A paper’s sad decline in debt’s grip

Advertising at the emaciated newspaper has shriveled to historically low levels. Its staff has shrunken to a fifth of its former size. Its readership has fallen by almost half. The presses have been shipped out. The building is up for sale.Welcome to the San Mateo County Times, a once vigorous, locally owned, independent, community paper in northern California that was purchased in 1996 by