💰 What Colorado newsrooms are paying journalists in 2025

The news behind the news in Colorado

Each fall, this newsletter reports on the pay landscape in Colorado journalism.

We’re luckier than most on this front because of a 2021 state transparency law that requires Colorado employers to publish salary ranges with their job postings.

“If we’re talking about a journalist in Colorado who could be employed by a Colorado publication or a national publication, the pay has to be posted for a job in Colorado,” said Scott Moss, who was then the director of Colorado’s Division of Labor Standards, at the time.

Back then, the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act was relatively new, and not every newsroom was saying what they were willing to pay journalists — despite the possibility of a $10,000 fine per posting and additional financial penalties if a company doesn’t shape up. (The state agency in charge of enforcing the new law was working with companies as employers adjusted to the new regulations.)

By now, employers should know the rules, and it has become custom on social media for those who see Colorado newsroom job listings that don’t include a pay scale to publicly call it out.

Since Colorado is a relatively rare state where newsrooms must publicly say what they’re willing to pay, it might be useful for those in other states if they want to know what’s what out here — with all the relevant caveats.

Below is an idea of Colorado newsroom wage offerings based on job listings from the site JournalismJobs, Andrew Hudson’s Jobs List, Indeed, or elsewhere within the past month or so.

I’ve ranked them from the highest-paying to the lowest, starting with editor and anchor positions and followed by reporting jobs.

Colorado Public Radio is hiring a morning editor and will pay $64,200 to $85,500.

KRDO, run by Pikes Peak Television Inc in the Springs, will pay a weather anchor $70,000 for the weekday newscasts.

Rocky Mountain PBS wants to fill a position for a multimedia journalist and will pay $60,000 to $67,000 per year to work along the I-70 corridor and high country area.

Last week’s newsletter drew attention to an off-the-wall job listing for a “solo-operator position” of general manager, editor, and sales consultant at the hedge-fund-owned Estes Park Trail-Gazette newspaper. Here’s the $62,000 a year (plus possible bonuses) listing in its raw form.

The Scripps-owned Denver7 TV station listed an MMJ position at $39.66 to $42.31 an hour, a digital content producer at $28 to $31.47, and an editor position at $22.12 to $30.

An MMJ could earn $19 to $23 an hour at the Gray-owned TV news station KKTV in the Springs.

Beacon Senior News, a magazine that focuses on people experiencing advanced age in Colorado Springs, was willing to pay a content and engagement editor $18 to $22 an hour.

The hedge-fund-owned Cañon City Daily Record is looking for an experienced journalist to serve as the newspaper’s assistant editor, who it will pay $16.83 to $18.27 an hour.

Job postings for journalism jobs across the state seemed noticeably sparse this fall compared to previous years.

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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 “Writing with Purpose: How Ethical Persuasion Can Shift Public Discourse for a Healthier Colorado” that includes concrete examples.

With ballots now in the mail, check out The Colorado Health Foundation’s 2025 Local Ballot Measure Tracker. Your civic participation matters, so make sure you’re registered to vote and that your information is current at GoVoteColorado.com.

Just last week, the Colorado News Collaborative called our annual Pulse Poll a “trove of information useful to reporters.” The Colorado Health Foundation’s Katie Peshek recently 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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Democratic congressional members urge FCC to block takeover of Denver’s 9NEWS

A Democratic U.S. Senator from Colorado and a Boulder-area Democratic member of Congress this week sent a letter to the FCC urging the agency to reject a deal that would merge 9NEWS in Denver with its rival FOX31.

The move comes as Nexstar Media Group, which owns KDVR/FOX31, says it has made a deal to take over TEGNA Inc, which owns 9NEWS.

Now, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Congressman Joe Neguse are urging FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to block it.

This is from their Oct. 24 letter:

“We write to express significant concern about the proposed merger between Nexstar Media Group and TEGNA Inc that is currently under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) review. If approved, this deal would violate the national broadcast ownership cap and could have devastating consequences for our home state of Colorado. That’s why we implore your agency to put Americans first and reject this deal that will ultimately put corporate profit above the needs of our communities.”

The pair said they worry the deal will lead to consolidation and give “corporate owners greater control over programming.”

Here’s more:

“Approving this merger is not in the public interest, nor is it within the authority of the FCC. Congress made it clear that only Congress, not the FCC, has the authority to unilaterally lift or eliminate the national broadcast ownership cap. As such, this proposed merger between Nexstar Media Group and TEGNA Inc. would violate federal law and jeopardize local news stations and local coverage. For this reason, we urge you to reject this merger and maintain the integrity of our local media.”

The FCC has “not indicated when it will rule on the proposed transaction, which still faces review under the Commission’s media ownership and public interest standards,” Matthew Keys reported for The Desk on Oct. 27. “Nexstar has not publicly responded to the Colorado lawmakers’ objections.”

Sangre de Cristo Sentinel newspaper prints ‘final edition’ in Westcliffe (again)

That didn’t last long.

About two months after a local couple, one of whom was in elected office, sought to revive the shuttered partisan conservative Sangre de Cristo Sentinel newspaper in Westcliffe, the paper is once again shutting down.

