Carroll County News

What Carroll County News does

Carroll County News is a privately-held local newspaper serving Carroll County, Arkansas, headquartered at 802 W. Trimble Ave., Suite C, Berryville. It operates a single paid newsroom of approximately five staff — editor-publisher Scott Loftis (owner since 2023), reporter Rick Harvey, office manager Melody Strodtman, advertising coordinator Rhonda Worrall, and retail advertisement representative Julia Borkowski — supplemented by contributing photographers and columnists. The publication covers local government, schools, sports, features, opinion, obituaries, classifieds, and legal notices, and competes in the Arkansas Press Association's under-1,200 circulation category, where it has earned eight General Excellence first-place awards (or tied first) in ten years.

The product surface spans print newspaper delivery, a digital e-edition replica, a website (carrollconews.com) running on the Creative Circle Media Solutions platform, a premium "Web Extras" tier covering 22 syndicated content verticals (Agriculture, Automotive, Business, Health, Real Estate, Travel, etc.), online classifieds and marketplace modules, and a public legal notices publishing service. A sister publication, the Eureka Springs Times-Echo, is wholly owned under the same platform. The digital site currently operates without a paywall while user accounts are migrated.

Monetization is a hybrid of subscription revenue (print and e-edition), display advertising to local SMBs, paid classifieds, and legally mandated public notices from government and legal entities. Pricing is freemium for basic digital access (registration required), with premium content and military/senior discounts available on subscription terms; pricing tiers are not publicly disclosed. Distribution is single-country/domestic across Carroll County, marketed through the website, an active Facebook page, e-newsletter sign-ups, and earned-media community event coverage.

Name

Carroll County News

Legal name

Carroll County News

Website

https://carrollconews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Carroll County News is a privately-held local newspaper serving Carroll County, Arkansas, delivering print and digital news, e-edition, classifieds, and legal notices to residents, local schools, government, and SMB advertisers via a Creative Circle Media Solutions platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJADAB

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital)

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/News Publishing (Newspapers, Digital Newsrooms, Wire Services)

Keywords

• Local newspaper
• Community journalism
• News publishing
• Classified advertising
• Legal notices

Headquarters

HQ city

Berryville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Print and digital newspaper subscriptions for individual readers
2. Display Advertising: Advertising space sold to local businesses
3. Classified Advertising: Paid classified listings for jobs, for sale items, and services
4. Legal Notices: Public notice publications required by law
5. E-Edition Subscriptions: Digital newspaper edition access

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Carroll County News is a community newspaper serving Carroll County, Arkansas, publishing local news, school and sports coverage, features, opinion, and obituaries across print, digital e-edition, and website channels. It also sells display and classified advertising to local businesses and publishes legal notices for government and legal entities.

Product overview

Carroll County News is a local digital newspaper platform powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions. The core offering is the Carroll County News Website, which provides comprehensive local news coverage including community news, schools, features, opinion pieces, and obituaries. The platform operates on a tiered model where basic content is freely accessible with optional premium content through Web Extras subscriptions. Supporting modules include the E-Edition (digital replica of the printed newspaper), Classifieds, Marketplace for local commerce, and Legal Notices publishing services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Carroll County News (Print and Digital Newspaper) Weekly community newspaper serving Carroll County, Arkansas, delivered via print home delivery and a website. Covers local news, schools, sports, features, opinion, obituaries, and community events.
• E-Edition Digital replica of the printed Carroll County News newspaper, viewable online through the website, available to subscribers as a standalone digital access product.
• Classified Advertising Paid classified listing service for jobs, for-sale items, and services, published in the print newspaper and online. Customers submit listings via a dedicated online form.
• Legal Notice Publishing Public legal notice publication service for local courts, government agencies, and legal entities required to publish notices in a newspaper of record, with submission via dedicated online form.

Quantifiable outcome

• 8 General Excellence awards in 10 years from Arkansas Press Association

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Creative Circle Media SolutionscoreTechnology or IntegrationWebsite platform powered by Creative Circle Media Solutions. Provides the technical infrastructure for the newspaper's website, e-edition system, and digital publishing capabilities.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Newton County Times: Neighboring Arkansas community newspaper covering Newton County; comparable weekly local publication with similar subscription and legal notice revenue mix.
• Eureka Springs Times-Echo: Sister publication also owned by Scott Loftis and operated by Carroll County News staff; covers adjacent Carroll County communities (Eureka Springs) with the same weekly community newspaper model.
• Harrison Daily Times: Small regional daily newspaper serving nearby Boone County, Arkansas; comparable in mission, local advertising base, and small-market newspaper operations to Carroll County News.
• Boone County Headliner: Weekly community newspaper serving Harrison and Boone County, Arkansas; very similar in scale, audience, and operating model to Carroll County News.
• The Baxter Bulletin: Local newspaper covering Mountain Home and Baxter County in north-central Arkansas; same small-market Arkansas newspaper format with comparable ad and subscription dynamics.

Broad incumbents

• Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Regional daily newspaper covering the broader Northwest Arkansas region including Carroll County; broader geographic reach and substantially larger scale than Carroll County News but overlapping in market coverage.
• Lee Enterprises: Large multi-state local newspaper group operating numerous small community dailies and weeklies across the U.S.; comparable at the unit level (small-market weekly newspaper economics) but vastly larger and more diversified.
• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Statewide daily newspaper in Arkansas; dominant incumbent with substantially larger editorial, sales, and digital capabilities, but competes for the same state-level advertiser and reader attention.
• Gannett / USA TODAY Network: Largest U.S. local newspaper operator with hundreds of community publications; provides scale comparisons on local advertising, subscription, and digital transition economics for community newspapers.

Regional players

• Ozark Mountain Media: Regional media company operating community newspapers and radio stations across the Ozark region including parts of Arkansas and Missouri; similar small-market community publishing footprint in the same geographic area.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/carrollcountynews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/carroll-county-news

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Carroll County News