đ Sentinel newspaper in Aurora, CO changes hands in 'unique model of local ownership'
The news behind the news in Colorado this week
Another Colorado newspaper is changing hands, and how it happened once again underscores the ways people involved in Colorado journalism are thinking about the future of local news.
From a Thursday story by the weekly Sentinel Coloradoâs Kara Mason and Max Levy about their own newspaper:
In an effort to move The Sentinel toward a unique model of local ownership, a consortium of journalism preservationists have created a temporary holding company to take control of the Aurora-focused media company.
âLocal journalism needs to be rooted in the community, made by and for people who live there. As someone who was raised in a place that lost its hometown newspaper, Iâm committed to providing a bridge for others to stand up for protecting access to a free press,â said ââJoaquin Alvarado, founder of the consultancy Studiotobe, who is helping shepherd The Sentinelâs transition.
Alvarado, whose LinkedIn page states he is based in Oakland, California, told the Sentinel he plans to âpreserve local control and ownership for future generations.â The Sentinel reports he has been âinvolved in several projects aimed at keeping local news as close to the community as possible.â Alvarado also previously ran The Center for Investigative Reporting.
This latest newspaper ownership development in Coloradoâs third-largest city has echoes of last yearâs big industry news about a family selling their string of Colorado Community Media newspapers in the Denver suburbs to a newly formed entity called the Colorado News Conservancy in a unique arrangement that involved the National Trust for Local News and the Denver-based Colorado Sun.Â
Like last yearâs deal, this one in Aurora involves the Colorado News Collaborative, known as COLab, and similarly offers a welcome twist on the typical (read: bad) newspaper takeover. Across the country, and in Colorado, newspaper consolidation has resulted in journalist layoffs and newsrooms zapped of their institutional knowledge. Cost-cutting private equity âvulturesâ circle newspapers in cities around the nation. When a hedge fund gets its claws in a newspaper, it can eviscerate staff. Fewer reporters means less local news, which can lead to unchecked accountability on institutions and more.Â
This time around, Alvarado has founded an entity called the Colorado Journalism Investment Group essentially as a caretaker so Sentinel Colorado can figure out a sustainable long-term succession plan. (In 2018, the newspaper changed its name from the Aurora Sentinel to Sentinel Colorado.)
COLab is helping Alvarado with this new ownership undertaking.
âJournalism leaders and community members in Colorado are finding ways to change the narrative and the trajectory of failing news outlets,â said COLab director Laura Frank in a statement. âTogether, we are making journalism stronger, which makes democracy stronger. Iâm thrilled to help support that work.â
More from Sentinel Colorado:
Now-former Sentinel owner James Gold, who bought the publication in 2011, has launched BlueLena, a national business focused on news operation sustainability. Gold said he wanted to work with COLab to transfer ownership of The Sentinel so that it could be both locally controlled and serve as a âlaboratory for best practicesâ for other Colorado newsrooms.
Sentinel Colorado Editor and Publisher Dave Perry, who will stay on as the newsroom leader, called the move âan inspiring changeâ in the paperâs news story about the sale. And in a column of his own, he wrote about what Sentinel Colorado has meant for the community over the years with its important local coverage. âBut,â he added, âlike so many newspapers, the internet and social media have disrupted the way we fund our critical role in Aurora.â
From Perryâs column:
Paid advertisement, the lifeblood of journalistic media, has been drained away by companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, cable and streaming TV, Yahoo and many, many more. Those ad dollars now support a fraction of the news and journalism newspapers used to create.
That kind of economic pounding has decimated newsrooms across the region and the country, including ours. All this, compounded by the pandemic, pushed The Sentinel, and so many papers like it, to the brink.
What an eventual plan for the paper âwill look like in the end is being mapped out even as I write this,â Perry wrote, adding, âThere will be much more news on this process as it unfolds during the next few months.â
People who want to support the evolution of the Sentinel can reach out to Alvarado at joaquin [at] studiotobe [dot] com.
