More than 120 Colorado journalists, students and faculty members, community members, nonprofit advocates, funders and civic leaders joined us in Aurora, Colorado Sept. 14-16, 2022 for a unique convening designed to inspire your sense of what's possible for the future our local civic news and engagement in our democracy,
This three-day, in-person convening hosted by Colorado Media Project was sponsored by The Colorado Trust. It was held in coordination with the Colorado Press Association, with Friday sessions and special events overlapping with CPA’s annual convention.
WHY DO WE CONVENE?
To learn, share, reflect and grow together. The primary goal of the CMP convening was for grantees from across Colorado to lift up what they're doing to advance equity in local news, to share what they're learning, to wrestle with big questions they're encountering, and to draw out new ideas for next steps. Every session is designed to be enlightening, thought-provoking, and inspiring — with a diverse mix of perspective and voices, including local journalists, national experts, community members and funders.
This convening was designed with partners for in-person attendance.
HOW AND WHAT DID WE LEARN?
Wednesday evening featured a welcome reception at Rocky Mountain PBS’ Buell Public Media Center in downtown Denver. Attendees got a peek into the COLab Newsroom on the third floor — home to a dozen Colorado newsrooms and media organizations— and we welcomed our out-of-town guests to set the stage for the days to come.
Thursday sessions featured projects supported by 25 new grants that CMP announced in January 2022 totaling nearly $1 million to support Colorado newsrooms, journalists, and media entrepreneurs to strengthen coverage of and service to Colorado's diverse communities of color, as well as rural and low-income residents. Sessions included:
Friday morning we released new data from the 2022 Colorado Media Survey, and offered hands-on workshops for reporting on inequities and raising awareness of and support for local journalism. At lunch we were treated to a keynote address from Maria Hinojosa, whose 30-year career as an award-winning journalist includes reporting for PBS, CBS, WNBC, CNN, NPR, and Anchor and Executive Producer of her Peabody Award-winning show, Latino USA. This was a day of joint programming with Colorado Press Association — which included a learning track designed especially for media outlets that serve diverse communities.
Questions about our 2022 convening — or what’s ahead for 2023? Please contact Sam Moody, CMP Learning and Grants Manager, at sam@coloradomediaproject.com.