[Landru]

"It will take a ton of money to start up a publication and run it with few advertising dollars to prove to the local community that it’s not a clone of the leftist New York Times."

Not necessarily.
All the hardware needed for a new start up can be purchased at a bankruptcy auction for pennies on the dollar.

As for content?
Content speaks for itself.

Any individual(s) seeking to bring a right-wing POV to print obviously must have a plan and unfortunately the youngsters know not the meaning of "conservatism
Considering the state of the GOP I'm not sure what they'd say or where they'd start.

A startup printer should have to go after both left *&* right with hammer & tong under the circumstances.
Both right-wingers & leftists *love* being told how correct their way is; especially, when [it] isn't.
Honesty's a tough sell regardless the audience, these days.

The Liberal-Socialist quisling mediots won by default since there really isn't much choice anymore, is there.

[abb]

Honesty's a tough sell regardless the audience, these days.

Always been that way. What the other side is selling - Something for Nothing - has always been a workable scam.

[misterrob]

1 Editor, 2 reporters, 2 sales people, 1.5 design/layout positions, publisher, accounting person, one circulation/distribution manager.

Cost is about $350K in salary/employment costs. Press run of maybe 10,000 is going to run you another $80K a year. Distribution is another $20K a year then you have coin operated boxes and stands to deal with.

Rent and utils are another $2,500 a year then you have supplies that cost another $25K per year minimum.

That's easily half a million a year that you have to cover. You might get lucky and score a good classified section that brings in $2K per week but you have to sell $8K plus per week in display ads which means 40 ads per week paying $200 a shot.

Having seen this model up close close to 20 years ago it's too hard of a business to work out.