Colorado Sun gets $1.4M grant, will create 'regional hubs' around the state

The news behind the news in Colorado

One week after news that $900,000 in Press Forward grant money will flow to nine Colorado newsrooms across the state, the nonprofit Colorado Sun announced it will haul in $1.4 million from a different funder.

The big bucks this time come from the American Journalism Project, which aims to help boost nonprofit journalism around the country and calls itself the “first-ever venture philanthropy dedicated to nonprofit local news.”

From the Sun’s announcement:

​The Sun will use a key part of the AJP grant to add additional staff to its business operations to help ensure the sustainability and future expansion of The Sun. The Sun will immediately begin seeking to hire a General Manager and a Development Director and posted those openings on its website today.

But here’s the part that really caught my eye, emphasis mine:

With additional funding, The Sun also aims to establish the infrastructure for four regional hubs — in northeastern Colorado, southern Colorado, the Western Slope and the Eastern Plains.

“The ongoing failure of the commercial news market has left communities across the country without access to local news and information,” the American Journalism Project stated when announcing its grant.

In the Before Times, large newspapers like the Rocky Mountain News had bureaus across the state staffed with reporters.

Those days are long gone in the age of newsroom retrenchment after Big Tech companies Hoovered up advertising and classified dollars, and hedge fund owners gutted newsrooms to juice revenue for shareholders.

Meanwhile, newspapers serving rural parts of Colorado are shutting down at a startling clip. They have closed or are in distress in all four regions where the Sun intends to set up hubs — particularly on the rural Eastern Plains.

“We like to write stories in those areas, but a lot of times we feel like we’re outsiders or parachute journalists, and think that maybe we could be more effective if we established some sort of hub in each of the four corners of the state,” Colorado Sun Editor Dana Coffield said over the phone this week.

How that might actually look on the ground — an aspiration at this point — could be employing an editor or reporter, and potentially a staff photographer, and overseeing a network of freelancers in each region. Colleges and universities might even play a role.

“We also see, particularly in Northern Colorado and Southern Colorado, an opportunity to cultivate young journalists into the pipeline,” Coffield said. “So we see there being some interesting synergies and opportunities to cultivate, potentially, journalists from communities that are under-covered right now.”

To what extent the Sun might form partnerships with local newsrooms remains to be seen, but the outlet has a track record of consistently doing so since launching six years ago.

In the digital era, outlets like the nonprofit Texas Tribune have sought to bolster coverage across its state with a network of what it calls “community newsrooms.”

In our state’s Four Corners region, the national Daily Yonder news outlet relied on grant money to employ a local journalist to write local stories that local outlets are encouraged to republish free of charge to help with their reporting capacity.

Last month, the for-profit Gazette announced it would soon be seeking to expand its own footprint statewide by launching a sprawling freelancer “Colorado Network.” (The paper said it would launch on Oct. 15, but I haven’t seen any announcement yet about it or an update on the timetable.)

What the Sun is envisioning would be new for Colorado.

As for the kind of funding behind the effort, expect to see more of it. Since the advertising model for local news has collapsed, siphoned off by large tech companies, philanthropic funding has moved in to fill gaps and support sustainability. Some might be skeptical about that.

It’s always a good idea for people to consider what or who is funding the news and information they consume, including what you read here. (For what it’s worth, I don’t have a problem with the Sun’s arrangement, though others might.)

While local news organizations strive for more direct reader support and struggle to determine the best business model to handle this particular market failure in our current economic system, grant support is what’s behind some of the latest stability and expansion.

