By Ilana Newman for The Daily Yonder.
Broadcast version by Eric Galatas for Colorado News Connection for the Public News Service/Daily Yonder Collaboration

With rural newsrooms nationwide struggling, a push to fund local news infrastructure comes from Press Forward, a coalition of national funders, including foundations like the MacArthur Foundation and the Knight Foundation, coming together to fund journalism through a coordinated effort.

Beyond its nationwide pursuits, Press Forward also supports local chapters aiming to bring together smaller foundations to continue to fund local news.

Announced in 2023, Press Forward pledged more than half a billion dollars to support local newsrooms across the country. Local news is vital for government accountability, fighting misinformation, civic engagement, and strengthening social ties.

According to the State of Local News Report for 2024, three-quarters of news deserts are located in USDA-characterized rural communities. Rural communities also are underserved by publications other than print, despite rising print costs. In the past year, more than 30 publications dropped their print publication entirely, going fully digital.

In the San Luis Valley, in rural southern Colorado, Chris Lopez saw a space for an alternative digital news source, despite the majority of digital-only news sources being housed in urban environments.

Lopez grew up in Alamosa, Colorado -population 9,833- but spent 30 years working for several newspapers, before returning to Alamosa in 2015. Lopez and his wife, MaryAnne Talbott started the Alamosa Citizen - a digital publication with original reporting and feature stories - in 2021, as an experiment.

"We felt that there was an opportunity in the market for something more regular, more robust, and told a different type of story than police blotters and things like that," Lopez said.

The Alamosa Citizen was one of nine Colorado newsrooms, six of which were in rural communities, to receive $100,000 over two years in the first open call for national Press Forward funding in October. While many publications are discontinuing the print side of publication due to increasing costs and fewer printers, Lopez founded the Alamosa Citizen as an online only publication intentionally.

Print publications have continually cut their coverage due to a lack of resources, said Lopez, causing frustration in readers who want real news, not a thin newspaper full of ads. Lopez said that the Alamosa Citizen reaches a wider audience than the local print newspaper because of geographic availability. He also hopes to reach a younger audience and instill a lifelong news habit in young readers.

"We're converting older people to the platforms. Our young audience of 18 to 35 will blow you away in terms of their engagement and activity," Lopez said.

Infrastructure Funding

Press Forward is accepting grant applications to support local news infrastructure until January 15th, 2025. These grants will support audience development, operations, revenue generation, and staff.

Sam Moody, associate director of Colorado Media Project, sees Rocky Mountain Community Radio (RMCR), a coalition of non-commercial radio stations around Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, as a perfect example of the infrastructure-building work that will support rural news in the Mountain West.

"Our real benefit of our increasingly digital age is the way that information can and often needs to be shared across communities, especially rural communities," said Moody in a Daily Yonder interview.

RMCR strengthens the capabilities of each local radio station member, some of which have newsrooms without full-time reporters, or share staff with other outlets. It provides resources, stories, and support, said managing editor Maeve Conran. Conran shares content created by each station for distribution by the entire coalition. RMCR also facilitates collaborative reporting and idea sharing.

"We have an opportunity as a coalition to really leverage infrastructure money because we can share resources and infrastructure resources across an entire coalition. It doesn't just have to go to one station," Conran said.

Conran sees Press Forward funding as valuable because it is general operating funding instead of project-specific funding - something that a small rural radio station doesn't have the capacity to pursue. Rocky Mountain Community Radio plans to apply for infrastructure funding during this round of Press Forward funding.

Press Forward's local chapters offer another opportunity for rural news organizations to get funding. In February 2024, Colorado became one of what is now 31 local Press Forward chapters, including other rural regions like Central Appalachia. Colorado Media Project is the home of the Colorado chapter and is in the process of hiring a director for the program, according to Moody.

Corey Hutchins is a professor of journalism at Colorado College and writes a newsletter called "Inside the News in Colorado". Hutchins said that news in Colorado used to be siloed until organizations like Colorado Media Project (which he advises) came to be.

"It's created a statewide local journalism scene that is collaborative, where partnerships are easily formed, and a place where people involved in local journalism have support in a way I don't think they had in the past," Hutchins said.

With rural newspapers closing all the time, like Flagler News in eastern Colorado closing just before the new year, there is even more need for sustainable funding for local news.

Lopez is confident that the Press Forward funding will get the Alamosa Citizen to their five-year mark, but what happens after that is still unclear. "We have to keep building if we're going to stick around," said Lopez.


