Readers Make the Reader
Our community needs quality journalism. The Reader needs you
It takes a village to produce quality community journalism.
Across the country, local news operations are in steep decline. The emergence of Google and Facebook has decimated old publishing business models. Reporting that communities have counted on for years to keep a watchful eye on local institutions — fact-based, thorough, firsthand coverage — has given way to social media rants and rumors.
A hopeful sign has been the emergence of reader-supported online local news sites that provide the reporting a community craves.
The Cloudcroft Reader is one such effort. In our first year of publishing, we have published more than 200 stories, many consequential.
As a subscriber, you’ve received our email on topics important to greater Cloudcroft — to locals, seasonals, and our nearby neighboring communities.
Disturbing surprises in the Village's financial management;
Significant turmoil and turnover in administrative and police staffing;
Questionable zoning practices;
Threats of fire to the area and efforts to mitigate our risk of a catastrophe;
Economic reports and timely business news;
Federal firings and stories from the local forest service workforce;
Important infrastructure updates;
Healthcare and emergency services on the mountain; and,
Illuminating profiles of people who make Cloudcroft special.
In-depth profiles of High Rolls and Timberon.
There have been a surprising number of important stories for a small mountain village.
We’ve been able to do this reporting because readers backed us with individual contributions. Pledges that enable us to pay local reporters, photographers, and artists. Quality journalism is not free, and advertising does not pay the bills.
It’s up to the people who value the Reader.
We ask you to consider joining your neighbors by becoming a Cloudcroft Star, someone who pledges support by donating a monthly or annual contribution.
Our value proposition is simple: Is the Village of Cloudcroft better off with the Reader continuing to do the work it has done this last year? Does it matter to you?
Here are other ways we put the Reader to work for you:
New ways of communicating
We’ve expanded how we convey our reporting by publishing short videos—reels—that feature current events. We’ve shown people and events such as a nighttime cabin fire or a late April snowfall in real time. It is not unusual for one of our reels to get more than 100,000 views from all over New Mexico and West Texas.
Growing our audience
During our first year, the Reader’s audience has grown dramatically. At the beginning of February 2024, we had 290 email subscribers. As of May 9, 2025, we have 2,773. Our Facebook presence has gone from nil to more than 10,108 followers.
The Cloudcroft Reader is now the most widely read publication covering the greater Cloudcroft community, by a wide margin.
The Reader is the voice of the mountain.
Hosting public forums
Building upon our coverage and audience reach, we convened a successful fire risk public forum, filling the Lodge Pavilion with more than 200 attendees. Watch the video documentary from that evening here: Fire Forum video
Learning from others
We have also worked with regional and national press organizations supporting local news media, including the New Mexico Local News Fund, Press Forward/New Mexico, Lion Publishers, and the Local Media Association. We’ve benefited from sharing best practices with other New Mexico news operations. In April, the Local Media Association flew Hannah to New York for a two-day work session at the Google office there to learn about new tools and practices for small publishers. (She also squeezed in visits to a few art museums.)
Expanding our organization
Local artist and writer Drew Gaines joined the Reader as a Contributing Editor last year. His reporting, illustrations, editing, and video work have added a new and insightful voice to the team.
New initiatives. Solution oriented
Starting in June, we are taking direct action to help develop community champions by launching Leadership Cloudcroft, an educational program to identify, recruit, and educate volunteer leaders for our community. While covering the Village, we saw a recurring issue: unprepared leaders, lack of training, little knowledge sharing, and weak networking and support. So, we decided to address that deficit with a solution. Learn more about this new initiative here: www.leadershipcloudcroft.com
Connecting people
This year, we’ve introduced a Reader Classifieds section to connect the community to events, lodging, real estate, food and drink, classes, sales, businesses, and professional services. We hope to develop this into a vibrant marketplace. Submit and view listings here.
Road ahead
Going forward, you can count on us to continue to cover stories that no one else does— fairly, through firsthand research. We attend the meetings, interview the players, ask questions, and get answers.
People tell us they believe the Reader has dampened the wave of conspiracy theory posting that can run rampant on Facebook. By spotlighting local government, we have made it harder for people to cut deals in the shadows.
Your contribution to the Cloudcroft Reader enables us to pay local writers, photographers, and graphic artists. That backing has fueled our reporting efforts, grown our coverage, and expanded our reach.
Our inbox is always open to you. Feedback, ideas, tips — they all help us do a better job. So keep them coming.
Please know that we could not do this without your backing.
Thank you,
Chris Hearne, Editor and Partner
Hannah Dean, Senior Editor and Partner
www.CloudcroftReader.com
www.LeadershipCloudcroft.com
If you value what the Cloudcroft Reader brings to your community, please consider donating.
Readers make the Reader.
