{"id":139252,"date":"2026-07-15T12:27:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/chris-ballantine-named-ceo-publisher-of-ballantine-communications\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T12:27:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:27:01","slug":"chris-ballantine-named-ceo-publisher-of-ballantine-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/chris-ballantine-named-ceo-publisher-of-ballantine-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Ballantine named CEO\/publisher of Ballantine Communications"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chris Ballantine on Wednesday was named CEO and publisher of Ballantine Communications, which owns and operates three newspapers in Southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico \u2013 including The Journal<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Chris
Chris Ballantine<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Ballantine, 40, comes from a multigenerational newspaper family and has played a behind-the-scenes role in the company for many years. He has served on the BCI Board of Directors since 2012, and currently serves as secretary. He has also held various positions in the company, namely in circulation.<\/p>\n

He is the son of former publisher Richard G. Ballantine, who remains chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the editorial board. He has a twin brother, David, who is a BCI board member and in the process of moving to Durango from Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited about the family having more involvement in the operations of the company,\u201d Chris Ballantine said. \u201cWe want to continue our mission of providing high-quality journalism and information to the Southwest. I am very impressed by the work we do and look forward to helping the company find innovative ways to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted the significance of his family\u2019s role in journalism going back multiple generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun growing up in a newspaper family \u2013 hearing different debates on news stories and what was happening in the community,\u201d Ballantine said. \u201cI always remember the charm my grandmother Morley had, even with her high standards and sometimes stern demeanor.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he wants to begin his tenure by hearing from readers and advertisers, including what they like and dislike about the company and their ideas for making the enterprise better. He invites readers to email him at publisher@bcimedia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ballantine said the media landscape is in constant flux. Publishers must be quick and willing to adjust and innovate. He recognized the company\u2019s three newspapers \u2013 The Durango<\/em> Herald<\/em>, The Journal<\/em> and Tri-City Record<\/em> \u2013 still have a robust print readership. Yet, younger generations are receiving news in different ways, including podcasts, social media and short-form videos.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrint continues to be valuable to many people. At the same time, we need to be relevant with younger generations,\u201d Ballantine said.<\/p>\n

Ballantine was born in Denver and moved to Durango at 3 months old. He graduated from Durango High School.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the people and geography of the Southwest; it\u2019s a great place to live,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He holds a degree in telecommunications from the University of Colorado, completed prerequisites for naturopathic medical school at Fort Lewis College and obtained his N.D. Naturopathic Doctor\u2019s degree from Bastyr University in San Diego. He also holds a degree in international affairs from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

He recently completed the America\u2019s Newspapers\u2019 Executive Development Program, which trains up-and-coming media professionals.<\/p>\n

He succeeds John Blais, who served as the company\u2019s CEO and publisher since January 2024.<\/p>\n

Chris Ballantine thanked Blais for his 2\u00bd years of service to BCI, during which he completed the purchase of the Farmington Daily Times<\/em> and merged it into the Tri-City Record<\/em> in northwest New Mexico, helped oversee a circulation frequency change and mail delivery at the Herald <\/em>and, most recently, launched a new website and newsletter at the Herald<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ballantine said he doesn\u2019t have all the answers for running a successful media company, but he is ready to listen, learn and innovate. He wants to ensure BCI publications are inclusive to all people, no matter their political views, cultural backgrounds, generational demographics and urban-rural heritage.<\/p>\n

Richard Ballantine said he is pleased to have a member of the next generation take a leadership role at BCI.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris will bring perspectives different from those of his elders,\u201d Richard Ballantine said.<\/p>\n

Chris Ballantine said he is inspired by recent comments by Al Harper, who last month was named interim CEO of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Harper told the Herald<\/em> he wants to \u201cmake chocolate fun again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s make journalism fun, as well,\u201d Ballantine said. \u201cIt is important to be a good steward of the company as I respect my family\u2019s legacy in journalism, while building for the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said journalism \u2013 done right \u2013 seeks truth, operates independently, strives for fairness, is a watchdog of those in power and holds itself accountable. But it also makes people think, introduces them to new ideas, builds connections, lifts a community and touches the heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Next generation family member says he wants to listen, improve and innovate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[28,3151,3152,3150,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-139252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-headlines","tag-media","tag-news-media","tag-newspaper-and-magazine","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139252"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=139252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}