Why we let you steal our content

Mike Littwin
Mike Littwin

Dear readers,

We’re a little different here at The Indy. OK, maybe a lot different. It’s not just that we’re so old school that we offer all our daily news and analysis for free — with no paywalls, no article limits, no limits whatsoever.

Sure, a few other news sites still do that, too. What’s different about us is that we don’t stop there. We also give away The Indy’s award-winning content to any Colorado news outlet wishing to publish it. All we ask for is a credit line so their readers know of our contribution.

As it happens, many newspapers and news sites take advantage of this offer, and we hope not just because the price is right. Take my column as an example (or as I like to say, take my column, please). Some papers in the state run it regularly. Some run it occasionally. And some of those include the Greeley Tribune, the Aspen Times, the Durango Herald,Westword, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Vail Daily Summit, the Fort Morgan Times, the Aurora Sentinel, the Montrose Daily Press and on and on.

Work from reporter Corey Hutchins is cited by national news organizations, as are stories by Susan Greene. Our newer team members, Alex Burness and Lars Gesing, are making their mark, too, writing stories on politics as well as  environmental and other public policies that have consequences throughout the state.

So, how can we afford to do this? Well, because of readers like you. That may sound hokey, but I swear it’s true: Readers like you and foundations and businesses and others who value our journalism by donating to the cause.

The timing of this message is no coincidence. We are five days away from Colorado Gives Day and we have a two-for-one deal for you. You contribute the one — one dollar, one hundred dollars, hell, one thousand if you’ve got that kind of cash — and we see that the money gets tripled. We’ve got one match from NewsMatch, a consortium of foundations supporting independent nonprofit newsrooms across the country, and another from a generous Indy reader.

You can do the math. So can we. We get three dollars for every dollar you contribute up to $1,000 by Dec. 31. The math is what allows us to do what we try to do best — which is to report the news, offer in-depth analysis of that news and, meanwhile, amplify the voices of those around the state who are too rarely heard. We humbly ask you to schedule a tax-deductible Colorado Gives Day donation by clicking here. And, by the way, if the papers who run our stuff for free want to contribute a few bucks, that would be OK, too.

Thanks for reading,

Mike Littwin

He has covered Dr. J, four presidential inaugurations, six national conventions and countless brain-numbing speeches in the New Hampshire and Iowa snow.