An 'influencer' wanted $2K to promote a Colorado politician on Instagram?

The news behind the news in Colorado

👋 Welcome. I’m Corey Hutchins, a journalist and educator, and you’re reading “Inside the News in Colorado,” a weekly inbox newsletter. Learn more about it here. This newsletter is (*checks notes*) 10 years old this fall.

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Could the 2026 primary for governor in Colorado become the “influencer election?”

Maybe not.

But an eyebrow-raising story this week from Colorado Public Radio’s Andrew Kenney pulled back the curtain on how some content creators are trying to “cash in on politics” — including the race for Colorado governor.

Here was the opening to the piece:

Political influencer Katie Grossbard offers a steady stream of inspiring messaging, political news and calls to action for liberals on Instagram.

In May, that included a video of an interview with U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet about his run for governor of Colorado. Perched on a stone wall, Grossbard asked the senator about the vibes in Washington and the role of governors, and she said political leaders should tell young people their plan “to make it better.”

Grossbard also had an opportunity to interview Bennet’s top competitor for that job, Attorney General Phil Weiser. But that hasn’t happened, and for one apparent reason: Her management said it could cost Weiser’s campaign as much as $2,000 to reach her quarter-million Instagram followers, according to emails obtained by CPR News.

Catch that? If a candidate wanted the same airtime as a rival on the social media platform of an LA-based content creator, the campaign would apparently have to cough up some dough.

In other words, if you want to play, you’ve gotta pay.

The story highlights the growing influence of personalities who post on social media and are able to attract large followings and the extent to which their audiences might know how they operate. And it underscores the willingness of some who are involved in politics and policy to get their messages out through these nontraditional avenues.

Here’s another excerpt from the story:

In American journalism, the idea of politicians paying to be featured in editorial content is strictly forbidden, as it undermines the independence and balance of the publication. But sponsored content has become a lucrative source of income for influencers on TikTok and Instagram, including in the political realm — and it isn’t always obvious to the audience.

In Denver, the Vibrant Denver bond campaign recently paid local influencers to post positive messages about the debt spending proposal. Those posts included disclaimers. On the national level, a group of influencers received up to $8,000 a month to make posts supporting the Democratic Party, but creators weren’t required to publicly disclose the partnership, according to an investigation in Wired.

Interestingly, in the case of the Bennet-Weiser influencer interview, Bennet apparently didn’t have to pay for the promo.

“To clarify, Katie’s conversation with Senator Bennet was completely organic and not compensated in any way,” talent manager Alexa D’Amato told CPR News for the story. “She knows Senator Bennet personally, and the interview came about naturally through that connection.”

The story has gotten some people talking about the ways in which new media personalities ought to behave in this environment.

“Mandatory disclaimers for compensated political posts seem like the obvious solution,” said Eric Anderson, the co-founder of the Denver agency SE2, in a post on LinkedIn.

“They should be required to include a disclaimer,” Jefferson County attorney Darlene Cypser posted on BlueSky.

But what exactly would this particular content creator disclose about that May video involving the U.S. senator who is a candidate for governor? “Bennet’s campaign did not pay for this because I know him, but I’ve asked his opponent to pay $2,000 if they want a similar post from me”? (Seems awkward, but the public ought to know something, don’t you think?)

Others wondered if the content creator’s video should be considered an in-kind contribution to the Bennet campaign. But that raises another question: Would it have been one when the influencer interviewed her acquaintance for free, or only once the talent agent sought to charge Bennet’s opponent?

Kenney, the CPR News reporter, reached out to me for his story to ask my opinion about the new Wild West of content creation, influencer culture, and what sets it apart from journalism.

“Unfortunately,” I said for the piece, “the onus is more and more on the consumer — I think less and less we’re seeing these kinds of creators be transparent about what they’re doing and whether it’s journalism, how close it is to journalism, or whether it’s some other form of communication like sponsored content, propaganda, advertising.”

