U.S. Senate See Full Big Line

(D) J. Hickenlooper*

(R) Somebody

80%

20%

Governor See Full Big Line

(D) Phil Weiser

(D) Joe Neguse

(D) Jena Griswold

60%

40%↓

Att. General See Full Big Line

(D) M. Dougherty

(D) Alexis King

(D) Brian Mason

40%

30%

Sec. of State See Full Big Line

(D) A. Gonzalez

(D) George Stern

(R) Sheri Davis

50%↑

40%

30%

State Treasurer See Full Big Line

(D) Brianna Titone

(R) Kevin Grantham

(D) Jerry DiTullio

60%

30%

20%

CO-01 (Denver) See Full Big Line

(D) Diana DeGette*

(R) Somebody

90%

CO-02 (Boulder-ish) See Full Big Line

(D) Joe Neguse*

(R) Somebody

90%

CO-03 (West & Southern CO) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Hurd*

(D) Somebody

80%

40%

CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado) See Full Big Line

(R) Lauren Boebert*

(D) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-05 (Colorado Springs) See Full Big Line

(R) Jeff Crank*

(D) Somebody

80%

20%

CO-06 (Aurora) See Full Big Line

(D) Jason Crow*

(R) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-07 (Jefferson County) See Full Big Line

(D) B. Pettersen*

(R) Somebody

90%

10%

CO-08 (Northern Colo.) See Full Big Line

(R) Gabe Evans*

(D) Yadira Caraveo

(D) Joe Salazar

50%

40%

State Senate Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

80%

20%

State House Majority See Full Big Line

DEMOCRATS

REPUBLICANS

95%

October 15, 2019 11:45 AM UTC

Will Republicans Join the Fight to Save Journalism in Colorado?

1 Comments
by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

The Colorado Media Project, a coalition fighting to give journalism a future, plans to push legislation next year to save local news in Colorado.

“We have talked to legislators on both sides of the aisle already,” said JB Holston, a Denver University dean and a spark plug of the CMP. “The frames are different, but they are not incompatible. A lot of R’s look at it and say, ‘Gee, that’s an economic development, Colorado-innovation, small-business development opportunity.’ Those on the other side of the aisle resonate with the notion that democracy is at risk.”

“But I think the other notion is, when you have a one-party state, the other party doesn’t mind having journalists to the same degree,” Holston continued. “So, I think there is some of that going on.”

Holston was speaking on a panel yesterday about the CMP’s new report, “Local News is a Public Good.”

“I think one of the challenges for the conversation in Colorado, though, is, how do we scale that conversation,” Holston said. “This kind of a forum is great. How do you have a hundred times as many people in real time involved. I think the New Jersey story is a good example of how you get that done. But a lot of the challenge for this is, where do we go from here?

“Now we are putting legislation on the table for this session. This is the beginning of a scaled, Colorado-wide, collaborative conversation about the issue.”

Holston and his fellow panel members took the surprising step of advocating a tax specifically to boost journalism in Colorado (e.g., a sales tax on digital ads, a local special-district tax).

Holston was quickly asked by panel moderator Corey Hutchins to name the folks he’d been talking to at the Capitol.

It’s not a proposal you’d expect Republicans to exactly flock to, not only because of their hardline stance on taxes (except those on sports betting) but also because so many–from Trump and Cory Gardner at the top to state legislators and radio hosts at the bottom–regularly disparage professional journalism. And it makes you sick.

But, alas, Holston didn’t say which lawmakers he’d been in touch with. He and Mike Rispoli of Free Press, who was also on the CU Denver School of Public Affairs panel yesterday, did point to legislation passed in New Jersey, with serious bipartisan support, that provided incentive funds for local journalism.

The CMP makes a beautiful point that saving journalism can provide a wide variety of benefits (economic and democratic) that can appeal to different folks. And the report lays this all out really well.

Still, you have to believe only Republicans who understand and trust journalism will go for a tax in the end, given the many economic-development options available. There are some of those enlightened Republicans.

But it really doesn’t matter what journalism-hating Republicans want if journalism-loving Democrats in control have the guts to move ahead without them, does it?

“The news business is in crisis,” was the first slide at yesterday’s unveiling of the Colorado Media Project’s report on how to save local journalism.

Can Republicans be convinced to care?

One thought on “Will Republicans Join the Fight to Save Journalism in Colorado?”

JohnInDenver says:

October 15, 2019 at 12:18 pm

There's already a "State Grants to Libraries" program, which "In 2017, $2.5 million was distributed to 316 public, school, academic, and institutional libraries." In 2019, that appropriation went up to $3 million. So the notion of funds for information isn't TOTALLY foreign to the state budget.

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Will Republicans Join the Fight to Save Journalism in Colorado?

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One thought on “Will Republicans Join the Fight to Save Journalism in Colorado?”

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