Editor’s Note: This content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

The Rocky Mountain Collegian has consistently published in print since our inception in 1891.

That means through every major political struggle, world war, national conflict and social event in the last 133 years, a print copy of The Collegian has been placed on stands around Colorado State University and Fort Collins. Through 15 of the 16 university presidents, the dot-com boom, the 1997 flood and, most recently, a global pandemic, the power of the print word has remained a cornerstone for The Collegian.

To our readers, don’t worry — this isn’t a goodbye column to print media as it relates to The Collegian. The digital revolution has caused us to have to rework our content and rethink our role as journalists, but the legacy and power of print media will endure.

We all know eventually, tough conversations about the future of print will have to happen. It’s something that I, a print media-loving editor in chief, put off and push away with all that’s in me. I’m so proud of the print legacy of The Collegian. I’m fortunate that we have a professional staff that is also staunchly proud of print and that we still receive good advertising funding to fill the pages. Print is still a revenue generator, something not all student newspapers can say. I want to do everything in my power to keep it around for as long as possible, and our staff feels the same way.

The choice was almost ripped out of our hands this summer when our longtime printer located in Berthoud, Colorado, unexpectedly announced that they were shuttering.

For all of us who work with print, the bottom sort of fell out from under us. We hired and planned for a print design staff for this year. We were in no way ready to transition to digital only. We’ve worked with Prairie Mountain Media, the owner of the Berthoud printing location, for many years, with an established deadline and a relationship with their printing team.

When we published our April Fools’ Day edition this year, I got to take a trip to Berthoud to pick up the papers. I viewed it as a privilege to see where our paper was printed, and I gained even more respect for the delivery staff who place our papers on the stands each week. They were exceedingly kind and said our April Fools’ edition made the entire workroom laugh.

They will be missed by the entirety of The Collegian.

There’s a pattern in the Colorado region of print publishers closing in the last few years. In 2023, the press in Pueblo, Colorado, managed by national company Gannett, closed. The press at The Pueblo Chieftain published 46 weekly newspapers. Last year, Gannett also shut down their press in Hugo, Colorado, that published for the eastern Colorado region.

Prairie Mountain Media took their larger clients to a press in Denver, but The Collegian didn’t print often enough or enough copies to be considered during the move. We examined the entire multistate area before coming to the decision to publish with a press out of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the time being.

Some good news is on the horizon: Colorado Community Media, a collection of local newspapers, is starting up their own printing press designed for clients who have been displaced by the closures in Colorado. The Collegian is actively in contact with CCM to begin printing with them when they can onboard clients, and we hope they’re our longer-term printing partner.

It was a scary time for us in media. There were a few days where we simply weren’t sure we’d have a printer, and we felt like we were being forced into a decision we didn’t want to make.

For now, no changes will occur for our readers. Our print papers will still be on stands every Thursday, and we encourage all of our print and digital readers to take a moment and reflect on their experiences with print media, in the past and the present, as the industry looks toward the future in terms of print media.

Reach Allie Seibel at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @allie_seibel_.