Colorado publisher 'bullish' after buying out-of-state-owned Denver-area newspapers in a pandemic

Throughout the past eight months of the pandemic, newspapers have been gushing red ink.

Money woes led to layoffs, reduced circulation and printing days, closures, and journalists having to take unpaid time off in the form of furloughs. This column has chronicled the changing contours of Colorado’s media landscape since the rumbles began in March.

The latest development, though, goes in a different direction. This week, Colorado Community Media, which operates nearly two dozen newspapers in the Denver suburbs, announced it bought a collection of Denver-area papers from a Kentucky-based company called Landmark Community Newspapers. That’s right, a newspaper purchase during the pandemic— and a publisher “bullish” about the future.

That’s a far cry from April, when the coronavirus crisis was shredding newspaper balance sheets and Landmark sent a letter to employees saying workers would need to take days off to save money. By late May, though, the company told workers they “won’t have more furlough days.” Also during the pandemic, Colorado Community Media accepted $256,000 in federal small business rescue loan relief through the Paycheck Protection Program at a time when “many advertisers” were postponing or canceling buys.

Read more: https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2020/11/06/colorado-community-media-landmark/