From an Oct. 24 note to readers from Michael Foster:

Several weeks ago, I was presented a unique opportunity to help keep The Sangre De Cristo Sentinel up and running. It was an opportunity that I was humbled and thankful to receive, and my family and I threw ourselves at the tasks ahead. I am proud of the way the team here at The Sentinel came together, in an emotional time, to keep the newspaper running. I am very, very proud of the editions we have put out over the past few weeks. As humble a goal as it may seem, I believe that we’ve been Accurate, Timely, and Relevant and I couldn’t be more pleased with the paper’s direction and trajectory.

Unfortunately, the conditions have changed. In light of challenges that were as unexpected as they were unfortunate, last Friday’s edition of The Sentinel you received will be this paper’s final edition.

Around mid-August, Michael and Reggie Foster of Custer County wrote that they had been presented with the opportunity to acquire the paper and take over its operation as owners and publishers. Regina “Reggie” Foster is the president of the Custer County School Board and is also the county director for the Colorado State University extension.

The paper was based in Westcliffe in Custer County. To offer a sense of its orientation, it displayed a “Trump Won” yard sign in front of its downtown offices following the 2020 presidential election.

For years, the weekly Sentinel had been in a bitter newspaper war with the more established Wet Mountain Tribune. Earlier this year, the Sentinel’s former publisher said he needed to close the paper citing health issues. The Fosters took up the torch. Until now.

“In this experiment we call America, that’s how it goes,” Michael Foster wrote in his goodbye note. “Sometimes things work out exactly as you’d hoped, sometimes they don’t. This is a case of the latter. And, though it is disheartening and disappointing to have to shut down the Sentinel, our goals and values have not changed. We remain committed to being as positive and uplifting an impact on this great community of ours as possible. We will continue to find the good out there and lift up our neighbors whenever possible.”

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➡️ As a 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. 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. ⬅️

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Centennial State > Surveillance State: Denver’s ‘Flock’ cameras come under intense scrutiny

Denver’s liberal mayor, Mike Johnston, came under significant scrutiny by Denver media this week regarding his support for surveillance cameras around the city and claims he has made about them.

“Pinocchio mayor” read the subject line of the much-read Axios Denver newsletter on Thursday. It followed a pair of brutal newscasts on “Next with Kyle Clark” on 9NEWS.

At issue is growing concern about a network of automated AI-powered license plate readers called “Flock” cameras.

This is from reporter Chase Woodruff at the nonprofit Colorado Newsline:

Amid nationwide concerns about the use of Flock’s surveillance network to aid President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation campaign, Johnston’s defense of the cameras as a key crime-fighting tool for police has emerged as a defining issue of his first term in office. Weeks after City Council members unanimously rejected a two-year, $666,000 contract extension with Flock in May, Johnston’s office agreed to a shorter-term extension priced at $498,500 — just below the $500,000 threshold at which city contracts require council approval.

Media reported the cameras can capture up to two million images around the city of Denver each month.

“The cameras scan license plates to help solve crimes, but several council members say their concerns about data privacy and transparency have yet to be addressed,” Jasmine Arenas reported for CBS Colorado.

Last week, hundreds flocked to a heated town hall meeting about the spy eyes. “These are not our grandparents’ mass surveillance technology,” Westword’s Bennito L. Kelty reported one council member said. “This is so different.”

More from Colorado Newsline’s reporting:

404 Media reported earlier this year that a sheriff’s deputy in Johnson County, Texas, had used Flock’s nationwide search function to surveil a woman who had an abortion. Both Flock and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department claimed the search was performed as part of a “missing person” investigation for the woman’s safety, but court records subsequently contradicted that claim, showing the woman was under scrutiny as part of a “death investigation” of a “non-viable fetus.”

Already, a much-publicized instance in which authorities relied on the cameras to finger a wrong suspect has made one Colorado police department the poster child for how things can go wrong.

Still, Tim Hoffman, the mayor’s policy director, “defended Johnston’s approach, pushing back at suggestions the system’s ‘passive’ collection of images doesn’t constitute mass surveillance,” Esteban L. Hernandez reported for Axios Denver.

The development in Denver is spotlighting issues in the age of AI, cheaper and easier-to-manufacture mass surveillance tools, local government’s appetite to use them, and how media respond.

Get the ‘gossip on Colorado’s alt-weeklies’ at the Press Club

Colorado’s alternative weekly newspapers have had a rough recent go of it.

Two of them utterly collapsed in discouraging fashion within the past year alone. (See: the Colorado Springs Indy and Boulder Weekly.)

But next week, current and former scribes from some of these Colorado institutions will gather at the Denver Press Club “for a night of tales and gossip on Colorado’s alt-weeklies.”

That’s according to an announcement this week for a Nov. 6 event called “Consider the Alternative” hosted by Cara DeGette, Fran Zankowski, and Patty Calhoun, all old heads in the alt-weekly world.

“It wasn’t all sex, drugs and rock and roll,” the announcement reads. “Colorado’s alt-weeklies did ground-breaking journalism, too.” Those putting it on hope people come armed with anecdotes and stories about their wild times in the alternative weekly trenches.