Ilana Newman wrote this article for The Daily Yonder.


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Groups working for human rights causes in Iowa warn proposed cuts being debated in Congress would trickle down to the people least able to sustain them.

The Trump administration has proposed $880 billion in cuts over the next decade to Medicaid and other services, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Progress Iowa Executive Director Mazie Stilwell said those cuts would fall most squarely on average Iowans, many of them kids, who don't have a voice in the process.

"There is so much fear right now, and it's fear from everyday working Iowans who know there's no one fighting for them," said Stilwell. "It's the Iowans who know that when push comes to shove, and when programs are put on the chopping block, they're the ones who are going to suffer."

The Trump administration has said it is working to downsize the federal government and cut expenses.

About 270,000 Iowans receive SNAP or federal food assistance, and more than 700,000 get their health coverage from Medicaid.

Stilwell contended that Iowans aren't the only ones afraid of potential social service cuts, but politicians are too.

She said she suspects that's one reason they aren't showing up at town hall meetings, that have long been the hallmark of grassroots democracy in the state.

"What we've seen is these members of Congress running away from their constituents," said Stilwell. "They are refusing to answer their questions. They are trying to make a mockery of their constituents and their efforts."

Stilwell said in light of the just-passed income tax filing deadline, Iowans want to know their money is being used to represent their interests - and not to fund tax cuts or corporate interests.

Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn, both Republicans, voted in favor of the measure that would social service programs.

Adrian Fontes, Arizona's Secretary of State, argued there is nothing wrong with American elections but some leaders in Washington, D.C., disagree.

The U.S. Senate will consider the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act this week. It would require people to show documents in person, like a passport or birth certificate, to register to vote. Republican proponents said it is needed to keep noncitizens from voting.

Fontes countered it is an exceedingly rare occurrence and he has yet to see proof of widespread voter fraud or abuse.

"This 'documented proof of citizenship' issue, where is the data that shows that we have a significant and severe problem with nonqualified voters, voting? Where is the data?" Fontes asked. "This is another example of the tail wagging the dog."

The measure faces a long shot in the Senate. At the same time, one of President Donald Trump's latest executive orders would overhaul major facets of the nation's election system, in part by restricting people's ability to register by mail or online. Voting rights advocates said the president does not have the legal authority to do it.

Liz Avore, senior policy adviser for the nonpartisan Voting Rights Lab, said many states have taken Trump's executive order as a call to action, as 24 states so far this year have considered legislation to impose or expand proof of citizenship requirements. Since 2013, Arizona voters have had to provide documents proving their citizenship to vote in state and local elections. Avore suggested it was not the administration's intent to change federal law.

"The goal of the executive order was and is to send clear marching orders to the states, and also to Congress, to tell them exactly what President Trump wants them to be doing," Avore contended. "The states are listening."

Democratic attorneys general in 19 states, including Arizona, have a filed a lawsuit, arguing the Trump executive order "sows confusion and sets the stage for chaos" in state election systems.


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Despite voter approval in November, Missouri lawmakers are moving to undo part of Proposition A, specifically, the clause requiring employers to provide paid sick leave.

The Missouri House passed the repeal legislation last month by a 96-51 vote. The provision was approved by nearly 60% of voters, who also supported raising the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026.

Prop A proponents said repealing any part of the measure so soon after its approval undermines the will of the voters.

John Davis, partner at the bipartisan polling firm Red America, Blue America Research, said its latest survey showed 75% of respondents oppose efforts to repeal the legislation.

"Legislators who are thinking about what voters had approved just this past November should be concerned that there's such a strong response in opposition to that particular type of proposal," Davis noted.

Supporters of the repeal contended the sick-leave mandate is too rigid and burdensome, warning it could lead to reduced hiring or even business closures. The bill is now in the Senate, which has two weeks to act before the mandate takes effect May 1.

Business groups have filed lawsuits claiming Proposition A violates Missouri's single-subject rule by linking minimum wage hikes with paid sick leave. Supporters of the repeal also argued the Legislature can amend the law without a public vote since it changed state law, not the constitution.

Davis highlighted the importance of public opinion surveys.

"Some of the decisions made at statehouses are of extraordinary consequence," Davis pointed out. "What we have tried to do is just establish sort of baselines, to take a look over time how folks are feeling about a variety of topics, because state laws really do impact people very, very directly."

If the Missouri Senate approves the bill, it will move to Gov. Mike Kehoe's desk, where he can sign it into law, veto it, or allow it to become law without his signature.


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