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MATCH Lab

Collaborating for Stronger Local News
  • MATCH Lab: Media. Academia. Talent. Collaborating to Help.

MATCH Lab collaborates across Media, Academia and Talent to help local newsrooms meet their toughest challenges and ensure every community has access to strong, trusted news.

The MATCH Lab Mission

Real help, right when it’s needed.

Local news is the backbone of informed communities and a healthy democracy. But many Colorado newsrooms are stretched thin – asked to cover vital stories, engage their communities and stay financially sustainable with fewer and fewer resources.

COLab created MATCH Lab as a resilient, real-world solution to this crucial challenge. By uniting newsrooms, classrooms and boardrooms, we’re adding the hands-on capacity local outlets need to move from crisis mode to sustainable, community-focused service.

We want every community to have access to the strong, trusted reporting it deserves.

Learn More

How MATCH Lab Works

Media. Academia. Talent. Collaborating to Help.

MATCH Lab pairs newsrooms facing urgent challenges (Media) with faculty-led student teams (Academia) and SCORE-certified business mentors (Talent). Together, they design and deliver practical, hands-on, tailored solutions.

Unlike one-size-fits-all training, MATCH Lab bridges gaps in capacity, supports local newsrooms where they need it most, and amplifies existing efforts already underway in Colorado’s journalism ecosystem.

Why It’s Different

MATCH Lab doesn’t just teach theory or make recommendations. It delivers real help, when help is needed most.

  • Responds to real newsroom needs. Every project starts with a particular challenge a newsroom actually needs solved.
  • Expands capacity. Faculty and students work as an extension of the newsroom, doing what’s needed: research, reporting, marketing, design and more.
  • Bridges expertise. SCORE mentors bring decades of business know-how to the table.
  • Amplifies existing programs. MATCH Lab works alongside other training and support initiatives, filling the implementation gap.
  • Builds hands-on capacity. MATCH Lab helps newsrooms escape the “fried and frozen” crisis cycle – overwhelmed and too understaffed to accommodate help – by adding immediate capacity, setting them on a path toward sustainable, community-focused service.
Stories of Impact

 

Sentinel Colorado

The Sentinel in Aurora became the first nonprofit newspaper to adopt a community ownership model, like the Green Bay Packers. But they didn’t have the capacity or expertise to really enact the model. MATCH Lab matched them with a University of Denver professor and her capstone marketing class that set the Sentinel on its way.

“We couldn’t have gotten to this point alone. Working with the MATCH Lab teams has been amazing.”
 — Dave Perry, Editor and Publisher, Sentinel Colorado

 

Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange

When CEME’s lone employee wanted advice on setting the direction of the organization and hands-on help to sell advertising across a dozen media outlets, MATCH Lab matched them with a team of SCORE business mentors, plus a professor and students who created professional ad mock-ups they could pitch to businesses.

“MATCH Lab gave us exactly what we needed: experienced mentors to help us clarify our strategy and students who delivered professional ad mock-ups we could pitch right away. MATCH Lab made me feel like I had a whole team behind me.”
— Brittany Winkfield, Director, Colorado Ethnic Media Exchange

Be Part of the Solution

Time. Talent. Treasure. Connections.
Local news can’t tackle its biggest challenges alone – and with MATCH Lab, it doesn’t have to.

Whether you’re passionate about local storytelling, education, community engagement or simply want to see your hometown better informed – there’s a place for you here. Interested in mentoring, funding a student project, or introducing us to others? Your involvement makes a real difference.

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If financial support appeals to you, here’s how it adds up:

• $10–$100 helps cover materials for student teams
• $250–$1,000 funds research or design work for a newsroom
• $2,500–$10,000+ helps expand MATCH Lab to communities waiting for help

DONATE NOW or REACH OUT to discuss an investment in the MATCH Lab.

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Interested in mentoring, introducing us to others, or volunteering your time? Fill out the form below to get started.

This project was made possible through the financial support of individuals and foundations who believe stronger local newsrooms mean stronger communities and a stronger democracy.

Please support our ongoing work to encourage, guide and grow collaborative journalism in Colorado.