Sterling Journal Advocate

What Sterling Journal Advocate does

Sterling Journal-Advocate is a local community newspaper serving Sterling, Colorado and Logan County, owned and operated under the Prairie Mountain Media umbrella of MediaNews Group. It publishes a daily mix of hyperlocal coverage (local government, crime and public safety, health, sports, business and agriculture, opinion, obituaries, and lifestyle/entertainment) supplemented by Associated Press national and international wire content, and is co-published with the South Platte Sentinel from its Sterling headquarters. Distribution is dual-channel: physical home-delivery subscriptions and a digital e-edition (enewspaper.journal-advocate.com), with online subscription checkout handled through checkout.journal-advocate.com and account management via myaccount.journal-advocate.com.

The technical stack is standard regional-newspaper infrastructure: a WordPress VIP publishing platform powering the main website, with third-party integrations for AccuWeather (weather widget), Trinity Audio (text-to-speech article audio), AdTaxi Solutions (digital ad trafficking), NewsBank (historical archive access), Janrain (identity/social login), Colorado Job Source (job listings), Tribune Content Agency (horoscope/feature content), and Public Notice Colorado (legal notices). Email newsletters, social sharing (Facebook, X), and SEO-optimized article and category pages constitute the digital marketing footprint. No proprietary technology, AI/ML, or app is in evidence.

The business model combines subscription revenue (recurring print and digital), advertising revenue (local display, classifieds, legal notices, special sections, and chamber/business sponsorships), and transactional revenue (obituary placement, marketplace listings, real estate, job postings, and coupons). GTM is sales-led via a small local team (Publisher Sara Waite, Assistant Editor Callie Jones, advertising representative Steve Buxton, obits contact Elizabeth Maes) supplemented by centralized Prairie Mountain Media functions for classifieds, legal notices, and circulation. The newspaper is privately held with no public ticker, no disclosed funding history, and no disclosed revenue.

Name

Sterling Journal Advocate

Legal name

Sterling Journal-Advocate

Website

https://journal-advocate.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1885

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sterling Journal-Advocate is a privately held local newspaper serving Sterling and Logan County, Colorado, delivering print and digital e-edition coverage of local news, sports, and community affairs under the MediaNews Group / Prairie Mountain Media network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper & Community News Media

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Community news media
• Print and digital subscriptions
• Local advertising sales
• Classified advertising marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Sterling

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Newspaper subscriptions for physical print delivery and digital e-edition access. Subscribers can access content through the website and dedicated e-edition platform.
2. Advertising Revenue: Local advertising sales including display ads, classifieds, legal notices, and special section advertisements. Advertising contacts are managed through Prairie Mountain Media advertising team.
3. Special Content and Services: Obituary placement services, marketplace listings, real estate listings, job postings through Colorado Job Source partnership, and coupon distribution.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Sterling Journal-Advocate publishes a local community newspaper covering Sterling, Colorado and Logan County, delivered via physical home delivery and a digital e-Edition, with subscription-based access to local news, sports, weather, opinion, and community content. The publication supplements subscription revenue with local display, classified, and legal notice advertising, plus fee-based services including obituary placement, marketplace listings, and special editorial sections.

Product overview

Sterling Journal-Advocate operates a traditional local newspaper business offering a comprehensive portfolio of news and media products. The core offering consists of the primary news website delivering local, national, and world news coverage for Sterling, Colorado and Logan County, supplemented by the e-Edition digital replica of the printed newspaper. The product suite includes thematic add-on services including classified advertising (Marketplace, Real Estate, Jobs), obituary services, horoscopes, the Asking Eric advice column, Best Reviews product recommendations, and Special Sections covering community events like America at 250. Additional services encompass email newsletters, photo/video galleries, and opinion columns. The company is part of the MNG (MediaNews Group) network and publishes under the South Platte Sentinel branding.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Journal-Advocate: Primary brand name for the Sterling Journal-Advocate newspaper
• e-Edition

