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 Mountain Messenger. I hope you enjoy learning more about them and how you can support this Coal Creek business.

How long have you been publishing the Coal Creek Canyon Mountain Messenger?

Canyon old-timers know me because I grew up in the canyon. My mother Tolene, and father, George, founded the Mountain Messenger in 1982. My mom died

in 1993 and my dad took it over so that the publication stayed in the family. I took it over when my father retired in 2005.

How far does it get mailed or delivered each month?

The Mountain Messenger is mailed to everyone in the Coal Creek Canyon area with zip code 80403. The subdivisions include Blue Mountain, Burke, Wondervu, Nadm, Chute, Lyttle Dowdle, Camp Eden, Coal Creek Heights, Stanton, Crescent Park, Copperdale, Miramonte, Vonnie Claire and Hilltop.

Can you estimate your readership (print and online)?

I haven’t sent out a survey but approximately 1700 are mailed to the Coal Creek rural routes monthly and I don’t track the online viewers. But if 2.5 readers took a few minutes to thumb through our publication that would be about 4200 monthly readers from print.

How many staff do you have?

In the beginning years, every month about 10 volunteers came and helped for several days with the collating, stapling, etc. all of which was done by hand. Now, it is just me (sometimes I have assistance from my immediate family) who prints and staples it each month.

How has it changed since Covid?

Fewer advertisers and rising costs. Everything has raised in price, paper, supplies, toner, postage - can I say EVERYTHING again.

How has it changed with rising print costs?

Simply, it’s a hardship. Every month it’s a question if expenses will be covered.

What do you love about what you do?

I love and cherish the positive feedback, the thank you’s, the photos of an event we advertised and the encouragement to continue. I also love to produce a physical product (even though tears may be shed if the press breaks down) that a reader may take a few minutes to browse through.

How do you see the future of your publication? And overall, of print publications?

That is a tough question. When social media became popular, I doubted and questioned if print would continue, but it has. I personally hope print will last. I am definitely “old-school”, and I think there are readers out there who prefer to sit down with their hard copy of a publication and flip through those pages versus scrolling or clicking a button. However, with that being said, we send out a pdf to monthly subscribers. We also offer a link to view the current issue online at our website cccmountainmessenger.com.

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)?

So many of our advertisers have been long time supporters/advertisers of the Mountain Messenger. Without them there wouldn’t be a publication. They live and work in or near the Canyon. They rely on the community to shop local, go to the local events and rely on repeat business. I had an advertiser share with me that it was their local repeat customers from the Mountain Messenger that helped them make it through Covid. Supporting locally owned business is

supporting neighbors not only in the canyon but flatlanders as well. It is important to keep those small businesses going and hopefully it they will continue with the next generation.

To find out more about the Mountain Messenger, check out their website at https://cccmountainmessenger.com/ You can also reach them by phone at 303- 642-0067or by email at mtnmessenger@comcast.net