đżÂ This weekâs newsletter is proudly supported in part by Grasslands, Denverâs Indigenous-owned PR, marketing, and ad agency that is thankful for the tireless work reporters do to bring our communities the stories that matter. Founded by veteran Denver Post journalist Ricardo Baca, Grasslands â the recipient of a 2020 Denver Business Journal Small Business Award â is a Journalism-Minded Agencyâ˘Â working with brands in highly regulated industries including cannabis, technology, and real estate. Operating from its new offices in Denverâs Art District on Santa Fe, the firmâs 20-person team of communications professionals is focused on a single mission: âWe tell stories, build brands and amplify value.â Email hello@mygrasslands.com to see how Grasslands can supercharge your brandâs marketing program (and read some of our cannabis journalist Q&As here).  đż
đ´ó §ó ˘ó łó Łó ´ó ż This newsletter is in out-of-the-office mode, meaning content might be lighter than usual.
âď¸ The Aspen Times âhas reached a settlement agreement to end a defamation lawsuit brought in April by a Swedish billionaire who alleged the mountain newspaper had wrongly portrayed him as a corrupt Russian oligarch in several articles and columns,â Sam Tabachnik reported for The Denver Post. Aspen Daily News Editor Megan Tackett had the story June 1. âFrom the outset, the thought was that this dispute could be resolved fairly and quickly, without going to court,â Aspen Times Publisher Allison Pattillo wrote in a column. âThis was done out of good business sense, and most certainly not out of fear or intimidation. Reporting on the lawsuit could have unnecessarily disrupted or delayed resolution.â Hereâs video of Aspenâs mayor, who goes by the single name Torre, accusing new ownership of The Aspen Times of meddling in the newspaperâs coverage. (Weâll see if this is the last of this saga.)
đ° The Scribe student newspaper at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs âwill no longer have a print publicationâ beginning this fall, according to an item in a May issue. âThe paper in your hands is the last print publication of The Scribe,â the paper told readers. The item didnât offer a reason. (Writing for The Poynter Institute this February, Taylor Blatchford suggested âstudent media need to use data and strategy to meet audiences where they are ... and that may not be print.â)
đŹ Media scholars at the University of Denver are out with a new academic paper in the journal of Journalism Practice titled âLocal News in Colorado: Comparing Journalism Quality Across Four Counties.â Authors Kareem El Damanhoury, David Coppini, Brittany Johnson, and Geneva Rodriguez examined the Colorado media ecology âby comparing local news sources across four different counties during Summer 2020 and exploring the factors behind similarities and differences in coverage.â Their findings âreveal that the Colorado journalism ecosystem post-Covid outpaces U.S. local news in quality in the pre-Covid era yet aligns with disturbing trends pointing to inequities and disparities. In other words, rural, poorer, and more racially and ethnically diverse Colorado communities tend to have weaker news ecosystems and are more likely to become news deserts.â Their study also discusses âseveral approaches to salvage local news.â
đ Colorado is âknown for its vibrant Mexican food scene â but the culinary pros behind the fare havenât been as widely recognized by media and awards committees as their white counterparts,â wrote Allyson Reedy this week in Denverâs 5280 magazine.
đ Colorado this summer will become âthe first state in the nationâ to pilot the Journalism Trust Initiative on a statewide scale. The JTI, a project of Reporters Without Borders, is âan international effort to identify news sources that adhere to professional, industry standards for independent journalism reporting and transparency in a way that is more clearly distinguishable â by humans and by algorithms â as separate and apart from opaque or partisan news sources, community-created content, and other types of information,â according to the Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Colorado will once again become a local news innovator and testing ground by âstarting with a pilot cohort of up to 12 local newsrooms that will receive technical support to complete the JTI self-assessment and strengthen or develop editorial guidelines that help build community trust.â Learn more about the unique-in-the-nation project by registering for this June 15 event about it here.
