Colorado Media Project is pleased to announce the first of two new grant opportunities for local Colorado newsrooms in 2025. The 2025 Newsroom Sustainability Grant supports projects that strengthen newsroom financial, staffing, and operational sustainability in Colorado. Applications are open now, and the deadline to apply for this grant is 5pm Mountain Time, Monday, June 30, 2025.  

Colorado Media Project is pleased to announce one of two new grant opportunities for local Colorado newsrooms in 2025. The 2025 Closing Community Coverage Gaps Grant provides flexible support to newsrooms serving Colorado’s BIPOC, non-English speaking, and rural communities. Applications are open now, and the deadline to apply for this grant is 5pm Mountain Time, Monday, June 30, 2025.  CMP will be hosting an information session about this grant opportunity via Zoom on Friday, June 13, 2025, from 11:00-11:45 a.m.

Locally owned and non-profit newsrooms serving communities across Colorado are invited to apply to join the 2024 #newsCOneeds Year-End Giving Challenge, and apply for matching grant funding from CMP.

Colorado newsrooms seeking to build connections and trust with local residents through in-person events can now apply for grants of up to $1,500 through CMP’s new Above the Noise Community Events fund.

Small newsrooms or coalitions that provide original reporting in underserved communities — and have budgets under $1 million — are eligible to apply. At least 100 newsrooms nationwide will receive around $100,000 each over two years in unrestricted funds.

Colorado’s local and statewide newsrooms and nonpartisan community and civic groups are invited to join forces with Rocky Mountain Public Media, Colorado State University’s Center for Public Deliberation, the Colorado Press Association, Colorado News Collaborative, and the Colorado Media Project in a statewide campaign to reclaim and reimagine the public square across all of Colorado’s 64 counties.

All Colorado newsrooms are invited to participate in this project to the depth of their choosing. This could range from promoting the initiative and encouraging your audiences to participate in regional events, to asking your community the common questions (to be developed in conjunction with participating newsrooms), to reporting the results and ensuring your community is represented in the statewide reporting, to joining a cohort that will receive additional training and support for community listening and engagement, and/or joining the steering committee for the project.

Colorado newsrooms are invited to apply for funding to support projects that build newsroom and community capacity to address inequities and harness a wider array of partners and community assets to create a healthier, more inclusive public square in Colorado.

This fall, up to 12 Colorado newsrooms will be selected to receive training, cohort support, and coaching from Hearken to develop a winning strategy to surface and respond to their public’s critical information needs related to elections. Each participating newsroom will also receive a $1,000 stipend to support their engagement strategy. Apply by Aug. 7.