March 23, 2001

Randy Miller takes helm of ‘new’ Colorado Daily

BOULDER — At first look, Randy Miller didn’t seem the kind of guy one might expect to be at the helm of a daily newspaper for movers and shakers in the 18- to 35-year-old set.

That first look for outsiders was at a Feb. 15 hearing at Denver’s federal bankruptcy court, where a judge was deciding whether Miller’s offer to buy the ailing Colorado Daily would well serve the newspaper’s creditors.

Miller sat, clad in a sharp, dark suit with an adviser at his side. The judge sided with Miller, and the new Colorado Daily was born.

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At second look, Miller relaxes in a small, sparsely decorated office in the middle of his newsroom, often propping his hands behind his head and a foot on his knee. About two weeks after closing the deal to buy the Daily’s assets, Miller was still figuring out what to do with the paper.

First there is getting to know his employees. Then he plans some office rearranging to create better working spaces. A spring break office cleaning is in the works. Miller has made the rounds, meeting top people at the University of Colorado, meeting with some advertisers, as well as Boulder Mayor Will Toor. The paper has already brought in a few new advertisers and commercial printing accounts.

At an interview, Miller is preparing for a strategy meeting over pizza at his apartment with several Daily managers. “I don’t think I could say we’re going to do anything real differently,” Miller says, “other than return to the roots of the newspaper.”

That means focusing on Boulder and the issues that are important to its community and politically involved target group, where the readership is huge, he says. Readership in the 18- to 24-year-old set is 77 percent. It is 78 percent for those in their late 20s, Miller says, citing a readership study. Those are readers that larger daily papers can’t seem to reach, Miller says, drawing from 25 years of experience at papers that tried.

The new Colorado Daily will continue to focus on CU issues and city discussions dealing with issues like land use and the environment. “If any media is to be successful long-term, it fills a very specific niche well,” Miller says. “Obviously, it (the Daily) fit a very specific need for a very long time. The paper got in trouble with some internal issues.”

Miller says he didn’t buy Front Range Publishing Co. — only its assets, namely the newspaper. Front Range was shut down, and all employees were fired as part of the deal. Miller hired nearly all of the employees who worked at the Colorado Daily for Front Range, but he did not hire publisher Russell Puls. Miller named himself publisher, editor and president of the company. He also did not hire the finance department. He contracts that work to Boulder-based Dynamic Data Management, which has dedicated several people to the paper’s account.

“I want to be secure that we are doing all the right things financially,” Miller says, especially since he is now the sole owner. The Colorado Daily ran into trouble with bad financial choices made over the last couple of years, as well as in the alleged embezzlement of more than $250,000 by a former finance director. Those factors led Front Range to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November ? something Miller says could have been avoided.

Miller most recently managed a group of newspapers in the West for Davenport, Iowa-based Lee Enterprises Inc. and was head of acquisitions for the company. A broker told Miller in October that the Colorado Daily was for sale. Miller thought quickly. “Maybe I should do this for myself. The kids are getting to nearly the end of high school. “We’d love to live in Colorado long-term ? . ”

He talked himself into it, basing his decision on the Daily’s 109-year history and strong readership with 18- to 35-year-olds. Miller sent his letter of intent around the same time that Front Range filed for bankruptcy protection. Had he known slightly sooner, he says the transfer of ownership could have taken place much faster than the nearly five months that it took.

Miller says he is the sole owner of the paper and its commercial printing business. He declines to specify how he is paying the $2.36 million that sealed the deal.

The end of the employee-owned paper era can be a good thing, Miller says. “We can move quickly when we need to make changes without having to go to stockholders’ meetings,” Miller says. In the end, stockholders received nothing from the sale.

Although Miller has the final say on decisions, employees still have a voice. “It’s real important for employees to be very involved with where the paper’s going,” he says. “This is not a dictatorship.”

During his strategy meeting with Daily managers, Miller plans to figure out what the paper’s demographic would like to see and to possibly discuss ideas for the paper’s traditionally slow summers.

The most notable difference between the old and new Colorado Daily is its staff. “As I pretty much had expected, I was released,” former publisher Russell Puls says. “I’m going to take my 30 years plus experience and see if anybody has any use for it.”

Pamela White, who was editor of the paper for several years, is now managing editor. “She’s why readers kept reading that paper, so I was kind of surprised that he (Miller) knocked her down a notch,” Puls says.

White seems happy to remain at the paper to which she has dedicated many years, as she wrote in a Feb. 23 column: “Had not dozens of individuals pulled together to save the Daily, I might have been writing the last-ever column to appear on the paper’s final editorial page. Or I might have arrived at work one morning to find the doors locked, the locks changed and not have had the chance to write anything at all. We’re lucky, and we know it.”

And so, over pizza, the leaders of the Colorado Daily hold up their newspaper to their ambitions and see what shakes out. “Hopefully, a year from now, you’ll notice a big change,” Miller says.

Contact Alisha Jeter Rhines at research@bcbr.com or (303) 440-4950.

BOULDER — At first look, Randy Miller didn’t seem the kind of guy one might expect to be at the helm of a daily newspaper for movers and shakers in the 18- to 35-year-old set.

That first look for outsiders was at a Feb. 15 hearing at Denver’s federal bankruptcy court, where a judge was deciding whether Miller’s offer to buy the ailing Colorado Daily would well serve the newspaper’s creditors.

Miller sat, clad in a sharp, dark suit with an adviser at his side. The judge sided with Miller, and the new Colorado Daily was born.

At second look, Miller relaxes in…

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