MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Local news helps us understand our communities, discover opportunities and hold power accountable.
Strong local news depends on people who read it, share it, support it and help it reach others. There are more ways to make a difference than you might think.
THE BIG PICTURE
People read local news. Many think it’s doing fine. But far too few help pay for it.
81%
57%
12%
Behind the stories you read are journalists covering government meetings, schools, businesses and community life. They ask questions, check facts and hold powerful institutions accountable. Sustaining that work takes dependable support.
Colorado Local News Market Study. Coda Ventures for the Colorado Press Association, 2022. A weighted survey of 601 Colorado adults, fielded November 30–December 14, 2021, found that 81% read local newspapers in print or online each month. This is a historical Colorado newspaper readership measure, not a paid-support measure. The national Pew figures describe different questions and a different population.
Explore the Colorado Local News Market Study →Pew Research Center, Local News Fact Sheet. Published April 14, 2026. In its August 18–24, 2025 survey, 57% of U.S. adults said local news outlets were doing very or somewhat well financially; 12% said they had paid or given money to a local news source in the past year through subscriptions, donations or membership. These are different questions in a national survey, not Colorado-only figures or a calculated funding shortfall.
Read Pew’s Local News Fact Sheet ↗2026 Colorado News Survey. A joint survey from the Colorado News Collaborative (COLab), Colorado Media Project and Colorado Press Association, with analysis led by COLab. Its findings are published in State of News: Colorado 2026 (August 24, 2026). A total of 164 organizations responded about their work in 2025. The reported median is 2.5 editorial full-time equivalents among responding outlets; it is not a census of every Colorado newsroom.
Read State of News: Colorado 2026 ↗PATH 1 · CLOSE TO HOME
Your support helps sustain the newsroom covering your community.
Subscriptions, memberships and donations sustain the local news you value. Choose the option your newsroom offers.
Pay for regular access to a print or digital newspaper or other news product, and help sustain reporting in your community.
Give ongoing support through a newsroom’s membership program, where offered.
Give a one-time or regular gift to a nonprofit newsroom doing work you value. Your contribution can help sustain local reporting.
Newsrooms offer different ways to contribute. Find yours to see its available subscription, membership and donation links.
Make local news part of your routine.
Subscribe to newsletters, listen to podcasts and follow reporting in your community.
Send important stories to friends and neighbors. Share original links and credit the newsroom.
Ask questions, suggest stories and respond to requests for input. Explore COLab’s Amplify Colorado ↗.
If you run a local business or nonprofit, advertise with the newsroom that serves your community. Sponsorship and underwriting can also sustain nonprofit and public-media reporting.
Find your local newsroomTell advertisers when you see their message in local news and encourage others to support the businesses that support your community.
PATH 2 · ACROSS COLORADO
Through collaboration, training, advocacy, revenue support and public trust, we help local news thrive in every corner of Colorado.
SUPPORT CPA
Financial support helps CPA advocate for a free press at the legislature, strengthen newsrooms through training, guidance and shared resources, and help local journalism build revenue through efforts like Local News Matters.
PARTICIPATE IN THE CAMPAIGN
Help grow Local News Matters across Colorado. Share campaign messages and materials, encourage others to value local journalism and help more Coloradans find, read and support local news.
Support a free press at the legislature and help protect the conditions local news needs to serve Colorado communities.
Let elected officials know that local news matters and that you support policies that protect a free press.
Support press freedom, government transparency and policies that help local journalism thrive.
Get updates about public policy and other issues affecting local journalism at the Colorado Capitol and beyond.
Colorado Audiences helps advertisers and agencies coordinate campaigns across participating Colorado news organizations. Advertising creates revenue opportunities for newsrooms while helping businesses reach local audiences.
Businesses
reach customers in trusted environments.
Newsrooms
earn revenue to support local journalism.
Communities
benefit from more local news and a stronger future.
Colorado Audiences is a service of the Colorado Press Association.
Give to and get involved with organizations that strengthen local news, build community trust and support the public’s right to know.
Colorado Media Project, home of Press Forward Colorado, brings funders together to strengthen local news and information across the state.
Support Colorado Media Project ↗
COLab helps Colorado newsrooms report together, build community trust and strengthen their businesses.
Support COLab ↗
CFOIC helps journalists and the public understand and use open-government laws to access public records, meetings and courts.
Support CFOIC ↗A STRONGER TOMORROW
Every subscription, shared story, community connection and investment helps make local news stronger. So does standing up for the public’s right to know.
Search pages, forms, guides, public news and news organizations.
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