A coalition of Colorado newsrooms is joining forces to share vital COVID-19 news coverage and strengthen accountability journalism across the state – with a mission to better meet the urgent information needs of all Coloradans.
Covering the wide-ranging public health and economic crises of COVID-19 is the latest initiative of the newly formed Colorado News Collaborative – also known as COLab. Most Colorado newsrooms are already offering COVID-19 coverage for free to the public, and professional journalists have been declared essential workers by Governor Jared Polis.
Participating newsrooms aim to coordinate coverage to avoid duplication and maximize resources; cover more stories about people and communities statewide that are currently going untold; collaborate across newsrooms on data-driven accountability journalism; and facilitate wider distribution of stories, in both English and other languages, in order to better serve the public.
COLab’s new COVID-19 Coverage Network becomes Colorado’s widest-ranging journalism collaboration – including key newsrooms and professional associations from the state’s print, online, television, and radio broadcast mediums, and both nonprofit and commercial newsrooms.
With operating and launch support from the Colorado Media Project and the Colorado Press Association, COLab serves as a resource hub for local newsrooms across the state, from the smallest to the largest, both urban and rural. The group plans to use the Associated Press’ new platform, StoryShare, to allow any Colorado newsroom to participate, including non-AP newsrooms.
Colorado newsrooms and journalists can sign up to join the COVID-19 Coverage Network here, and join a webinar on Thursday, April 9 to learn more about the network’s tools and support from veteran investigative journalist Laura Frank (Rocky Mountain PBS, iNews, and Rocky Mountain News) and Jim Clarke (Director-West, Associated Press).
Founding members of the Colorado News Collaborative include tenants of the COLab Newsroom, opening this fall at Rocky Mountain Public Media’s new Buell Center for Public Media in downtown Denver, in addition to the state’s largest statewide newsrooms and journalism membership organizations:
The COLab’s first network, Misinformation Watch Colorado, launched in March to help newsrooms and community members across the state root out online, misinformation on COVID-19, the 2020 Census, the 2020 elections, and other timely topics. As of March 31, more than 20 newsrooms are participating. Journalists are being accepted on a rolling basis and can sign up here. The network is moderated by veteran data journalist Sandra Fish, a fellow with First Draft News, a global nonprofit tackling information disorder.
Through these topical reporting collaborations and professional support, COLab aims to build capacity in independent local newsrooms, which collectively have had to reduce their reporting corps by 44% over the past decade as local advertising revenue has migrated online.
Colorado Press Association has taken a leadership role in the formation of COLab, which will focus on newsroom sustainability (business models, succession planning, revenue diversification) as well as capacity-building (journalism, training, mentoring) — not only for CPA members but for all journalism organizations statewide.
“Colorado’s independent local newsrooms produce high-quality journalism that supports civic engagement and ensures public accountability,” said Jill Farschman, CEO of Colorado Press Association. “That’s a mission we all share, and there has never been a more critical time for us to put collaboration above competition, to ensure that our children always have access to strong and independent local news.”
Colorado Media Project, a community-led initiative started in 2018 that advocates for innovation and collaboration in local newsrooms to better serve civic information needs, is supporting the launch of COLab through strategic planning and staff support. Colorado Media Project is fiscally sponsored by Rose Community Foundation.
“All Coloradans – especially those from traditionally underserved communities, groups, and geographical areas – deserve access to independent, high-quality local news and information,” said Melissa Milios Davis, Acting Director of the Colorado Media Project. “We must act urgently to ensure that Colorado newsrooms continue to evolve in ways that meet the news and information needs of our state’s increasingly diverse residents.”