By Christina Boyce ~ KRTN News
Trinidad Times Independent (TTI) News and Raton Range did not reach readers on Friday. Publisher and owner Paula Murphy posted a long letter of explanation Sunday afternoon on the TTI website and facebook page. Murphy writes that deals that would have extended publication fell through on Friday, resulting in stopped presses.
Murphy says that the problem unless a last option she is working on is successful the paper and it’s sister publication, the Raton Range will no longer exist. The weak economy and dwindling paid advertisers are cited as contributing factors to the publication’s closure.
Expressing deep regret for her decision to outsource the publishing of the two papers back in January of 2012, Murphy writes,
Now in hindsight, I believe (the outsourcing) to be my biggest regret. But I had no choice. The technology our press used involved film. Film is not being produced in the United States. I was going to have to buy a very expensive piece of equipment and did not have the resources to do so. The printing bid I got was more than my costs to produce but not that much more. But when I started outsourcing that price nearly doubled. But I could not go back to what we had been doing.
While the website headline says this is a temporary closure, the tone of Murphy’s letter is somber. Holding out some hope, she writes, “So this may not be our death, but merely a regrouping. Please be patient and pray”.
KRTN has extended a call out to Murphy and hopes to learn more about the option she is working on.
Trinidad Times Independent Phone: (719) 846-8799
Relevant Information:
Raton Range Phone: 575-445-2721
Links:
