Conversations about whether to increase public-sector support for a struggling local news industry have been taking place lately among Colorado’s journalistic community more than elsewhere.

But a new story this week by a local public radio reporter shows how tax money in Colorado has been going to support journalism of a different sort.

First, to recap those recent discussions about public support for media here:

• Last spring, community members in Longmont made national news when they floated an idea of a local library taxing district to help subsidize a local news outlet.
• Last fall, the Colorado Media Project published a policy paper that laid out specific recommendations around this question: “Should state and local governments play a role in stabilizing and sustaining the future of local news, information, and independent journalism?”
• Journalism advocates like First Amendment attorney Steve Zansberg and former Denver Post editor Greg Moore have publicly said they are thinking differently these days about the role of government in supporting local news because of troubles facing the industry.
• In November, when PEN America came out in favor of more public-sector support for local news, the group commissioned a case study of Denver’s media environment and convened a public panel discussion in Denver.
• In April, Gov. Jared Polis threw cold water on the idea of state support for local news publishers when asked about it at a press conference. “We have a free and independent press,” he said. “That is hard to reconcile with government assistance. The minute … a Governor Polis or President Trump is paying you or propping you up, that causes if not a compromising of professional independence — and it might not — an appearance of impropriety.”
• In May, however, for the first time ever, the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade offered a $100,000 Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant opportunity to a local news publisher.
• Meanwhile, throughout our pandemic summer, news outlets across the state had no qualms about applying for and receiving federal Paycheck Protection Program relief from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
• At the federal level, Colorado’s Democratic U.S. Senator, Michael Bennet, recently introduced The Future of Local News Commission Act, which could, in part, “explore the possible creation of a new national endowment for local journalism, or the reform and expansion of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or another appropriate institution, to make public funds a part of a multi-faceted approach to sustaining local news.”

Now, KUNC reporter Scott Franz, who reports for a collection of public radio stations as part of Rocky Mountain Community Radio, has unearthed even more ways Colorado government is already helping to subsidize local news— just not among Colorado’s own press corps.

From KUNC:

Officials in Colorado have been spending money to bring travel writers to the state. It’s a practice that raises questions for one media ethicist and, as an open records request has revealed, some journalists aren’t disclosing to their readers where the money came from.

Three travel writers from Austin, Texas arrived in Colorado with their families in July with action-packed itineraries given to them by Colorado’s state government. Pam LeBlanc, a freelance writer for some of Texas’ biggest newspapers and magazines, sipped hard cider at an orchard near Paonia and rafted the Arkansas River near Buena Vista. Austin American Statesman travel editor Kristin Finan soaked in the Glenwood Hot Springs Pool. And Statesman freelancer Mauri Elbel and her family ordered beef tartare, halibut and trout at a fine dining restaurant in Breckenridge following a summer dog sledding tour.

Records obtained through an open records request reveal Colorado taxpayers paid most of their travel expenses for their roughly weeklong trips, which occurred when mask mandates were in place after a July spike in coronavirus cases.

The story details “a much broader program, which has used taxpayer money to pay for journalist getaways for several years.” Last year, the “state paid $32,000 through the program,” Franz revealed.

Franz’s reporting has already caused a stir at some of the local news outlets where the travel stories landed. More from KUNC:

…editors of the Austin American Statesman and the Houston Chronicle refused interview requests to talk about the travel stories they published as a result of Colorado’s journalist hosting program. But when provided with public records showing the journalists had accepted payment for their travel expenses from Colorado taxpayers, the editors issued statements condemning the practice. “We weren’t aware of this practice, and it doesn’t meet the standards we’ve established for our staffers,” Chronicle editor Steve Riley wrote. “We’ll be looking further into this issue to ensure freelancers follow the same standards.” …

Austin American Statesman editor John Bridges said reporters must “remain free of potential conflicts of interest and financial relationships that might compromise the credibility of our reporting.” “Accepting free lodging and/or reimbursements is a violation of our principles of ethical conduct,” he wrote. “We are investigating this matter and taking appropriate action.”

Some of the journalists and editors defended the practice. One travel writer who participated in the Colorado program told Franz her paper pays her “between $250-$300 per travel feature” so “it’s not financially feasible to visit multiple destinations throughout the year traveling with a family.” More:

She added that she views travel writing as different from investigative reporting and other beats, and she thought the investigation into Colorado’s journalist hosting program was a “non-story.”

But it looks like the “non-story” appears to have, in Franz’s words, “put the future of an unpublished story resulting from Colorado’s journalist hosting program in doubt.” He reported how one executive editor’s “statement against reimbursements” suggests a story in the works “may not be published in the newspaper as planned.” And some already published stories are now sporting disclosures, like one reading: “This article was partially underwritten with funding from the Colorado Tourism Office.”

More from KUNC:

The state tourism office said Colorado has hosted about a dozen journalists since the start of the pandemic, and the trips are important because they are part of an effort to boost the tourism economy. The state declined to provide a full list of the journalists they have hosted since February. It also said it would cost $606.25 to do the research to fulfill an open records request seeking all of the invoices for those dozen trips. They provided three itineraries and invoices at a cost of $6. They said they host up to 50 journalists per year.

Around this time last year, Mike Rispoli of the national group Free Press was in Colorado speaking on a panel I moderated at CU Denver about public support for the local news. At the end, he spoke about how he’d helped successfully advocate for a public media fund in New Jersey and what he learned from it. He wrapped up the panel with advice for Coloradans: “Don’t listen to the haters,” he said.

I reached out to Mike on Thursday asking whether this type of tourism program for out-of-state local journalists is the kind of thing he was hoping for when he urged Coloradans to think seriously about new ways in which state and local governments could help support the local news business. “Wow,” he responded. “No.”

So how did Franz get this story, anyway? Good old fashioned digging.

“In my downtime between calling sources, I often scroll through the state’s online checkbook to see what our government is spending money on each week,” Franz told me. “I most frequently look through the governor’s office expenses.” In August, Franz noticed a $2,000 payment from the state tourism office to a freelance journalist from Austin, Texas. “I found the journalists’ public Instagram feed and noticed she was recently in Breckenridge and other Colorado cities right before this payment occurred,” he says. “So I reached out to the Tourism Office and submitted a records request on the specific transaction.”

He found the payment was part of a so-called journalist hosting program the state of Colorado has run for years. As he dug more, he found stories published in The Houston Chronicle and Austin American Statesman with, what he called “positive write ups about traveling to Colorado during the pandemic.” Names of the authors were also showing up in Colorado’s online checkbook as receiving payments from the tourism office.

“I reached out to the journalists first, then their editors after the journalists didn’t agree to interviews,” Franz says. “None of the stories had disclosures about Colorado’s reimbursements when I reached out to the journalists and editors to ask about the practice, and the online checkbook was the only way me or the public could see that Colorado paid out the travel expenses and provided hour-by-hour itineraries. It was my first big investigative piece for KUNC.”

Read his whole story here.

The Denver Post ordered bulletproof vests ‘in anticipation of increased violence’ 

In Denver, 9News and Denver7 acknowledged in statements after the shooting that they hire security guards and request that they be unarmed. Fox31 Vice President and General Manager Byron Grandy and CBS Denver News Director Tim Wieland would not discuss whether their stations provided bodyguards to journalists while covering local news. Colorado Public Radio and its online news site, Denverite, have not, said Kevin Dale, CPR’s executive editor. The Denver Post has not hired private security for its journalists.

In the Denver area, journalists have worn reflective vests, goggles and helmets during protests where police have fired tear gas and other projectiles, and where protesters have fired guns and exchanged punches. After the Oct. 10 shooting, CPR ordered ballistic vests, Dale said. The Denver Post already had placed an order out in anticipation of increased violence.

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