In 2019, a Colorado Media Project study, in collaboration with the Colorado Press Association, identified at least 44 Colorado community newspapers “in transition,” with owners nearing retirement age or otherwise looking to sell or exit the business.
What will happen to local news in these communities when these owners retire? While the business model for local news is struggling, most of these outlets are still modestly profitable small businesses—so who is waiting in the wings, to step up as new community media entrepreneurs?
Unfortunately, many of these trusted local brands—some of them over 100 years old—simply close up shop, leaving news deserts. Since 2004, nearly one in every five Colorado newspapers has met this fate.
Another bad option for local people is when hedge funds like Alden Global Capital, which owns The Denver Post and more than a dozen other Colorado newspapers, step in. These national financers have a bad reputation of “stripping newsrooms for parts”—selling the hard assets, firing local journalists—while pocketing some of the highest profits in the industry. This leaves the dwindling corps of local reporters and newsroom leaders struggling to cover our growing state, and leaves Colorado communities with far less than they deserve.
Luckily, in our state, innovative partners are stepping up to the plate to create new media models:
Colorado Community Media: 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.
Colorado News Conservancy: This public benefit corporation creates a viable and replicable alternative to national consolidation of local news outlets by private equity or hedge funds. The transaction points a new way forward for communities in danger of losing control of local news enterprises that are in many cases the only independent news sources providing critical coverage of community issues.
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.
The Colorado Sun: CMP and The Sun 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. The Sun journalists are also co-owners of the business, which is a public benefit corporation with a dual responsibility to serve the public while making a profit. CMP’s 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.
