I started reading that paper, Nathan, and was intrigued by the first example you cite, of the Colorado Sun. Reading their website, they look like a good example of how community media can work. Besides a lot of good old fashioned community organizing work, they also had an initial input of capital. The initial funders bailed, but they had enough local support to keep it going. Enlightening on a number of fronts.
https://coloradosun.com/2020/06/04/colorado-sun-media-journalism-newspapers-opinion/