Former longtime Colorado journalist Sandra Fish, who has covered plenty of campaign finance issues in Colorado, said on social media that she’s “pretty sure most of the public doesn’t know the difference between journos and influencers at this point.”

She might be right.

According to the PEW Research Center, one-in-five U.S. adults say they are regularly getting news from news influencers on social media. (The organization defined the term as “individuals who have a large following on social media and often post about news or political or social issues.”)

Currently, I’m aware of multiple efforts in Colorado — and am personally involved in the early stages of one of them — that seek to make more sense of this landscape in our state.

I hope such efforts can wind up having some influence of their own.

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➡️ This newsletter is proudly sponsored by The Colorado Health Foundation. As a proud funder of Colorado Media Project, the home of Press Forward Colorado, the CHF understands that healthy communities need a healthy news ecosystem.

This year, The Colorado Health Foundation will be working to combat disinformation and misinformation, and helping nonprofits build media literacy.

• Read our recent post titled “Civic Engagement is for Everyone” that outlines the rights and responsibilities we all have as community members in a democratic society.

Recently, the Colorado News Collaborative called our annual Pulse Poll a “trove of information useful to reporters.” The Colorado Health Foundation’s Katie Peshek talked to journalists across the state about the poll results, which you can watch here. We also have Pulse Poll slides here, showing how you can use what we found to guide your reporting on topics and bring facts and data to your stories. ⬅️

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Trial date set for man accused of chasing and choking Grand Junction TV reporter

A man who reportedly followed a nonwhite Grand Junction TV reporter for miles, questioned his nationality, yelled “this is Trump’s America now,” and then tackled and choked him outside the newsroom, is slated to go on trial in December.

That will be nearly a year since the troubling holiday season incident made national news and left a young journalist shaken.

In January, the 22-year-old reporter, Ja’Ronn Alex, who is of Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander descent, was on paid leave. His accused attacker, Patrick Egan, who was 39 at the time, was out on bail and citing mental health issues for his behavior.

During the incident, part of which was apparently caught on a security camera, Alex said the man who called himself a Marine tackled him to the ground, put him in a headlock, and tried to suffocate him. Alex said his co-workers at the KKCO/KJCT news station in Grand Junction rushed to his aid, pulled the man off, and held him until police arrived.

Authorities charged Egan, who was driving a taxi at the time of the incident, with a bias-related crime, second-degree assault, and harassment, according to media reports. Alex told this newsletter in January that he was trying to get attempted murder added to the charges.

Over the summer, Egan’s public defender said her client intended to plead not guilty and take the case to trial.

This week, media reported that the trial is set for December 8.

Youth Documentary Academy holds World Premiere in Colorado Springs this Sunday

From “body image to black brotherhood, aging to immigration, religion to single parenthood,” Colorado student filmmakers will screen their documentaries this weekend.

The World Premiere of the Youth Documentary Academy takes place this Sunday, Nov. 9 in downtown Colorado Springs.

Here’s more about YDA, which is housed at Pikes Peak State College in Colorado Springs:

The Youth Documentary Academy provides intensive media and documentary film training to high school students in under-served and under-represented communities of Colorado Springs. For ten weeks, students between the ages of 14 and 20 learn all aspects of documentary filmmaking from pre-production, shooting, editing and distribution.

Students also learn how to mentor younger students. In addition to developing technical proficiency in digital media through lectures, exercises and workshops, students also direct and produce their own documentaries, learning how to locate themes from their lived experiences and transpose those personal and family narratives into documentary films. Students spend an additional year learning how to distribute their films to local schools, libraries, film festivals, and public television. They also help organize community screenings and engage with the public through traditional and social media.

This year, YDA will screen 11 new local student-made films. Watch more about this year’s program in the video below:

The event proudly counts the Colorado College Journalism Institute, which I manage, as a sponsor. The World Premiere will be held at CC. Tickets are on sale here. I hope to see you there.

National Association of Black Journalists co-founder from Denver ‘broke barriers’

The AARP this week spotlighted the work of Sandra Dillard, one of its executive council members in Colorado.

