In this challenging time, journalists in Colorado and around the country are playing a crucial role to keep our communities informed. In support of their work, many of our peers in local news advocacy have set up online hubs with resources and advice for covering the COVID-19 pandemic, adjusting to remote work, and host of other important topics. Here are a few handy links to bookmark and share among your newsrooms:
Lenfest Institute is curating guides, toolkits and other best practices from journalists, newsrooms and advocacy organizations around the country, as well as funding opportunities to support coronavirus coverage.
Colorado Press Association has assembled copious resources, including tools for newsgathering and helpful advice for small businesses and employers.
Center for Cooperative Media is showcasing the many ways journalists are working collaboratively to cover the crisis.
Institute for Nonprofit News is taking submissions to track nonprofit newsrooms’ reporting needs, as well as aggregating links to resources like these.
Hearken has made available for free download the slides and video recording from its March 12 webinar on responding to coronavirus public information needs.
Internews is launching a rapid response fund to help small, local news organizations worldwide survive in the face of COVID-19. The fund will launch with $100,000 to be made available immediately and is targeting $1 million in donations to provide immediate support for journalists globally.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has published new resources for journalists and public officials to ensure protection of press and public access to government information.
National Geographic has put out a call for proposals for a COVID-19 local news emergency fund, to be reviewed on a rolling basis until further notice.
Membership Puzzle Project shares 15+ examples of how member-driven organizations are adapting membership appeals, events, and more to respond to the realities of the crisis.
Trusting News has an advice series on earning trust during unusual times, covering journalistic purpose, credibility, funding and engagement.
First Draft News is providing guidance to help combat the spread of misinformation, and support verification, ethics and responsible reporting, data and information resources, and much more. In addition, Colorado journalists can now sign up to join Misinformation Watch Colorado, to gain access to a private, moderated Slack channel, and receive timely email updates from 20+ year veteran data journalist Sandra Fish on viral misinformation on a range of topics – including COVID-19.
Likewise here at home, many Colorado newsrooms have stepped up with up-to-the-minute and in-depth coverage of what coronavirus means to our communities.
Colorado Sun has statewide stories on the vast collateral impact coronavirus has wrought –depleting foodbanks, outdoor recreation, service workers, spiking gun sales and more.
Denverite has set up a live blog with “news you can use and slices of life in these weird times.”
Chalkbeat Colorado is covering all things education – school closures, child care, dos and don’ts for parents, where to find meals for kids, etc.
Colorado Independent is as-always committed to telling the broader story through the lens of how it affects vulnerable populations. Here’s Tina Griego on how Colorado is bracing for a wave of domestic violence amid mass quarantine and job losses.
Denver Post, Colorado Politics and Colorado Community Media have made the decision to lift their paywalls to provide free access to vital public safety information.
Corey Hutchins is tweeting all this news and more about how Colorado journalists and newsrooms are responding to coronavirus. Here’s Cory on how journalists are adapting, and how layoffs are hitting Colorado newsrooms. For the latest, subscribe to his newsletter.
KUNC has a welcome change of pace … social distancing tips from Billy Barr, the lone resident of Gothic, Colorado, an abandoned silver mining town where he’s spent the last half-century in near complete isolation.
We’ll plan to update this post with additional materials on an ongoing basis. In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, Colorado Media Project is always available as a resource (don’t hesitate to email us at info@coloradomediaproject.com). And if we can’t help you directly, we’ll try our best to leverage our growing network of journalists and community leaders on your behalf.
To all the journalists working hard to help Coloradans stay safe — and thank you for everything you do.