The American Journalism Project, an initiative aimed at boosting nonprofit journalism around the country, announced Wednesday that it is awarding The Colorado Sun a three-year, $1.4 million grant to grow the business side of its operation and accelerate expanded news coverage around the state.
“The ongoing failure of the commercial news market has left communities across the country without access to local news and information,” AJP said in its announcement of the grants to The Sun and two other nonprofit news organizations. “The American Journalism Project is the leading venture philanthropy working to address the local news crisis by fueling the sustainable growth of nonprofit local news organizations.”
Since its founding in 2019, the American Journalism Project has committed $62.7 million to a portfolio of 49 nonprofit news organizations across 35 states, including several concepts under incubation. In 2023, AJP’s portfolio of grantees generated more than $86 million in revenue, a 36% increase over 2022 revenue. AJP grantees saw a 56% median growth in their organization revenue year over year.
“Local news is essential to building informed, connected communities, and it plays a critical role in ensuring citizens are engaged both on and beyond Election Day,” said Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project. “To secure the future of local news, we must invest in sustainable business models that allow these organizations to thrive. We are proud to support these three newsrooms as they grow, expand their reach and build lasting models that will serve their communities for years to come.”
The Colorado Sun was founded in 2018, motivated by the desire to foster better understanding of Colorado’s people, policies and places through in-depth, nonpartisan coverage of everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry, water and the environment. The Sun became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit last year, underscoring that it is a community asset that exists solely to benefit Coloradans.
The Sun has won numerous awards in state and regional journalism competitions that recognize its excellence. It serves a statewide audience of about a million users a month on its website and more than 100,000 subscribers to its free and paid newsletters. The Sun also serves listeners with its Daily Sun-up podcast and shares its journalism with news outlets across Colorado, many of which have seen deep cuts in the size of their staff and curtailed print publication.
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“We are thrilled at this tremendous vote of confidence in The Sun, and we look forward to working with AJP to provide more trusted news coverage to Coloradans,” Sun publisher Larry Ryckman said. “We ask all Coloradans to join our Sun community of readers and supporters and help us to continue more of the coverage that our incredible state needs and deserves.”
The Sun will use a key part of the AJP grant to add additional staff to its business operations to help ensure the sustainability and future expansion of The Sun. The Sun will immediately begin seeking to hire a General Manager and a Development Director and posted those openings on its website today. With additional funding, The Sun also aims to establish the infrastructure for four regional hubs — in northeastern Colorado, southern Colorado, the Western Slope and the Eastern Plains. The Sun also will be adding staff to support its events, including its marquee news festival, and general operations.
The other AJP grantees announced on Wednesday were Charlottesville Tomorrow and The Salt Lake Tribune.