đ Bookmark this: âReimagining the public square: Whatâs happening in Coloradoâs information ecosystem right now.â
đş KUSA Denver 9News Meteorologist Kathy Sabine will âno longer be at the center of the stationâs signature 10 p.m. weeknight newscastâ and instead will now âdeliver the weather on the 4 and 5 p.m. newscasts,â wrote Michael Roberts in Westword. Sabine posted a video saying she was âfeeling a little emotional and a little nostalgic.â KUSA Meteorologist Danielle Grant said she will be âheading to weekday nights.â
đ Donât forget to register for IRE22, the Investigative Reporters & Editors conference taking place in Denver June 23-25.
𤯠Denver journalist David Sirota, whose mere name tends to cause spontaneous mouthis foamitis among some in Coloradoâs established media and political scene, is getting back to his roots with a broadcast call-in talk show. The AM-radio-host-and-journalist-turned-Bernie-Sanders-speech-writer-turned-journalist-again, who recently won accolades for his work on the Netflix movie âDonât Look Upâ is the founder of the political news and commentary site The Lever. Now, heâs launching Lever Live. âAM radio has been completely taken over by the right,â Sirota told Westword. âBut I think thereâs more of an opportunity online. Terrestrial radio still has some built-in advantages, but less of a built-in advantage based on the prevalence of the smartphone. It used to be that to succeed, shows had to be heard in peopleâs cars. But now everyone has a little radio in their pocket â their phone.â
đ More than two months after a journalist at Denverâs CBS4 and the stationâs general manager said someone assaulted a camera operator (whom they declined to name) during coverage of violence around Union Station, a Denver police spokesperson said âNo arrests have been made.â
âď¸ The FCC has questions about the sale of the national TV broadcaster Tegna, which owns KUSA 9News in Denver, to a pair of hedge funds. In a letter this week, the agency said it wanted to know, among other things, âan accurate and detailed accounting of the impact the Transaction is expected to have in terms of anticipated staffing reductions.â New Street Research policy analyst Blair Levin told streaming video industry publication Fierce Video that a ânumber of policy makers have expressed concerns about financial buyers acquiring broadcast stations for the purpose of earning returns through reducing local news investments. Here too, we could see some at the FCC wanting to limit such moves.â
đ Former Wall Street Journal reporter Vauhini Vara, who lives in Fort Collins, has a âterrifying new novelâ that âimagines what happens when tech lords take over the government,â writes Maddie Oatman for Mother Jones.
â An item about Chris Reen, chairman of Colorado Politics, being named president and CEO of Clarity Media Group in the emailed version of this newsletter made it seem like it happened this week or recently. It did not. A news story about it in The Gazette actually appeared a year and a half ago from the day I published this newsletter. âIâm guessing you might need to check your newsletter flux capacitor to determine what caused the story to pop up on your radar for today,â a reader wrote me. (I am writing the newsletter from a country seven hours ahead, but I still canât figure out how it happened and am obviously embarrassed by the flub.)
âď¸ Colorado Sun co-founder Larry Ryckman published a column this week for the syndicated Writers on the Range series headlined âIâm a journalist and somehow still an optimist.â In it he writes, âit isnât journalism thatâs failing. Itâs the old business model that funded news outlets for more than a century by relying too heavily on paid advertising.â He says the Sun, a public-benefit corporation founded in 2018, currently has â200,000 subscribers, nearly 17,000 paying members, and a full-time staff of 25.â
âŹď¸ Sensi Media Group LLC, publisher of Sensi magazine, has ânamed Jen Bernstein as the new Executive Editor of the award-winning Denver-based publishing house.â
đ¸ While some journalists âargue that sharing crime-scene photos from mass shootings could help spark a successful movement for new gun laws,â former Rocky Mountain News Editor John Temple, who led the newsroom through its Columbine coverage, wrote this week in The Atlantic magazine that he has âa different answer.â
đŹ KUSA 9News anchor Kyle Clark cited on air a Colorado Sun report stating that Heidi Ganahl, a Republican candidate for governor, âhas not done an in-depth interview with any non-partisan media outlet.â (That Sun report was from a May 31 subscription newsletter that stated âshe probably canât stay on this path in the general election if she wants to have any shot at unseating Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.â) Ganahl ârecently complained on conservative talk radio that mainstream media arenât covering her preferred issues âcorrectly,ââ Clark added, âBut her campaign has carefully avoided challenging questions about those issues.â
đĽ Michael Karlik of Colorado Politics reported in a cover story this week on a case that three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit heard last month that âcould serve as the case that establishes for Colorado and five of its neighboring states that the First Amendment protects bystandersâ right to record police officers who perform their duties in public.â
đł Steve Skinner, a producer for KFFR 88.3 FM, what he describes as âColoradoâs newest non-commercial radio station,â is running as a Democratic candidate for Grand County Commission. âAfter years of working in journalism and radio, he is now turning towards a role in public service,â wrote Meg Soyars for Sky-Hi News in a Q-and-A with the candidate.
