Starting this March, the Uinta County Herald will cost $3 per issue, and our subscription will increase to $15 per month.
We know that is a meaningful change. We also believe our readers deserve a clear and honest explanation of why this is happening — and what it means for the future of local news in Uinta County.
You’ve probably noticed fewer pages. There’s a reason.
Many readers have seen that the Herald has been thinner over the years. That did not happen because local news suddenly became less important to Uinta County. The reasons were twofold. First, the prior owners dramatically downsized staff and resources to raid all profits to send to the parent company. Over time, there was less and less advertising. Unfortunately, since saving these papers from closure, that trend has continued. The fact is that the economics of local news has shifted dramatically.
Since COVID, many longtime advertisers across rural Wyoming — including in Uinta County — have closed, changed ownership, been purchased by out-of-area companies, or consolidated into larger chains that no longer allow local managers to control advertising budgets. In many cases, local businesses still operate here, but advertising decisions are now made somewhere else.
That shift has directly weakened the traditional business model that once supported community newspapers.
The traditional newspaper model no longer works
For most of the past century, newspapers operated on a simple formula: readers paid a small part of the cost, and advertisers paid the rest.
Traditionally, a healthy newspaper looked something like 45 percent advertising and 55 percent news.
Under prior ownership, the Herald was steadily stripped down. Staff was eliminated, investment dried up, and profits were taken out of the paper rather than reinvested in it. By the time we acquired the Herald, it was a shell of what it once had been — not because Evanston stopped caring about local news, but because the business behind it had been hollowed out.
Even so, a newspaper cannot exist on good intentions alone. It has to be financially viable to serve the public, pay its people fairly, and show up week after week.
The traditional newspaper model — where readers pay only a small fraction of the cost and advertisers carry the rest — no longer works in many smaller communities like ours. There simply isn’t enough local advertising to sustain operations at a higher level. Meanwhile the cost of printing, postage, and staffing has only risen.
We cannot keep cutting our way to success. Fewer pages, fewer reporters, and fewer resources will not build a stronger, more robust newspaper — they will only shrink it further. This model is simply not sustainable.
We want what you told us you want: more reporting on municipal, county, and school government, more features, and more stories about everyday life in Uinta County. That kind of coverage takes people, time, and consistent investment — and this price change is how we make that possible.
What’s happening elsewhere should be a warning
Across the country, newspapers — especially in rural communities — are closing at an alarming rate. Indeed, before our intervention, this newspaper nearly closed permanently. In Colorado alone, 14 newspapers shut down in 2024 and 2025, many of them in towns much like Evanston. Those closures created news deserts in two counties, places where there is no longer any local newspaper at all.
When a community loses its newspaper, it doesn’t just lose headlines. It loses:
• A public record of what happened
• Regular coverage of schools, courts, and local government
• A watchdog that shows up week after week
• A shared place for community life — sports, events, milestones
In a news desert, meetings still happen. Taxes still get levied. Decisions still get made. The difference is that far fewer people know about them.
We do not intend for Uinta County to become the next example.
What this change makes possible for Evanston
At our recent town hall, you told us clearly what you want from the Herald: more reporting on local government, more features, more stories of local life, and just more news. You want a paper that feels like it belongs to you.
We want that too.
By asking readers to take on a fairer share of the true cost of producing local news, we can make that happen.
Raising the cover price and subscription rate possibly allows us to:
• Hire an additional reporter
• Add more pages of locally produced news
• Expand coverage of municipal, county, and school government
• Reduce reliance on advertising that may or may not return
• Invest directly in reporting, photography, and coverage of local life
Simply put: this change lets us grow the paper instead of shrinking it — more reporting, not more cost-cutting.
A newspaper is not paper and ink. It is people — local people — showing up every week to document, question, explain, and preserve the story of this place.
This is about choosing to have a newspaper in Evanston
When we purchased the shuttered Uinta County Herald, we made the first investment by bringing it back to life. We did that because we believe Uinta County deserves a strong, Wyoming-owned, locally-produced newspaper.
But resurrection is only the first step. Sustainability is the next.
Right now, the Herald is staffed at a level that reflects current revenue — not the level this community deserves. Better coverage requires real investment in people.
With this change, we can hire that additional reporter, run more news, and make the Herald the paper you told us you want.
We remain committed to banking locally, buying locally, and employing local people when possible. And we are grateful to community members who volunteered to contribute — your voices will strengthen the paper.
Above all, we heard you in that town hall.
The Uinta County Herald should be your paper.
This price change is how we make that possible — not just this year, but for years to come.
— Rob Mortimore and Jen and Robb Hicks
