The Trust Press, a commercial printing facility launched by the National Trust for Local News to
address the skyrocketing costs of producing local news in Colorado, is now operational. The new
press is printing the publications of Colorado Community Media, also owned by the National
Trust, and will begin printing dozens of other local and ethnic newspapers in the new year.
Today, Giving Newsday, is the start of the 2024 #newsCOneeds Year-End Giving Campaign! By the end of December, 35 community newsrooms are engaged in a campaign to increase public awareness and grassroots support from individuals for the vital public service that journalism provides to our communities. They collectively aim to raise at least one million dollars to support local news - and they need your help!
Denver, October 16 - Press Forward Colorado today announced that nine local media outlets have been awarded $900,000 in grants as part of the Press Forward national foundation’s first open call for funding.
These nine Colorado newsrooms - Alamosa Citizen, Asian Avenue Magazine, Aurora Sentinel Community Media, El Comercio de Colorado, KVNF Mountain Grown Community Radio, Ouray County Plaindealer, San Miguel Basin Forum, Sopris Sun, and World Journal - will each receive $50,000 per year for the next two years to support their work serving their communities, and closing coverage gaps for communities of color, rural communities, and linguistically diverse communities.
In this pivotal time for the future of local civic news, CMP seeks candidates and nominations for its next Director. The Director will play a crucial role in advancing CMP’s mission to support sustainable, equitable, and community-centered journalism in Colorado. Reporting to CMP’s Executive Committee, and employed by CMP’s fiscal sponsor, the Rose Community Foundation, this leadership position requires a dynamic and strategic individual with a passion for public service and accessible civic information, exceptional relationship-building skills, and deep expertise in fundraising, strategic communications, coalition building, and organizational management.
These locally owned and nonprofit Colorado newsrooms are set to earn dollar-for-dollar matches from CMP this giving season in the 2022 #newsCOneeds campaign — aimed at inspiring more Coloradans to support locally created, public-service journalism that informs and engages communities and strengthens civic engagement statewide.
Where do Coloradans get their local news — and how? Who do they trust, what are they paying for — and why? What roles do Coloradans think local journalists should be playing in our democracy — and how well do they think they are doing? A new 2022 survey of more than 1,800 Coloradans provides 10 key takeaways that reflect current views of local news outlets and journalists — and trends that are shaping their future.
In partnership with Colorado News Collaborative and News Revenue Hub, our 2021 #newsCOneeds campaign and matching grant challenge is an ecosystem-wide, public awareness-building opportunity for all Colorado newsrooms to spotlight the positive impacts they are making in their communities, and to build trust in and support for their local public-service journalism.
The 2022 #newsCOneeds cohort of participating news organizations included small, locally-owned rural and urban newspapers, local public radio stations, statewide digital outlets, nonprofit newsrooms, a public benefit corporation, a big city alt-weekly, a one-person startup, and more. In the end, the effort raised more than $700,000 for newsrooms across Colorado.
While many groups and individuals are hard at work across the sector, for the past 3.5 years Colorado Media Project has attempted to serve as a center of gravity for engaging non-journalists — especially those from underserved communities — in this pivotal time for the future of local civic news. We see our role as helping to catalyze, fund, and advocate for innovations that make Colorado's local news ecosystem more sustainable, collaborative, trustworthy and accountable to the public it serves.
Newsroom leaders, publishers of color, broadcasters, nonpartisan civic groups, national thought leaders voiced support for House Bill 22-1121 at a committee hearing, where legislators voted 8-3 for the bill.
Colorado Media Project is seeking a creative, flexible, motivated individual to serve as Learning and Grants Manager for the next phase of CMP’s life cycle. This is a highly strategic but behind-the-scenes role, as we strive to keep CMP grantees and partners center stage and coalition funders actively engaged in making strategic and responsive grants in this rapidly evolving field for philanthropy.
Applications for TWO new Informed Communities grant opportunities are due Dec. 1, 2021. Learn more and RSVP for our Nov. 11 information session!
Small, community-based news outlets currently serving a core audience that, because of language, race or ethnicity, and/or geography, is not adequately served by other news outlets in the state are invited to apply for a new, three-year grant that provides support for growth and enhanced community service. The total grant amount per news organization may range between $30,000 and $60,000 per year for three years, with funding starting in January 2022.
These grants will support projects that address one or more of these three priorities: Support internal diversity, equity and inclusion capacity-building efforts in Colorado newsrooms; strengthen connections and build trust between Colorado newsrooms and the diverse communities they serve; and/or support more diverse and inclusive civic news leadership, entrepreneurship, ownership and narratives. A total of at least $250,000 is expected to be available for 2022; the total grant amount per project for most projects will range between $5,000 and $25,000, with potential for more funding for projects that involve multiple partners and/or deliver more impact
In partnership with Colorado News Collaborative and News Revenue Hub, our 2021 #newsCOneeds campaign and matching grant challenge is an ecosystem-wide, public awareness-building opportunity for all Colorado newsrooms to spotlight the positive impacts they are making in their communities, and to build trust in and support for their local public-service journalism.
Participating news organizations included small, locally-owned rural and urban newspapers, local public radio stations, statewide digital outlets, nonprofit newsrooms, a public benefit corporation, a big city alt-weekly, a one-person startup, and more. In the end, the effort raised more than $578,000 for newsrooms across Colorado.
The five-month fellowship features a series of four “Water Fluency for Journalists” workshops presented by Fresh Water News (an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news service) in addition to coaching support for individual and collaborative reporting projects from the Colorado News Collaborative. The fellowship experience and $1,000 journalist stipends are made possible with support from the Denver-based Gates Family Foundation.
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