---

🌿 This week’s newsletter is proudly supported in part by Grasslands, a journalist’s best friend for sourcing reporting on cannabis, psychedelics, and our ever-changing relationship with drug policy. Founded in 2016 by 24-year newspaper veteran Ricardo Baca — who in 2013 served as the world’s first Cannabis Editor at The Denver Post and a decade later was appointed by Colorado’s governor to the Natural Medicine Advisory Board to contribute to the state's psychedelics policy development — Grasslands brings a unique Journalism-Minded™ ethos to its suite of public relations, content marketing, and thought leadership products. Together with its partners, Grasslands is rewriting the broken narratives around cannabis, psychedelics, and global drug policy. Learn more at mygrasslands.com, and email Ricardo directly with any sourcing or interview requests for cannabis or psychedelics researchers, entrepreneurs, nonprofits and beyond: ricardo@mygrasslands.com. 🌿

---

Crestone Eagle nonprofit rural newspaper has ‘suspended operations’

Sad news out of the San Luis Valley this week as the monthly Crestone Eagle announced it has hit the snooze button on production.

More precisely, the paper stated in an Oct. 18 Facebook post that it has “suspended operations (at least temporarily, perhaps for good).”

The reason? “Financial insolvency.”

That makes this the second Colorado print paper in recent years to shut down shortly after converting to a nonprofit. (The Indy alternative weekly in Colorado Springs similarly melted down last December.)

“This comes at a time when small newspapers across the country and in Colorado are closing shop. We are extremely saddened to join their ranks,” the paper’s statement read. “The Crestone Eagle has been a loved and important asset for all of us.”

More of the details:

We find ourselves in a situation in which there are insufficient resources, by a significant margin, to pay current obligations. It is the Board of Directors’ decision that it cannot responsibly continue to incur financial liabilities that will potentially be unmet, including staff and contributor costs, office expenses and other costs. We are doing our utmost to ensure that all creditors will be paid as soon as possible.

The CECM board and staff are grateful for the passionate and creative work of Executive Director Jennifer Eytcheson, Managing Editor Matt Lit, Regional Editor Zaylah Khundmiri, their team of writers and photographers and the dedicated staff who have been producing a beautiful and impressive publication since it became a nonprofit entity in 2022.

Crestone is one of the most uniquely offbeat, quirky towns in Colorado, located not far from the Great Sand Dunes National Park, near the UFO watchtower, a clothing-optional hot springs, and that alligator park from the billboards you see on I-25.

Two years ago, the paper became the first in a string of print newspapers to convert to nonprofit status. Following suit was the Sentinel in Aurora and then the Indy in Colorado Springs. Other outlets, like the digital Ark Valley Voice, also have made the switch.

More recently, the Colorado Sun, formerly a public benefit corporation, became a nonprofit.

University of Denver Clarion student newspaper turns 125

Happy 125th to the Clarion student newspaper at the University of Denver.

“The Clarion archives go back to 1899, holding a strong tradition of student journalism and everything that makes it so important,” Opinions Editor Annabelle Kiely wrote this week. 

More from the Clarion:

From where we stand a century and change later, it is clear why those long-gone students chose to print that first edition — to find a voice. Student-run papers open up doors for students, a place to voice their opinions, share relevant news for young people and even make space for activism.

Without student journalism, especially in the pre-social media age, it would be incredibly difficult to spread information across campus and keep students informed on the goings-on of a university at every level. Where else can you find information about the administration’s misdeeds, student government updates and the newest local bands all in the same place?

Even in the social media age, student journalism is a bulwark against the constant misinformation fed through apps by advertisers and influencers. Student journalists see these same claims their peers see and ask, what’s the story behind this? They get to see the world from the same perspective and ask the questions that need asking to combat misinformation.

Cheers to that.

🔎 Sponsored | Spotlight: Colorado | Colorado Media Project 🔍

Colorado Media Project believes our democracy works best when the public has transparency into powerful institutions. That’s why accountability journalism is so important to our civic infrastructure. We chose to sponsor this section of Corey’s newsletter to showcase some of the important watchdog work Colorado journalists and their news organizations have been producing recently. Corey chose which ones to spotlight.

Recent Colorado accountability coverage

• Reporter Sam Tabachnik of the Denver Post exposed what has become “the norm” in Grand Junction: Defendant after defendant appearing in critical court proceedings “without legal counsel — in violation of their constitutional rights, experts say.” The newspaper has been investigating municipal courts across Colorado and revealing similarly eye-popping details. In Grand Junction, “These individuals are in custody and facing the possibility of jail, meaning they’re entitled by Colorado law to an attorney,” Tabachnik reported. “Instead, poor and unhoused people are pleading guilty and being sentenced without legal representation, the Denver Post found.”

