Missouri Press Association

The Missouri Press Association is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit founded on May 16, 1867, by editors and publishers in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was responsible for establishing the Missouri School of Journalism, the first school of journalism in the US, at the University of Missouri.

Mark Maassen has been their executive director since 2015. In an interview for KKFI radio in Kansas City, Maassen praised the Missouri Independent, which is an online-only news organization covering government, politics and policy. Their stories are often republished in local newspapers around the state. They have won multiple awards from the Missouri Press Association. He also noted that Missouri currently has 207 newspapers with at least one in each of Missouri's 114 counties. Other states have news deserts and ghost newspapers; Missouri does not.

The Missouri Press Association gives annual awards. The Columbia Missourian won 81 awards from them in 2023 and lesser numbers in previous years. The Missouri Press Association is a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Columbia, Missouri.