Who We Are: Erin McIntyre + Mike Wiggins

Mike Wiggins and Erin McIntrye have been a fixture in Western Slope news for years, both working at The Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction and eventually buying the Ouray County Plaindealer. Spoke+Blossom asked them questions about owning and reviving the newspaper and serving the community around them.

Spoke+Blossom: What has been the most rewarding part of owning and growing the newspaper?

Erin McIntyre + Mike Wiggins: The most rewarding part of owning the Plaindealer is serving an engaged community. People here take ownership of their newspaper. They call Thursday “Plaindealer Day,” because that’s when it shows up in their mailboxes and in the newspaper racks. They mention stories they liked and give us news tips when we run into them at the post office or the grocery store. People talk about what was in the newspaper, and they want us to do even more good work for them, which is why they’ve contributed to funding our Report for America journalist, Liz Teitz. We’ve just committed to keeping her a second year, and we know the community will step up to help us fund her work again, because they know we want to work hard for them.

S+B: How do your experiences at the Ouray County Plaindealer align with the theme of revival?

EM + MW: The Ouray County Plaindealer has been publishing since 1877. That’s a long time to be around — in fact it’s the second-oldest newspaper operating in perpetuity on the Western Slope. We invested in the Plaindealer because we believe every community, even small ones, deserves good journalism. There’s a narrative out there that newspapers are dying. While that might be true in cases where newspapers have been purchased by hedge funds or owners who have gutted them, it’s not true here. We saw an opportunity to help the Plaindealer be an indispensable part of the community — something that helps the people here have the information they need to make good decisions and know what’s going on here. We have a true, steadfast commitment to pursue one agenda: the truth. We’re determined to be open and transparent about how we report the news and our values.

The Plaindealer has held a respected position in the community for 144 years. We see ourselves as the latest in a long line of caretakers for this community asset. Buying a newspaper isn’t something most people think is possible these days; some of our friends thought we were nuts for doing it. But, we wanted to counter that false narrative that says “newspapers are dead” and show they’re very, very much alive.

This definitely fits with your theme of revival. We bought a newspaper and have not only kept it going, but have had a goal of rejuvenating it over the past two years. During a time when the headlines are full of stories about newspapers purchased by hedge funds and stripped for profits, newsrooms gutted and presses ceasing to operate, we’ve invested in a weekly publication and doubled down on journalism. We intend to make sure the Plaindealer is sustainable and remains the heart of this community for years to come.

Feature image courtesy of Erin McIntyre and Mike Wiggins.

Originally published in the Summer 2021 issue.