Alt-weeklies, which served as punky counterculture organs of the American underground in cities of a certain size since the 1970s — and where I got my own start in the news business — have been blinking out in recent years for a variety of reasons.

Chase Woodruff, a journalist for Colorado Newsline who was laid off from Denver’s alt paper Westword in 2020, wrote on social media once about a particular aspect of the decline.

“The slow death of the alt-weekly is awful and it’s important to say why,” he said. “It’s not just about losing local reporting. It’s no coincidence that powerful people in this country feel less accountable than ever as we lose places where they can be profanely told they’re full of shit.”

No doubt, a gathering of former alt-weekly writers will be a thing to behold — the swear jar notwithstanding.

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🌿 This week’s newsletter is proudly supported by Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency™, founded by longtime journalist Ricardo Baca (formerly of the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, now serving on the Colorado Public Radio board).

At Grasslands, we don’t just work with journalists, we work for them. Our team of former reporters and editors, together with our veteran comms colleagues, build thoughtful connections between journalists and sources while investing directly back into Colorado’s journalism community.

Next up: Grasslands Presents: The Colorado Journalist Meetup, returning Nov. 3 at the Denver Press Club with a powerful panel discussion, Mental Health for Modern Journalists: How to Process and Heal After Covering Mass Shootings, Violent Protests and Other Unimaginables. The evening will include happy hour, community conversation, and candid insights from journalists Trevor Hughes (USA Today), Kyle Harris (CPR News/Denverite), and Vicky Collins (NBC News) alongside mental health professionals from Boulder-based Naropa University, the birthplace of the modern mindfulness movement.

Our mission with these Colorado Journalist Meetups is simple: to uplift journalism, support those who practice it, and strengthen the fabric of Colorado media. (Note: These events are only open to active Colorado media members.)

RSVP to the Colorado Journalist Meetup via Grasslands SAE Jonathan Rose (ex-Denver Business Journal): jonathan@mygrasslands.com 🌿

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More Colorado media odds & ends

⚾ The Society of Professional Journalists’ Colorado Pro Chapter is presenting on Nov. 4 journalist and play-by-play broadcaster Justin Adams who will talk about Theodore “Bubbles” Anderson, the baseball legend who has been inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. SPJ Colorado Pro events chair Marco Cummings will moderate the discussion. Learn more here.

🤦‍♂️ What’s the quality control at KDVR FOX31 these days? The station ran on its website this week an item for a “Support the Shield” series that included this eye-poppingly sloppy story. This is the station that’s supposed to takeover 9NEWS in Denver, folks, so scrutiny on what it’s doing ought to be high, no?

📡 Rocky Mountain Community Radio is holing its annual conference Nov. 5-7 at the at the Buell Public Media Center in Denver. “This year’s gathering in the big city will feature three focused tracks—Strategic Planning, News, and Music & Programming—with sessions designed to strengthen collaboration, share resources, and spark fresh ideas across our regional network,” an announcement states.

🤖 University of Denver journalism professor Kareem El Damanhoury said he found a way of “reconciling the headache” from him kids’ consistent uttering of “six-seven” with “the constant updates on the AI video generation movement” by using the Sora 2 AI tool to turn himself into a comedian. Watch it here.

🎙️ Since Wayne Laugesen quietly departed the Gazette as its editorial page editor last month, he’s been nabbing some high-profile guests on his new podcast project Wayne’s Word. This week, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis sat for an interview in the pod’s home studio in Monument. “Laugesen and I don’t agree on many issues, but we can have a civil conversation,” Polis said on social media. “I went on Wayne’s Word to discuss how we can disagree better — finding common ground while tackling tough issues like housing, taxes, and our environment.”

🎥 For his What Works podcast, Northeastern journalism professor Dan Kennedy spoke with filmmaker Rick Goldsmith about his documentary “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink,” which focuses on the secretive hedge fund that owns the Denver Post. “The reason we’re having Rick on now is that you’ll be able to watch ‘Stripped for Parts’ through Dec. 31 for free on the PBS app, which you can access through Apple TV, Roku, Google Play and most smart TVs,” Kennedy wrote.

🏆 Laura Frank, the executive director of the Colorado News Collaborative known as COLab, won the Institute for Nonprofit News award for Service to Nonprofit News.

🗣️ Brier Dudley, the Free Press editor for the Seattle Times, published a Q-and-A with Coloradan Amalie Nash who is the new vice president of news at the Knight Foundation. He asked her what she took away from the National Trust for Local News retrenching in Colorado and selling “most of its papers there to a chain.” Nash, who worked for the Trust, said in part: “I just don’t see any sort of path in which philanthropy is going to sustain a really strong news ecosystem around the country. I think it’s going to be part of the pie but I don’t think it’s going to be everything.”

🙏 Thanks to Ryan Warner for inviting me, former Denver Post Editor Greg Moore, and Jeff Roberts of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition to take part in a live taping of “Colorado Matters” on Colorado Public Radio. The topic was about trust and local news and took place at Front Range Community College. Kudos to FRCC professor Aaron Leff for setting it up and his students for asking great questions. Look out for the broadcast soon.

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.