đâThe world is getting a view of Colorado through two documentaries now touring the film festival circuit,â Elaine Tassy reported for Colorado Public Radio.
đ âOf note to national and local media with SCOTUS Decision Day on Roe coming up; if you're looking for a woman of color reproductive rights attorney, Colorado's Kiki Council (yes, thatâs her real name :) is excellent,â says Laura Chapin. âShe was key to CO passing the Reproductive Health Equity Act.â
đ Radio journalist Anya Steinberg, who graduated from Colorado College last year, got a shout out this week for her work on the Throughline podcast at NPR that won a prestigious Peabody award. Also this week, conservative writer Nate Hochman, who also graduated last year from CC, had a major essay in Sundayâs New York Times.
đş Sara Fischer of Axios reported this week that CNNâs new boss, Chris Licht âis evaluating whether personalities and programming that grew polarizing during the Trump era can adapt to the networkâs new priority to be less partisan.â In the piece, she writes that Licht and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav âhavenât been shy about their goal of dialing back on partisan and alarmist programming in favor of traditional journalismâ and that âZaslav and mentor and investor John Malone have been public about their wish to pull CNN away from progressive commentary.â (Malone is one of the wealthiest people in Colorado.)
đŁ COLab, the Institute for Science and Policy at the Denver Museum of Nature, and Science and Colorado State Universityâs Center for Public Deliberation âwill host a two-part in-person event to discuss what can be done about misinformation.â A key goal is âto tap into the wisdom and creativity of leaders of communities of color to help develop and refine ideas for communities across Colorado to better address this critical issue,â COLabâs Laura Frank wrote in an email publicizing the event. The events take place June 14 and June 28. Register here.
đ Vikram Raju, a student at Aurora Quest K-8 who was âsponsored by The Denver Post,â almost won this yearâs recent Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Iâm Corey Hutchins, interim director of Colorado Collegeâs Journalism Institute. For nearly a decade Iâve reported on the U.S. local media scene for Columbia Journalism Review, and Iâve been a journalist for longer at multiple news organizations. The Colorado Media Project, where I write case studies, is underwriting this newsletter, and my âInside the Newsâ column appears at COLab, both of which I sometimes write about here. Follow me on Twitter, reply or subscribe to this weekly newsletter here, or e-mail me at CoreyHutchins [at] gmail [dot] com.
Heavy Hands Heavy Hearts Center is located at 2360 Dayton St is promoting gang violence unlike Reverend Kelly Jr. program approved by CO government officials
activist Terrance Roberts told us about what goes down
Owner of
Eden Works Cleaning Solutions LLC
Company Number
20231431562
Status
Good Standing
Incorporation Date
24 April 2023 (2 months ago)
Company Type
Limited Liability Company
Jurisdiction
Colorado (US)
Agent Name
Fredrick Latha Abram Jr
Agent Address
2360 Dayton St, Aurora, CO, 80010, US
Directors / Officers
Fredrick Latha Abram Jr, agent
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