MADISON, Neb. -- When catching up on some early morning reading in the Madison Star Mail, you wouldn't know that the newspaper is run by a one-woman-show from the area, who said that keeping local newspaper alive like this one, keeps local story telling alive. 

Alana Kellen has been the owner of her hometown's newspaper for over a year now after purchasing it back in March 2022, and then the actual building for $30,000 this past April. 

"I just knew that wanted to buy the paper, especially in my home town and stuff because I already knew a lot of people, I had a lot of connections here and stuff and I always liked seeing the newspaper growing up," Kellen said. 

Aside from being the owner, the 25-year-old is the sole worker of the establishment, from writing, editing, distribution, and more. 

Kellen sometimes receives help from her dad and grandpa when they can lend a helping hand. 

After graduating from the University of Nebraska-Kearney in 2020 in journalism, she moved to Washington state to pursue her love of photography. 

Not long after moving back home, she took a nerve racking $10,000 bet on herself. 

"It was super exciting and then all of a sudden, when it came down to it, I was really like 'is this the right decision for me and stuff, like this is actually going to be a lot of work, it's going to be a lot of my time, a lot of my money,'" Kellen said. 

The weekly paper varies in length each week, depending on content covered as it focuses on highlighting the community. 

"I get a lot of people that that are just super grateful that I took on the paper," Kellen said. "They're glad that there's someone young in the community, someone that actually cares."

After hearing about other smaller towns closing down their newspapers or rumors of the Madison Star mail getting consolidated, she knew seeking ownership was the best idea to keep local news just that...local. 

"It's hard to want to read a Madison paper, when it's combined with two, three, four other towns," Kellen said. 

Kellen electronically turns in the paper every Tuesday in order for prints to be delivered every Wednesday to her 331 subscribers 

Although there has been a drop in subscriptions, she's been able to stay level with the rise of her ad sales. 

"They're kind of giving me like a chance to redeem myself, like can she actually do it and stuff, so they saw like the progress I'm doing in the paper and they just wanted to kind of reward me I guess," said Kellen. 

Since assuming ownership, Kellen's added colored pages, remodeled the office building, and plans to make a digital space for the newspaper moving forward. 

She said that it's been a rewarding experience, as it supports the community, but wants people to remember to show local newspapers the same support.  

"These papers and stuff, like everyone who runs one, they want to support their community and stuff and so in return the community and its members and stuff just need to do its part and also support the newspapers, otherwise you're not going to have one," Kellen said. 

Despite the challenges running the business from angles alone has been, Kellen doesn't regret her decision. 

Over the counter papers can be bought for 75 cents, in-state subscriptions cost $30, and out-of-state subscriptions cost $32.