Why is supporting local news so important?

A lot of the time you see me promoting our publication. But this month I’m gonna share a little information about some other neighboring publications (print or online). We at The Mountain-Ear want to make sure you’re supporting each neighbor and all the businesses you can in the entire region.

These are a few that we support by advertising and/or subscribing. This is part of my own theory of collaboration. If we all collaborate, we are stronger. As a publication, but even more, as a community.

We’ve been advertising with the Allenspark Wind for a couple of years and advertising in the Mountain Messenger for about a year. We have advertised a few times in the Highlander Monthly. And we advertise every time in the Mountain Pages. We collaborate with Ned To Go on sharing stories of our local restaurants and venues.

Check out each of the businesses throughout our editions in November and December (in print and online). And think about how you can support more of your neighbors.

Here are my questions for local publication the Highlander Monthly. I hope you enjoy learning more about them and how you can support this Coal Creek business.

How long have you been publishing the Highlander? For 22 years - never missing a month in all these years.

Can you estimate your readership? Before going digital only we printed 3,000 copies monthly, 2K+ put into bulk mail for delivery to homes, 1K distributed to over 60 businesses (before Covid) and about 40 during Covid - so more copies mailed. As of this month more than 1500 readers have requested a Free Subscription be emailed to them and our website is seeing a lot more traffic.

How many staff do you have? I’m doing it all: with the help of many contributing writers, photographers, journalists and poets.

How has it changed since Covid? Since Covid, many businesses where we distributed copies were closed or only open for take-out, so we put more copies into bulk mail out of the Golden Post Office and Black Hawk Post office to rural routes in Coal Creek and Golden Gate Canyons. Businesses where we left copies were in Golden, Central City, Nederland, Peak to Peak Highway, Boulder, Arvada, Lyons and Westminster.

How has it changed with rising print costs (obviously you went digital)? Our regular printer closed in January so we switched to a printer in Gypsum. Once their 180 day quote was up - they doubled the price and removed delivery to Golden. There was no way to cover expenses. Even though raising advertising rates was considered, it wouldn’t have paid for the costs and would have hurt many loyal and long-time advertisers.

What do you love about what you do? I got a degree from CU Boulder in Environmental Conservation but once Reagan was elected President my major in photovoltaics wasn’t job worthy so with the Highlander I get to educate and inform readers while hopefully entertaining them by disseminating information about my Environmental passions which include wildlife, animal companions and ecology with sprinkles of technology, health, science, sports, current issues and since 2003 fighting Denver Water regarding the destructive expansion of Gross Dam. Really no issue is off limits, even politics occasionally but never religion. Dedication to positive news for a change is and has always been our motto. Most media is full of negatives and I try to give my readers an action step they can take if I cover any negative issues.

How do you see the future of your publication, now that you are digital only? I was worried once I decided it was my only option but I found a company that makes it into a real magazine and it has been amazingly accepted by my loyal readers. Many have subscribed to the free issue by requesting the link via an email or going to the Website and clicking on the Safe Link there. Only time will tell, but I intend to continue as long as my advertisers support my efforts and my readers show by stats that they are reading the magazine and the company that makes it a real magazine keeps track and promotes the Highlander too.

When people advertise with you, they are supporting a locally owned business. Why is that important to our local community and how does the money roll back into Coal Creek (and beyond)? It has always been my mission to support local businesses, which is why raising advertising rates wasn’t a real option because many local small business owners have limited budgets for promoting their efforts, services and products. As a long-time mountain resident I know how much we must support our local entrepreneurs and establishments or they disappear. We all must go somewhere for goods and services and if we can utilize local as much as possible then it keeps all our money local too.

To find out more about the Highlander Monthly, check out their website at http:// highlandermo.com/