• Colorado’s community living centers for veterans “will have fewer employees working to care for veterans in the coming months,” Alasyn Zimmerman reported for KOAA in Colorado Springs after obtaining a letter sent to employees.

• Denver7 investigative reporters Tony Kovaleski and Joe Vaccarelli relied on “multiple informed sources” to report claims that a Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent “who accidentally recorded himself using a racial slur received leniency due to his close relationship with the agency's director.” Denver7 Investigates “has communicated with at least four individuals — including current and former employees — one of whom spoke on camera in silhouette to protect their identity,” they reported. “All parties said they feared retaliation for speaking to the media. Denver7 Investigates confirmed their connections to CBI.” (A CBI spokesman denied the TV station interview requests with pertinent sources and the agency also denied an open-records request.)

• Nathaniel Minor of Colorado Public Radio relied on an open-records request to report that the Regional Transportation District’s general manager promoted an acting co-chief who “does not have the confidence of at least some in the department he is now charged with co-leading.”

To submit a local accountability story for consideration in the future, send me an email. If you or your organization would like to sponsor a recurring newsletter section like this, hit me up.

The ‘first-ever’ Colorado mental health voter guide

Voter guides are everywhere in local media this week, with each news organization expending plenty of reporting capacity to create their own.

Owen Swallow at the progressive nonprofit Colorado Times Recorder rounded up a useful list of them, which you can find here as you fill out your ballot.

The list, which is not comprehensive, includes guides from political parties and left-and-right-leaning organizations and counted more than a dozen from local Colorado news organizations.

Clearly, voter guides are one resource-intensive aspect of not-trying-to-duplicate-efforts that doesn’t fit into the state’s uniquely collaborative approach to journalism. That might be for the better. Diversity of thought and independent reporting by a news organization you trust is important when making decisions about how to cast a ballot.

One voter guide that wasn’t on CTR’s list that stuck out to me this year is from the newsletter and site MoodFuel published by Renata Hill.

Here’s what she wrote about it, emphasis mine:

As the only mental health news organization in Colorado — where suicide is the #1 killer of youth, half our population self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety and hundreds of thousands go without any support — we believe focusing on mental health in this election is crucial. So, we’ve created the first-ever Colorado Mental Health Voters’ Guide.

After emailing surveys to 219 state lawmaker candidates, only 26 came back.

MoodFuel created a voter guide focused on mental health to offer “fact-checked, nonpartisan material to inform you about the candidates and measures on your ballot through the lens of mental health,” Hill wrote. “With this information, Colorado voters can better assess the people who will lead and legislate for us and the measures affecting our ability to achieve mental wellness.”

Find the full guide here.

---

➡️ As a new board member of the Society of Professional Journalists Colorado Pro chapter, I’d like to invite you to join the nation’s foremost organization for journalists. SPJ is a fierce national advocate for First Amendment rights, journalistic ethics, and other values important to a free and vital press. The Colorado Pro chapter offers professional training programs and events, including the four-state Top of the Rockies competition, the region’s broadest platform for honoring journalism excellence. We’re making plans for a regional conference next spring. And each year, the chapter provides thousands of dollars in scholarships to the young journalists of tomorrow. At a time when journalists are under fire from all sides, joining SPJ is your chance to make a stand for journalism. Learn more about the chapter here, and find out how to join here. ⬅️

---

More Colorado media odds & ends

🆕 This Tuesday, Oct. 22, listeners of Colorado Public Radio heard a familiar voice, but a different name when the host introduced himself. Instead of “Nathan Heffel,” they heard “Nathan Fernando-Frescas.” The longtime radio host had officially changed his name. “I know there will be confusion, doubts, perhaps even mocking,” he wrote in a CPR News story about his big decision. “That’s ok.” He wrote that using Nathan “will continue to honor my adoptive parents, what they chose for me, the love and home they gave me. Fernando Frescas will honor my birth, my history, my unsplittable connection to a world living inside me.”

