The rise of online media has been devastating for community newspapers — print publications that often serve as the only homegrown information source in small towns across the country, including many in Colorado. By one recent estimate, over 1,800 newspapers have closed across the United States since 2004, including about 1,700 weeklies.
The 24 newspapers and two advertising-based shoppers in the Colorado Community Media chain could have easily wound up suffering the same fate. For co-owners Jerry and Ann Healey, keeping the operation going has been a work-intensive labor of love for nearly a decade, but they've reached a stage in their lives when they want more free time. The odds of finding a buyer for CCM seemed small, and without one, operations such as the