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Colorado News Conservancy

A first-in-the-nation effort to keep newspapers locally owned and thriving

About the Project

A first-of-its-kind local and national partnership has facilitated the purchase of a network of 24 weekly or monthly newspapers in Colorado, preserving local mission-focused community ownership.

This new collaboration creates a viable and replicable alternative to national consolidation of local news outlets by private equity or hedge funds. The transaction points a new way forward for communities in danger of losing control of local news enterprises that are in many cases the only independent news sources providing critical coverage of community issues.

Colorado Community Media (CCM), an independent, family-owned group of 24 community newspapers and websites plus two shoppers, has been acquired by the newly created Colorado News Conservancy, a public benefit corporation jointly owned and operated by The National Trust for Local News and The Colorado Sun, and backed by a coalition of local and national impact investors and the nonprofit lender FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds (FJC).

The news publications and websites will continue to be operated under local control as a public service to their communities. Colorado readers and the news outlets’ own staff members will also be invited to join in as investors in these valuable community assets.

Donate here to support this effort.

Colorado News Conservancy

Learn more about the organizations that came together in this first-of-its-kind of local and national partnership.

The National Trust for Local News — The National Trust for Local News is a new, national nonprofit organization formed to provide the financing, new ownership structures, and expertise needed for established news organizations to become sustainable and deeply grounded in their communities.

The Colorado Sun — The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning digital news outlet that strives to cover all of Colorado, bring understanding to important issues, and contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. The Sun, which was founded in 2018, is a public benefit corporation. 

Publications under the Colorado News Conservancy

  • Arvada Press
  • Brighton Standard Blade
  • Brighton and Ft. Lupton Advertiser
  • Canyon Courier
  • Castle Pines News Press
  • Castle Rock News Press
  • Centennial Citizen
  • Clear Creek Courant
  • Commerce City Sentinel Express
  • Denver Herald Dispatch
  • Douglas County News Press
  • Elbert County News
  • Englewood Herald
  • Fort Lupton Press
  • Golden Transcript
  • Highlands Ranch Herald
  • Jeffco Transcript

  • Life on Capitol Hill
  • Littleton Independent
  • Lone Tree Voice
  • Northglenn/Thornton Sentinel
  • Parker Chronicle
  • South Platte Independent
  • Washington Park Profile
  • Westminster Window
  • 285 Hustler

Collaborative Partners

National Trust for Local News
Colorado Community Media
Colorado Media Project
The Colorado Sun

This project was made possible through unprecedented collaboration between dozens of newsrooms and journalists across the state, who are active partners in the Colorado News Collaborative, or COLab.

To support the statewide effort, donate to the Colorado News Collaborative.