Today we’re excited to announce that eight Colorado newsrooms and two newsroom-community partnerships will receive a total of $85,000 in grants to support local journalism and community listening and reporting projects that address critical information needs, questions, and concerns about uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among communities of color and other marginalized groups.
In collaboration with Rose Community Foundation and The Colorado Health Foundation (TCHF), Colorado Media Project established its 2021 Informed Communities — Vaccine Equity grant opportunity to support the work of journalism organizations that have existing, trusted relationships with communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
“Communities of color and other marginalized groups have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in Colorado, so it’s critically important that they have timely, accurate, culturally relevant local news and information about the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Colorado Media Project Director Melissa Milios Davis. “We are lucky to have a number of strong local newsrooms serving these communities that are well-positioned to directly answer their questions with well-reported, independent journalism that answers real and common concerns, and lifts the voices, experiences and choices of trusted local leaders.”
Focus groups and public opinion polls and surveys conducted by TCHF and others such as the Kaiser Family Foundation/Kaiser Health News have found common concerns about the COVID vaccines among communities of color include potential side effects, immigration-related fears, experiences with racism and bias, or lack of trust and confidence in health care and other systems. These same communities also face increased challenges accessing the COVID-19 vaccine due to structural barriers, including a lack of culturally responsive and accurate information, limited interpretation or translation services, and limited access to technology.
“Understanding the history and unique perspectives that Coloradans of color have about the COVID-19 vaccines is critical to reporting the type of information and stories that communities of color need to make informed decisions,” said Taryn Fort, Senior Director of Communications and External Influence at The Colorado Health Foundation. “This is why we are proud to support trusted newsrooms across the state who are providing accurate and vital information through their local reporting. If we can achieve vaccine equity, we are another step closer to providing Coloradans what they need for their families and communities to be healthy and well.”
A total of 22 applicants requested a total of $189,928 from the Colorado Media Project fund. In making its grant award decisions, the CMP review committee prioritized organizations with a strong track record of reaching specific audiences most impacted by COVID-19, and with well-developed project plans and/or partnerships that articulated how grant funds would be used to ensure additional, community-responsive coverage on vaccine hesitancy. The committee also prioritized ensuring the cohort of grantees as a whole serves a range of geographies, racial/ethnic/linguistic groups, and other highly impacted populations.
“We are committed to addressing inequities around vaccine access in a multitude of ways, and support for community-informed journalism outlets is one strategic component,” said Rose Community Foundation’s Vice President of Communications & Outreach Sarah Kurz. “Local news organizations have a critical role to play in ensuring communities have access to trustworthy information about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines and how to access them.”
Meet CMP’s 2021 Informed Communities Fund — Vaccine Equity Grantees:
Denver Urban Spectrum has served Colorado’s communities of color for nearly three decades, through its monthly publication distributed in print, online and through social media. An $8,000 grant will support the outlet in reporting and publishing monthly articles on the COVID-19 vaccine and creating a first-person series entitled “COVID-19 Confessions”, featuring 30- to 60-second videos with trusted community members about their feelings, insights and decisions about getting vaccinated.
The Denver VOICE is a Colorado Press Association member that serves the unhoused population throughout the Denver Metro area through a monthly print publication, which covers issues of concern to this population, and also through a face-to-face information network of trusted ambassadors in its newspaper vendor program. A $10,000 grant from CMP will support street outreach, printing costs, and journalism staff costs.
El Comercio de Colorado is a bilingual, multigenerational, multimedia newsroom serving Latinx and immigrant communities in the Denver and Northern Front Range metro area through a biweekly print edition and digital products. A $10,000 from CMP will support a series of culturally-responsive, community-specific reports containing science-based explanations about the COVID-19 vaccine, logistical information about vaccination events, and information about COVID-related recovery specific to the Latinx population in Colorado.
KGNU Community Radio is a nonprofit community radio station serving Boulder County and the Denver Metro area. The station will use its $6,500 grant to deepen its existing relationships with Boulder County’s growing Latinx community by working with local immigrant-serving groups to coordinate conversations and call-in programs on-air, and to produce and disseminate a series of PSA info-spots featuring trusted Spanish-speaking community members.
KSUT‘s Tribal Radio and Four Corners Public Radio serve four counties in Southwest Colorado in addition to Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribal lands. The station will receive $10,000 to support local journalists and digital media content producers in hosting on-air and digital conversations about the vaccine with local tribal leaders and public health experts; increase reporting on vaccine questions and perspectives from tribal, rural, immigrant and homeless communities; and work with community partners to share information about pop-up and mobile clinics.
La Tricolor Aspen is the only radio station serving Spanish speakers and immigrants living, working, and commuting in the Roaring Fork Valley, from Glenwood to Rifle, where Spanish speakers make up around 30 percent of the population. A $10,000 grant from CMP will enable the station to hire Spanish language interpreters for its live interviews with English speakers and authorities, and also help expand the station’s digital presence on social media to reach more listeners.
Mile High Asian Media provides news and information to Asian-American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities across Colorado through three platforms: Asian Avenue Magazine (an English monthly publication), Rocky Mountain Chinese Weekly (a weekly Chinese print newspaper), and the Colorado Chinese Radio Network. The newsroom will receive $10,000 to increase staff capacity, and expand its already extensive work with AAPI community groups and businesses to conduct virtual listening sessions and visit vaccine clinics, interview participants on their concerns and reasons for getting the vaccine, and share their stories.
Montbello Organizing Committee is a nonprofit organization serving people of color, immigrants and refugees in far northeast Denver. In partnership with Denver Urban Spectrum, MOC publishes a bimonthly print newspaper, The MUSE, in English and Spanish to feature columns, articles, and opinions written by residents and local elected officials. MOC will use its $5,500 grant from CMP to conduct interviews and a survey, produce original reporting, and answer common resident questions about the vaccine in MUSE and on its social media channels.
Rocky Mountain Welcome Center is an immigrant-led, direct-service nonprofit organization that has shifted its services throughout 2020 to provide immigrant and refugee communities in Aurora with access to timely COVID information and resources in 19 native languages through its website and social media. Through a 2020 CMP Informed Communities grant, RMWC started working with respected radio journalist Rodolfo José Cardenas on KNRV “La Buena Onda” 1150 AM to produce a regular half-hour Spanish-language radio segment on COVID for Rodolfo’s popular show, “Hablemos Hoy/Perspectivas.” This $5,000 grant from CMP will support the continuation of that program, to focus on community questions surrounding the COVID vaccine.
The Southeast Express is a nonprofit, monthly newspaper and website launched in 2019 to serve the remarkably diverse and vibrant, but economically redeveloping, southeast quadrant of Colorado Springs. A $10,000 CMP grant will support staff in producing a series of vaccine-related community forums to hear from health care professionals of color who are reflective of the communities served by the publication, and investigative reporting on equity and information surrounding communities of color.
For more information about the CMP Grant Opportunity: Informing Communities to Ensure Equitable Access to the COVID-19 Vaccine, visit our Informed Communities page.