When the editor of the Silverton Standard and the Miner learned that the paper's owner was likely going to close the weekly, 1,100-circulation newspaper, he approached a group others might not have considered: the local historical society. We first reported on the donation in May, but an AARP Bulletin Today video has updated the transition of the paper under San Juan County Historical Society ownership. (Wikipedia photo of Silverton by Deb Spencer)"When the board of the Historical Society met to discuss taking on such a huge responsibility, the one thing that everyone agreed on was that we would act as trustees for the paper," Bev Rich, president of the society, wrote in an editorial published in July. "The Silverton Standard & the Miner will be the fourth estate the way it always has been, completely independent editorially." (Read more)
In Silverton, The Standard & the Miner is the only newspaper you can buy, Doctorian reports; merchants in the town stopped selling urban Colorado dailies after the switch in ownership. The paper boasts its own Facebook fan page, and its Web site was the first newspaper site developed by Colorado-based E7 Systems. According to a Facebook note, the paper solicited $10,000 in start-up costs after the ownership switch, $2,000 of which came from local students.
The newspaper appears to be following its promise to remain independent, featuring stories about controversy surrounding a proposed housing project and a ballot issue to raise taxes for school renovations in its latest issue. The most visible presence of the historical society appears in the paper's "Caboose" section on its back page, where editor Mark Esper highlights historical news items and pictures each week.
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