Products and services

• Sterling Journal-Advocate Print and Digital Newspaper Subscription
• e-Edition Digital Newspaper
• Classifieds and Marketplace Listings
• Obituary Placement Service Online obituary listings and paid submission service for deceased community members in Sterling and Logan County, managed via the Prairie Mountain Media obituary submission portal.
• Daily Horoscopes Daily astrology content for all zodiac signs with a proprietary day scoring system by Magi Helena, syndicated via Tribune Content Agency and featured in the Things to Do section.
• Asking Eric Advice Column Advice column written by R. Eric Thomas featuring answers to reader questions on relationships, life decisions, and personal matters.
• Special Editorial Sections Themed editorial publications including America at 250 (semiquincentennial coverage), Explore Colorado 2026-2027 travel guides, and Weld County Fair publications.
• Email Newsletters Email subscription service delivering breaking news and daily update newsletters to Sterling Journal-Advocate readers via the preference center.
• Local Display and Classified Advertising Advertising sales including display ads, classifieds, special section advertisements, and legal notices, managed through the Prairie Mountain Media advertising team.
• Public and Legal Notice Publication Public notice and legal notice placement service for government entities, businesses, and individuals requiring publication in a Sterling-area newspaper of record, routed through publicnoticecolorado.com and Prairie Mountain Media legal notices.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Prairie Mountain Media / MediaNews GroupcoreOthersThe Sterling Journal-Advocate is operated under the Prairie Mountain Media umbrella, which is part of MediaNews Group. This parent organization handles advertising sales, classified operations, legal notices, circulation management, and provides the digital publishing platform (WordPress VIP).
• Colorado Job SourceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorColorado Job Source partnership provides job listings functionality on the website under the Marketplace section. Jobs link redirects to Colorado Job Source external site.
• Associated PresscoreTechnology or IntegrationAssociated Press provides national and international news content including sports coverage (World Cup), world news, national politics, and other wire service stories. Articles are credited to Associated Press reporters.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Gannett (USA TODAY Network): Largest U.S. newspaper chain operating hundreds of community dailies and weeklies. Competes with MediaNews Group for digital ad spend and audience share across overlapping regional footprints, and serves as a public-market comparable for valuing community-paper assets.
• Lee Enterprises: Mid-size U.S. newspaper publisher with a portfolio of community dailies. Comparable operating model (subscription + advertising + digital) and directly relevant as a public peer for valuing small-market newspaper assets within a conglomerate.

Direct peers

• South Platte Sentinel: Sister publication sharing the Sterling Journal-Advocate office and parent. Operates as a DBA of the same entity per the provided data, making it the most directly comparable peer by structure.
• Lamar Ledger: Sister publication under Prairie Mountain Media serving Lamar and Prowers County, Colorado. Directly comparable small-market Colorado newspaper using the same WordPress VIP platform and ad/subscription revenue mix.
• Akron News-Reporter: Sister publication under Prairie Mountain Media covering Akron and Washington County, Colorado. Rural Colorado community newspaper with identical parent-company technology stack and GTM motion.
• Fort Morgan Times: Sister publication under Prairie Mountain Media / MediaNews Group serving Fort Morgan, Colorado. Comparable small-town Colorado community newspaper with print + e-edition model and similar advertising/subscription revenue mix.
• Craig Press: Sister publication under Prairie Mountain Media serving Craig and Moffat County, Colorado. Directly comparable rural Colorado community newspaper with print + e-edition delivery and similar local advertising customer base.
• Holyoke Enterprise: Community newspaper serving Holyoke and Phillips County in northeastern Colorado. Comparable small-market Colorado newspaper with similar agricultural/local-business customer base, though outside the PMM corporate umbrella.
• Brush News-Tribune: Sister publication under Prairie Mountain Media serving Brush, Colorado. Closely comparable small Colorado community newspaper operating the same shared corporate infrastructure and revenue model.

Regional players

• Canon City Daily Record: Colorado community daily operating within the same MediaNews Group / Prairie Mountain Media network. Shares platform infrastructure and cross-promo assets with Sterling Journal-Advocate, providing a relevant in-network benchmark for traffic and engagement.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SterlingJournalAdvocate
• Xx.com/journal_advo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/journal-advocate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 Sterling Journal Advocate