A 138-year-old Colorado newspaper asked readers if it was worth saving. They resoundingly said yes.

Nearly five months ago, Kent Brooks figured the days of the 138-year-old Plainsman Herald, the weekly newspaper serving the Springfield area in far southeast Baca County, were drawing to a close. 

In a July 16 note to readers, he announced that the paper would cease print publication at the end of the year, owing to declining advertising that tipped the financial scales into unsustainable territory. He left the door open, just a crack, to reconsider if something changed, though that didn’t seem likely.

And yet, something did change. 

After surveying readers through both social media and the Plainsman Herald itself, Brooks discovered that almost everyone who responded was willing to pay more to continue receiving the paper. He was so encouraged by the results that he recently decided to continue fighting to sustain local news.

Through a combination of a subscription price increase and finding new production efficiencies, he now says he’ll continue to publish the Plainsman Herald through at least 2025 as he gauges how well readers’ overwhelming commitment through the survey matches actual response. About 95% of respondents said they’d pay more, even double, to ensure the paper’s sustainability.

Brooks is taking them at their word.

“On a survey, it’s easy to answer my question,” he said. “Talk is cheap, right? But you know, I guess I believed them enough to go ahead and keep going for a while.” 

Brooks’ finding has been reflected in previous studies: Readers are willing to pay more — quite a bit more — to preserve their local newspaper. But the newspaper needs to ask. And especially in rural areas, publishers used to bootstrapping their ventures proved reluctant to do that.

As a result, they were charging subscribers just a fraction of what it actually cost to produce the print product.

“Maybe that’s our mistake, right?” Brooks said. “Maybe I had that attitude: No one will pay that. But I think I was wrong. I think they will.” 

Brooks, who bought the Plainsman Herald about five years ago and staved off its demise, has learned a lot as he managed the paper remotely, while working as IT manager for Casper College in Wyoming. His Baca County roots span generations, and he has written several books on the area’s Dust Bowl history and beyond.

He felt that the paper was worth saving, an investment in the community if not a hugely successful financial investment. Aiming to break even, he actually claimed a modest profit for a brief stretch. But as advertisers fell away, he began to suspect that perhaps his venture might have run its course. 

Brooks’ July announcement initially seemed like the first domino to fall in a succession of closures on the Eastern Plains — a continuation of trends across Colorado. In a matter of days, five weekly papers announced that they would stop printing — including the Burlington Record, Lamar Ledger, Fort Morgan Times and Brush News-Tribune.

But Tom Bredehoft, the owner of the Flagler News, stepped in to resurrect the Burlington paper without missing an edition.

Brooks figures that better tools for circulation management and advances in technology for the Plainsman Herald’s online edition should help him trim costs, while he continues to work closely with a printer in Liberal, Kansas, to keep printing expenses manageable.

I guess that’s the luxury of private ownership. I can flip-flop and do whatever I want if I’m willing to take the risk. So I guess I am.

— Kent Brooks, owner of the Plainsman Herald, on his decision to continue to publish

The survey also revealed an interest by locals in sponsoring various features in the paper, helping to offset some of the advertising losses. So Brooks was more than happy to reverse course and keep the Plainsman Herald flying off the press.

“I guess that’s the luxury of private ownership,” he said. “I can flip-flop and do whatever I want if I’m willing to take the risk. So I guess I am.”

First up: The annual subscription rate jumps to $100 from $50, testing the results of the recent survey. It also marks a “simplification” by eliminating previous discounts for seniors and others. Brooks also wants to absorb some up-front cost of printing “sample issues” to try to reach people in both Baca County and even parts of Las Animas County who currently don’t have subscriptions but represent a potential market.

One of the challenges he’s still facing is how to provide coverage of the nuts and bolts of local government — meetings of the Town Council, school board and county commissioners. His daughter, Lexi Brooks, learned journalism on the job as she covered those public meetings, but she’s returning to college to finish her degree. His son, Colin, worked remotely for the paper helping out with behind the scenes technical work, but he’s now an apprentice electrician and works fulltime hours. 

Brooks has been seeking contractors or even volunteers to step in as watchdogs. Additional duties will also fall to Hunter Babbitt, who does double duty overseeing the paper’s Main Street office that also features a flower shop.

“She’ll be doing more of the layout,” Brooks said. “She just didn’t have any of that background, so we’ve been training her the last couple months.”

While the paper’s survey carried the most weight in Brooks’ decision to soldier on, he admits that handwritten notes from some longtime subscribers might have put a finger on the scale.

“Heck, they wanted to do bake sales,” he said, laughing. “I’m not doing bake sales — not that I’m opposed to bake sales. Their hearts are in it, right?”