Guy Nahmiach is the owner of The Neighborhood Gazette, a print newspaper serving several communities in the west Denver Metro area.
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RSSGuy Nahmiach caught the local journalism bug later in life. After leaving the corporate world to pursue a career in real estate, Guy happened to join the PTA at his children’s school. He became passionate about the education system and wound up writing a column about it in his local newspaper which he wrote for years.
Flash forward a bit and Guy came upon an opportunity to purchase that same paper from it’s previous owner. In 2020, Guy took the plunge and bought The Neighborhood Gazette, a monthly paper in the Denver area.
The paper was not exactly a thriving business, Guy describes the acquisition as “purchasing $30,000 of debt”. After paying all contractors and vendors who were owed, Guy began learning the intricacies of running a local newspaper.
There was a steep learning curve, for instance Guy wasn’t previously aware that freelance writers were payed by the word. The learning that he needed to do was like drinking water from a fire hose.
Since that rocky start, the newspaper has grown from 12 to 20 pages with plans to expand to 24 pages later this year. The Gazette also has a passionate following in the community, Guy is frequently thanked in public for the work that he’s doing for the community.
The Gazette is cited as the best source for local information by 77% of area residents surveyed, up from 72% just a few years earlier.
In this episode of Small Press, Big Ideas, I talk with Guy about his story, the difficulties of operating a local print newspaper, the changes he made in the organization to achieve the success they’ve seen, and advice that he has for other news entrepreneurs looking to do the same.
Listen to the episode wherever podcasts are found, or just click play in the player above!