Colorado is recognized nationally for its innovative, collaborative local news ecosystem — and since 2018 Colorado Media Project has served as a cross-sector, nonpartisan center of gravity dedicated to Reimagining the Public Square.
At our 2023 CMP Summit, more than 130 stakeholders —journalists, nonprofit leaders, community members, policy staffers, philanthropy and business leaders — from across the state and beyond set a a clear vision for what they’d like to see by 2028: A local news and information ecosystem that is inclusive, trusted, relevant, accessible, adaptive, and sustainable. (You can read more here.)
Colorado Media Project funders are making big bets — together and independently, through grant dollars and impact investments — that have helped launch and grow new media models that are creating a more resilient and responsive local news ecosystem in Colorado, including:
Colorado Community Media was purchased by the National Trust for Local News in 2021 as its first state-level investment. Mission-driven collaboration and creative financing — including a loan guarantee backed by The Colorado Trust, Gates Family Foundation, and the American Journalism Project — helped keep these 24 suburban Denver community newspapers in local hands when owners Jerry and Anne Healey were ready to retire in 2021. CMP helped rally funders to support the acquisition of CCM by the National Trust for Local News, which established a partnership with The Colorado Sun to help operate the news network. NTLN is now investing in community listening, digital transformation, streamlining business services, and boosting editorial capacity.
The Colorado Sun and CMP were born in the same summer of 2018, and for the same reasons: To address with urgency the disturbing expansion of news deserts, and its negative impact on Colorado communities. The upstart digital newsroom launched with 10 expatriates of The Denver Post, and quickly became the rebellious heroes of a national movement to save local news. As of EOY 2021 The Sun had more paying members than The Texas Tribune (in a state with one-fifth the population). CMP’s 2018 summer of research — especially the 2,000+ resident news market survey — and subsequent business development support helped The Sun develop its business model, establish growth targets, and chart a path toward sustainability. In 2021, Gates Family Foundation convened a handful of foundations to provide low-interest, long-term impact investments, and other CMP funders have provided direct grants to support reporting and operations.
In 2019 and 2020 CMP helped to catalyze and incubate The Colorado News Collaborative (COLab), which since 2021 has been an independent nonprofit, statewide media resource hub and ideas lab that strengthens local journalism through the power of collaboration. Together, COLab partners are reporting important stories that no one newsroom could tell alone. And through The Voices Initiative, a CMP-initiated and funded project led by COLab in collaboration with community liaisons, calls to action from community members and journalists of color guide CMP’s Advancing Equity in Local News grantmaking.
Denverite + Colorado Public Radio: In 2019, CMP helped breathe new life into Denverite, a startup online newsroom, helping to navigate a merger with Colorado Public Radio. CMP was both a direct funder and a thought partner in this marriage, bringing together innovative leaders from CPR, Denverite, and its parent company Spirited Media to negotiate a deal, and Bonflis-Stanton Foundation and Gates Family Foundation to provide a three-year runway of financial support that has also helped CPR up-level its digital presence.