From the Nov. 1 piece, headlined “Black Journalist from Denver Broke Barriers,” at the AARP site by Stacey Shepard:

When Sandra C. Dillard became the first Black woman journalist at The Denver Post in 1972, she sometimes faced racism — like the time a doctor refused to be interviewed by her.

“I think they were expecting just a regular white reporter like they had always had,” says Dillard, 87, of Denver.

But Dillard didn’t let such incidents dampen her ambition. Over nearly three decades, she covered 13 beats, reported on the White House and Congress, and became a theater critic.

Earlier this year, Dillard traveled to Cleveland for the National Association of Black Journalists’ 50th anniversary celebration, where she was honored as a founding member. Dillard and 43 other Black journalists launched the organization in 1975.

Read the whole thing here.

Clarity Media’s Chris Reen is on the cover of E&P as its Publisher of the Year

A Colorado man is on the cover of Editor & Publisher this month as the magazine’s Publisher of the Year.

Christopher Reen, the President and CEO of Clarity Media Group, was nominated and chosen for his “remarkable, nearly 40-year career in news media publishing; for his record on innovation; for his insight into audience and marketplaces; for his long commitment to giving back to the news media community; and for his exemplary leadership,” the magazine reported.

Some nuggets from the piece, which includes some of the origin story of the Denver Gazette:

• “We have the state’s largest investigative team,” Reen said. “We do a lot of accountability journalism, and we tackle big, important subjects, like the state’s mental health crisis, problems with the Colorado justice system, stories about elder care and nursing homes, problems with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the damaging impact of unfettered recreational marijuana.”

• “AI can help our businesses with data and create efficiencies throughout our organization,” Reen said. “But AI is only as good as the people using it. We see it as complementing what we’re doing, on the one hand, but on the other hand, it’s a massive disruptor.”

• “Chris doesn’t stand still,” said Gazette Executive Editor Vince Bzdek. “He’s not trying to manage a declining or shrinking media company. He’s trying to drive a growing and innovative company while figuring out the new model for journalism. So, we experiment and innovate a lot. Now, we have the Denver Gazette and Out There Colorado, a site focused on outdoor recreation. We have Colorado Politics, and we just launched a magazine.

• “I don’t remember the exact time or moment, but Chris turned to me and he said, ‘Why are we talking about doing a print newspaper when we all know at some point in the future that probably won’t work?’ And then he said, ‘Why don’t we skate to where the puck is going to be?’ — the Wayne Gretzky saying,” said Rich Williams, president and COO of Gazette Media. “They got the green light from the top office and challenged their team to create a digital news brand with no additional resources, and The Denver Gazette was born. Out of the gate, they had 2,000 subscribers.”

• “Of course, we go through challenges, but we wouldn’t be launching products in new markets and trying to expand our business, when others are contracting, if we didn’t want to win,” Reen said. “At the end of the day, we are still in a competitive business, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed in this business. I like a challenge.”

The Gazette also wrote about it, noting that the America’s Newspapers conference is being held at The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs this week, which is owned by the owner of Clarity Media.

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More Colorado media odds & ends

🎥 The premiere of “Truth Be Told,” a new documentary about Colorado journalism, will air on 9NEWS in Denver at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday, Nov. 9 and again at 7 p.m. Sunday, followed by a panel discussion.

🎬 Meanwhile, “Trusted Sources,” the documentary by Colorado filmmaker Don Colacino, will air this Sunday on Rocky Mountain PBS. “The PBS cut of the film is also available to stream nationally on the PBS website and through the PBS Passport app,” he said via email this week.

🤔 The Florence Reporter community newspaper “intentionally delayed” its print edition for a week so it could feature local kids involved in a state band competition on the front page. Erin McIntyre, who publishes the Ouray County Plaindealer community newspaper, commented that she believed doing so “sets a slippery precedent,” and wondered if the paper would delay printing editions and extend deadlines for other events and groups now. “Better to stick to your deadlines and be reliably published on schedule than bend the rules for one interest or story.” Local commenters on the paper’s Facebook post about it seemed appreciative.

