COLab - The Colorado Independent

Colorado News Collaborative (COLab)

Strengthening journalism in Colorado through collaboration

1927 map of Colorado (Published by the National Map Company, shared via the David Rumsey Map Collection — Cartography Associates)

We know there are stories out there newsrooms don't have the resources to cover alone as well as stories in increasingly wide swaths of Colorado that have become news deserts — meaning communities have no local news source. Veteran award-winning Colorado journalists Susan Greene and Tina Griego, in their new role with the Colorado News Collaborative (COLab), a nonprofit supporting journalism excellence, can help your newsroom produce in-depth narrative, explanatory and investigative reporting. They are offering reporting, editing and mentoring help to ensure important stories are reported with the depth they deserve, offering hands-on training in the process.

Thank you for joining this movement in Colorado collaborative journalism. Together, we can do great things.

First, what kind of story are we talking about?

A million stories are waiting to be told, so we'll need to prioritize. Some criteria we'll be considering:

Does it address an issue the community wants examined more closely?
Does it expose an un- or under-reported issue or problem?
Does it scrutinize institutions or power-structures that have gone unchecked?
Does it explore challenges affecting vulnerable communities, especially underrepresented racial groups or people in geographic news deserts?
Does it focus on solutions, not just problems?
Is it of statewide interest (and likely to be carried for free by other outlets)?
Can it be localized by others?

Does your story idea check any of these boxes? Great. Please fill out this form to help us figure out your needs and how we might help. What you write stays between us, so please be as detailed as possible.

Our primary goal is to help Colorado Press Association members, who represent communities large, small, urban, rural and suburban across the state.

COLLABORATION IN ACTION

The pressroom at the Alamosa Valley Courier Friday night as it printed our collaboration on a protest-related shooting. (Photo by Stephen Jiron)

What news collaboration looks – and smells – like

COLab Susan Greene, Colorado News Collaborative - June 29, 2020

Dear readers, It had been too long since I smelled a newspaper. By that, I don’t mean the thing tossed on our front stoops each morning. I mean the building with pressrooms and loud gizmos that...

James Marshall protesting in Alamosa, Colorado on June 4, 2020 minutes before he shot driver Danny Pruitt. (Photo by Megan Colwell/Valley Courier)

Triggered: How one of Colorado’s smallest protests became its most violent

COLab Susan Greene, Colorado News Collaborative | Keith Cerny, Alamosa Valley Courier - June 27, 2020

ALAMOSA — The protesters, about a dozen in all, gathered on June 4 in the intersection of State Avenue and Main Street. Like protesters across the country in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing...

Screen shot from former Rangely Police Lt. Roy Kinney's squad car dash cam of the stolen truck driven by Daniel Pierce during police chase in Rio Blanco County on Dec. 10, 2018. The chase would end with Kinney firing two shots at Pierce, killing him.

Indy wins National Press Foundation’s Carolyn C. Mattingly Award

COLab Staff Report - April 30, 2020

Dear readers, We’re thrilled to pass on word from the National Press Foundation this morning that The Colorado Independent has won the Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting. The honor is given each year in recognition of...

Roy Kinney speaks during the community meeting in Rangely. To his left is Debra Pierce. To his right is Sharon Raggio, CEO of Mind Springs Health.

How uncovering a small Colorado town’s hushed secret led to redemption and reconciliation in...

COLab Alan Gottlieb, Colorado Media Project - February 3, 2020

Introduction One cold December evening, a year after a police officer killed a mentally-ill man in the northwest Colorado town of Rangely, the dead man’s wife sat next to the officer and forgave him —...

Former Rangely police Lt. Roy Kinney and Debra Pierce, widow of Daniel Pierce, a mentally ill man whom Kinney shot and killed in a 2018 police chase, share an emotional moment during a community conversation in Rangely on Dec. 2, 2019. Pierce told Kinney she does not blame him for her estranged husband's death. (Photo by Caitlin Walker)

Rangely police shooting: The truth emerges and the healing begins

All stories Jeff Roberts, Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition - December 6, 2019

RANGELY ̶ Late in the evening, two hours into Monday’s meeting at the community college, Debra Pierce turned and faced the police lieutenant who shot and killed her husband one year ago. “I don’t blame...