) Keith, followed by George H. Keith and finally John H. Keith, who sold the paper in April, 2013 to Prather, long-time editor.

“It is my hope that in my dozen years as publisher,” Prather said, “that I upheld the Keith tradition of community service and coverage without fear or favoritism.

“It has been and for a while yet will continue to be an honor to serve what has become my home county and its newspaper, leading one of the last independent newspapers in Mississippi.”

However, Prather said, a change had to be made. “The newspaper industry has suffered terribly in recent years from new media competition and other factors.”