[3][4] The MK Citizen was founded by Bill Alder and Jerry West on 1 October[citation needed] 1981[5] and they sold to EMAP in 1987[citation needed] and the purchase was completed in April 1990.

EMAP sold the paper to Johnston Publishing in the 1990s.

[7] The Milton Keynes Citizen is distributed freely across the City of Milton Keynes unitary authority area on Thursdays.

There was formerly a more limited circulation Tuesday sister paper, Citizen First which was distributed on Tuesdays (this was formerly the Citizen on Sunday but changed when MK News launched on Wednesdays).

[citation needed] The paper's main print competitor was the MK News,[citation needed] part of LSN Media Ltd., which closed in October 2016.