📺 John Malone, a.k.a. the “Cable Cowboy,” will step down as CEO of the Douglas County-based Liberty Media. “Malone’s success helped establish metro Denver as a hub for the cable industry and drew other cable companies and content providers to the region, generating thousands of jobs,” Aldo Svaldi reported for the Denver Post.

🏆 Meanwhile, Rex Howell, who “founded the first radio station in Grand Junction in 1931” and later created KREX, which was “the only TV station on the Western Slope for 25 years,” was inducted on Oct. 24 into the 2025 Colorado Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame, Andrew Kiser reported for Western Slope Now. The story called Howell “the man who was considered a broadcasting pioneer and brought television to the Western Slope.”

🤐 “Several freedom-of-speech advocacy groups criticized the History Colorado Center on Monday for allegedly censoring an artwork that had been planned for its new Little Saigon exhibition,” Sandy Battulga reported for Denverite.

⚙️ Erik Larsen, who formerly edited the Fort Collins Coloradoan, then left to edit the Indianapolis Star, is now back in Colorado where he has become the sports editor for USA Today.

☀️ “Journalists generally don’t like to make asks, but when the stakes are so high in our country, as they are today, I’m happy to join my Sun colleagues in explaining just how important readers are to the project — and to me, personally,” wrote Colorado Sun columnist Mike Littwin about reader support for the nonprofit news site and a new documentary called “Stripped for Parts.” (When the documentary started streaming on PBS recently, the Sun, which is featured in it, started to see donations come in from around the country, said Publisher Larry Ryckman.)

🎙️ “Listeners of Colorado Public Radio tuned in this past Monday morning and were met with the cheers of Colorado State University journalism students and faculty,” Maiya Kreamer reported for the Rocky Mountain Collegian.

👀 Wet Mountain Tribune Publisher Jordan Hedberg, who is no stranger to taking on local politicians in Custer County, has the sheriff’s office in his sights these days. A wild column he published this week accuses Custer County Sheriff Sergeant Pete Elliott of using an “anonymous Facebook account to libel and possibly intimidate a key witness.”

🪦 George Gramlich, the founding editor of the partisan conservative Sangre de Cristo Sentinel newspaper in Westcliffe, died last month. The paper ran a small Oct. 3 notice about his death a few weeks before closing down.

📨 In the wake of news about the Denver Post’s ownership not paying rent to the city, the Denver Newspaper Guild has sent a letter “requesting more information about the situation and the Post’s financial status,” I’m told, though they’ve “decided to keep it internal.”

🏈 CU Buffaloes football coach Deion Sanders “did not allow any of his players to speak with the media following Colorado’s 52-17 loss to Arizona at Folsom Field in Boulder,” Steve DelVecchio wrote for Larry Brown Sports. “That was the first time in Sanders’ three seasons with the school that Buffaloes players were not made available.” (Sanders said he made the decision because he was to blame for the loss.)

💨 Jerry Schemmel, the longtime radio voice for the Colorado Rockies on KOA, “was laid off by iHeartRadio,” reported Patrick Saunders for the Denver Post. “I wasn’t completely shocked by the phone call, as I knew other layoffs were happening in Denver,” the 65-year-old Schemmel told the paper. “But a little surprised because I was making only 25% of the salary I was making when they let me go the first time.”

⚙️ Linda Shapley, who the nonprofit National Trust for Local News let go when it offloaded most of its papers earlier this year, announced she is joining COLab as the director of its MATCH Lab. “MATCH Lab (short for Media, Academia and Talent Collaborating to Help) connects newsrooms with college students & professors and SCORE Denver & WY mentors to take on real newsroom challenges,” she said.

🎙️ iHeartMedia News/Talk 850/94.1 KOA Denver is “eliminating its morning news block as 9am-12pm host Ross Kaminsky moves to mornings starting Monday, November 10,” Lance Venta reported for RadioInsight.

🍻 See what journalism-inspired events are taking place this month at The Denver Press Club here.

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