💳 The free, advertising-supported Denver alt-weekly Westword this week launched what editor Patty Calhoun called an “election-oriented membership campaign.”

🤦‍♂️ You heard about the guy this week who allegedly phoned in a phony Amber Alert so cops would look faster and harder to locate his allegedly stolen truck? Here’s a line from Denver Post reporter Max Levy about it: “The Denver Post was not immediately able to obtain the affidavit because the Pueblo County District Court requires payment for records to be made in person or mailed in the form of a check or money order.” That transparency-suppressing policy shows how “public agencies in the digital age intentionally make it harder to get public records,” said Denver Post Managing Editor Matt Sebastian.

❓ Speaking of, Jeff Roberts of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition wrote in a story this week: “It’s almost 2025. Why are we still writing checks to pay for public records?”

⬆️ KKTV in the Springs has named Sydney Jackson its new chief meteorologist. “I am incredibly grateful for our amazing team and absolutely love the Southern Colorado community,” she said.

📺 Denver7 this week introduced viewers to its “newest morning anchor” Anusha Roy. Her son is almost 3, “which is one of the reasons Roy wanted to work on the Denver7 morning team,” the story states, quoting Roy saying: “I get to have so much time with him, which is just precious. It’s exhausting, it’s chaotic, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world to have this time with him.” (Roy was one of three journalists in about a year to move from 9NEWS to Denver7.)

🥳 Meanwhile, Anna Walters Hewson this week celebrated 20 years at 9NEWS.

🕸 Aurora Sentinel Editor Dave Perry had to point out how wire service news organizations like the Associated Press work to counter a “conspiracy theory” from a conservative political figure who seemed confused about why a similar or verbatim headline might appear in multiple different news outlets.

⏳ Colorado local media betting pool: Which of these long-delayed announcements will come first: Colorado Public Radio unmasks its secret anonymous donor or Colorado Community Media starts up its new Denver printing press?

🎬 The indie film “Welcome to the Fishbowl,” filmed entirely in Colorado, hopes to “revive Colorado’s film industry,” Eden Lane reported for Colorado Public Radio.

☀️ The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition updated its free Sunshine Guide about the state’s open records and open meetings laws. The updates include new 2024 state statutes and case law. The transparency advocacy group also “added resources on FERPA and HIPAA.”

⚖️ “A former on-air personality for a Cumulus Media Inc. subsidiary radio station in Colorado Springs is suing the company and its station director, alleging that during her nearly 20-year tenure at the station, she was subjected to severe and pervasive sexual harassment and discrimination that ultimately led to her constructive discharge,” wrote …wait for it… Bloomberg Law Automation. (What do you think that means?)

🏒 Brennan Vogt has joined Mile High Hockey. “My goal is to bring you the best Avalanche, Eagles, and Pioneers coverage that I can,” he wrote.

➡️ Naomi Klein, “an international bestselling author and a professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia, will visit the University of Colorado Boulder on Oct. 28,” Iris Serrano wrote for the school. “Klein is one of the most influential voices of our times, and she speaks with unparalleled clarity and depth,” said Nabil Echchaibi, associate dean of scholarly and creative work at the College of Media, Communication and Information and a professor of media studies.

🙏 Thanks to Gary Community Ventures for inviting me to moderate a recent lively panel at their Denver office titled “The Power of Local Media to Shift Narratives & Create Change.”

I’m Corey Hutchins, manager of the Colorado College Journalism Institute and a board member of the state Society of Professional Journalists chapter. For nearly a decade I’ve reported on the U.S. local media scene for Columbia Journalism Review, and I’ve been a journalist for longer at multiple news organizations. Colorado Media Project is underwriting this newsletter, and my “Inside the News” column appears at COLab, both of which I sometimes write about here. (If you’d like to underwrite or sponsor this newsletter hit me up.) Reply or subscribe to this weekly newsletter here, or e-mail me at CoreyHutchins [at] gmail [dot] com.