This story arrived via reporter Corey Hutchins’ TinyLetter newsletter, on June 26.
With a slogan “Start with the truth” and a four-person journalist team, a new nonprofit newsroom called Colorado Newsline plans to begin covering politics and policy at the start of July.
The outlet, based in Denver, becomes the 17th state-based nonprofit digital news site under the auspices of the States Newsroom, a national initiative backed by undisclosed donors seeking to set up similar sites in 25 states by next year.
“Newsline will be a nonpartisan, fair and independent watchdog on government officials and offices,” the outlet stated in its June 24 announcement. “It will hold leaders to account for their decisions and ensure that readers understand what is driving government actions. Newsline will also feature incisive commentary about issues that are important to Coloradans. All content will be free, and the site will contain no ads.”
Joining the site is former Westword staff writer Chase Woodruff and former Colorado Sun reporter Moe Clark. Reporter Faith Miller is leaving The Colorado Springs Independent alt-weekly to join Newsline, and editor Quentin Young, formerly the opinion page editor of The Boulder Daily Camera, will oversee the team.
Earlier this month I wrote in this newsletter about a recent appearance on Democracy Now! in which former Denver Post editor Greg Moore said, “I’m really concerned about some of the new digital startups. I mean, when you go and look at many of these digital startups, very few people of color are a part of that system.” I noted at the time how a looming question might be whether the then-unnamed Colorado Newsline would face that same criticism when it launched. On Wednesday, when it announced its staff, some criticism came, despite one of the Newsline’s reporters, Miller, being Latina.
Miller will cover immigration, the state legislature, and the military for Newsline. “I’m looking forward to providing accurate, balanced and thorough reporting for a statewide readership examining how state and federal policies affect Coloradans’ lives,” she says.
Editor Young says it’s important for the new site that its journalists “in their personal experience reflect Colorado’s diverse population” and its small initial staff is only a start. “As we fill future openings and engage with columnists and freelancers, we will recruit diverse staff members and contributors, and we encourage journalists from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in newsrooms to contact us,” he says.
That’s not dissimilar to what The Colorado Sun said about seeking diversity through freelance arrangements when it faced its own criticism at its launch two years ago, and as it added more staffers. This Wednesday, Patricia Cameron, director of the Blackpackers nonprofit that’s dedicated to equity in outdoor recreation, wrote on social media, “Y’all want me to sign up for another white newsroom and newsletter in Colorado and the answer is no. I’ve been saying the same shit years: y’all need representation in your newsrooms and I’m not talking freelancers.”
Colorado’s latest nonprofit newsroom hit hard in its launch announcement on the retrenchment of traditional local news, stating, “old business models proved ill-equipped for today’s media landscape.”
Its funding transparency could be an issue for some, as best practices for nonprofit newsrooms in recent years has been to disclose who funds the journalism. “That model may not work for everyone, but it works for us,” States Newsroom director Chris Fitzsimon told a publication last month about the nondisclosure. “We’re proud to be growing and providing a valuable service to our readers at a time when most traditional outlets are pulling back from state house media coverage.”
For years, outlets with questionable funding sources have asked readers to judge them by their work. When an outlet doesn’t disclose its funders, I generally assume a couple things: The donors don’t want it known, and the outlet could be calculating a PR hit for not disclosing is easier to deal with than saying who funds it. Then again, as I’ve recently written, some newspapers in Colorado are now accepting donations, and readers might not always know who those donors are and how much they’re giving. Last year, Colorado Public Radio launched its investigative unit “thanks to an anonymous $300,000 gift.” Readers trust that these institutions maintain adequate editorial firewalls between who funds them and how they carry out their journalism.
For its part, the States Newsroom network, which doesn’t take anonymous donations or corporate sponsorships, has a detailed ethics policy that includes this line: “Editorial decisions are made by journalists alone.” For my part, I’m willing to judge the outlet by its work once it begins, because I’m familiar with the work of its journalists. I also expect some skirmishes over the Newsline’s acceptance into certain journalistic clubs like the Colorado Capitol Press Association or INN, should it try to join. (If you have the time, read this history of press credentials housed on the state legislature’s website and then this 2014 evisceration in Pando Daily by David Sirota about the process. Newsline’s editor told me he plans to apply for credentials at the Capitol.)
Young says Woodruff will cover the environment, the economy, labor, and money and politics, among other topics. Clark will cover social justice, homelessness and housing, and comes with a background covering water issues. The outlet also plans to tackle stories out of the court system, and they’d like to dig into the new Space Force located in Colorado. Read more about their beats here.
The first newsletter, called the Newsliner, will go out next week, and the site should be live around then. It’s already doing some coverage on social media, and its editor is already offering some commentary.