Wikipedia

The Denver Post

The Denver Postis a daily newspaper and website published in theDenver metropolitan area.As of June 2022,it has an average print circulation of 57,265.[2]In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 million page views, according tocomScore.[3]

The Denver Post
The May 2, 2011 front page ofThe Denver Post,with headline reporting thekilling of Osama bin Laden
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Alden Global Capital
EditorLee Ann Colacioppo
Opinion editorMegan Schrader
Sports editorMatt Schubert
Founded1892
HeadquartersNorth Washington, Colorado
CountryUnited States
Circulation57,265 Average print circulation[1]
ISSN1930-2193
OCLCnumber8789877
Websitedenverpost

Ownership

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Further information:MediaNews Group

ThePostwas the flagship newspaper ofMediaNews Group Inc.,founded in 1983 byWilliam Dean SingletonandRichard Scudder.On December 1, 1987, MediaNews, a national newspaper chain with over 60 daily newspapers and over 160 non-daily publications in 13 states, boughtThe Denver PostfromTimes Mirror Company.

Since 2010,The Denver Posthas been owned by hedge fundAlden Global Capital,which acquired its bankrupt parent company, MediaNews Group.[4]In April 2018, a group called "Together for Colorado Springs" said that it was raising money to buy thePostfromAlden Global Capital,stating: "Denver deserves a newspaper owner who supports its newsroom."[5]

History

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19th century

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The newspaper's former building and newsroom in downtownDenver

In August 1892,The Evening Postwas founded by supporters ofGrover Clevelandwith $50,000. It was a Democratic paper used to publicize political ideals and stem the number of Colorado Democrats leaving the party. Cleveland had been nominated for president because of his reputation for honest government.

However, Cleveland and eastern Democrats opposed government purchase of silver, Colorado's most important product, which made Cleveland unpopular in the state. Following the bust of silver prices in 1893, the country and Colorado went into a depression andThe Evening Postsuspended publication in August 1893.

A new group of owners with similar political ambitions raised $100,000 and resurrected the paper in June 1894. On October 28, 1895,Harry Heye Tammen,former bartender[6]and owner of a curio and souvenir shop, andFrederick Gilmer Bonfils,a Kansas City real estate and lottery operator, purchased theEvening Postfor $12,500. Neither had newspaper experience, but they were adept at the business of promotion and finding out what people wanted to read.

Through the use ofsensationalism,editorialism, and "flamboyant circus journalism", a new era began for thePost.Circulation grew and eventually passed the other three daily papers combined. On November 3, 1895 the paper's was name changed toDenver Evening Post.

20th century

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On January 1, 1901 the word "Evening" was dropped from the name and the paper becameThe Denver Post.

Postreporters includeGene Fowler,Frances Belford Wayne,and "sob sister"Polly Pry.Damon Runyonworked briefly for thePostin 1905–1906 before gaining fame as a writer in New York.[7]

After the deaths of Tammen and Bonfils in 1924 and 1933,HelenandMay Bonfils Stanton,Bonfils' daughters, became the principal owners of thePost.In 1946, thePosthired Palmer Hoyt from thePortland Oregonianto become editor and publisher of thePostand to give the paper a new direction.[8][9]With Hoyt in charge, news was reported fairly and accurately. He took editorial comment out of the stories and put it on an editorial page. He called the page The Open Forum and it continues today.

In 1960, there was a takeover attempt by publishing mogulSamuel I. Newhouse.Helen Bonfilsbrought in her friend and lawyerDonald Seawellto save the paper. The fight led to a series of lawsuits asPostmanagement struggled to maintain local ownership. It lasted 13 years and drained the paper financially. When Helen Bonfils died in 1972, Seawell was named president and chairman of the board. He was also head of theDenver Center for the Performing Arts(DCPA). The Center was established and financed primarily by the Frederick G. and Helen G. Bonfils foundations, with aid from city funds. The majority of the assets of the foundations came from Post stock dividends.

By 1980, the paper was losing money. Critics accused Seawell of being preoccupied with building up the DCPA. Seawell sold thePostto theLos Angeles-basedTimes Mirror Companyfor $95 million. Proceeds went to the Bonfils Foundation, securing the financial future of the DCPA. Times Mirror started morning publication and delivery. Circulation improved, but the paper did not perform as well as required. Times Mirror soldThe Denver PosttoDean SingletonandMediaNews Groupin 1987.

21st century

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In January 2001, MediaNews andE.W. Scripps,parent company of the now defunctRocky Mountain News,entered into a joint operating agreement (JOA), creating theDenver Newspaper Agency,which combined the business operations of the former rivals. Under the agreement, the newsrooms of the two newspapers agreed to publish separate morning editions Monday through Friday, with thePostretaining a broadsheet format and theNewsusing a tabloid format.

They published a joint broadsheet newspaper on Saturday, produced by theNewsstaff, and a broadsheet on Sunday, produced by thePoststaff. Both newspapers' editorial pages appeared in both weekend papers. The JOA ended on February 27, 2009, when theRocky Mountain Newspublished its last issue. The following day, thePostpublished its first Saturday issue since 2001.

ThePostlaunched a staff expansion program in 2001, but declining advertising revenue led to a reduction of the newsroom staff in 2006 and 2007 through layoffs, early-retirement packages, voluntary-separation buyouts and attrition. The most recent round of announced buyouts occurred in June 2016.[10][11][12]

In 2013, just before legalization in Colorado,The Denver Postinitiated an online media brandThe Cannabistto cover cannabis-related issues.[13]First led by Editor in ChiefRicardo Baca,the online publication has surged in popularity, beating the industry veteranHigh Timesin September 2016.[14]Thirty layoffs were announced forThe Postin March 2018, according to theDenver Business Journal.[15]

Management by Digital First Media

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On September 7, 2011, John Paton, CEO ofJournal Register Company,was appointed CEO of MediaNews Group,[16]replacing Singleton, who stayed on as thePost's publisher and CEO of MediaNews until his retirement in 2013.[17]He remains non-executive chairman of the organization. With the move, thePostalso entered into an agreement with the newly created Digital First Media, led by Paton, that would provide management services and lead the execution of the company's business strategy in conjunction with Journal Register. Paton stepped down as CEO of Digital First in June 2015, and was succeeded by longtime MediaNews executive Steve Rossi.[18]

In the same announcement, the company said that it would no longer be seeking a sale.

In 2017,The Denver Postannounced that its headquarters were moving to its printing plant inNorth WashingtoninAdams County, Colorado.[19]

Newsroom cuts and criticism

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The operation ofThe Denver Postby Digital First Media, under the ownership of Alden Global Capital, has come under extensive criticism from workers at the newspaper and outside the organization.[20]The hedge fund has made "relentless cost cuts" since taking ownership in 2010, despite the reported profitability of thePost,principally by laying off the newspaper's staff.Margaret SullivanofThe Washington Postcalled Alden Global Capital "one of the most ruthless of the corporate strip-miners seemingly intent on destroying local journalism."[21]Under Digital Media First, the number of journalists in the newsroom was reduced by almost two-thirds by April 2018, to around 70 people.[22]This represents a drastic fall from the over 250 journalists whichThe Denver Postemployed before 2010, when it was purchased by Alden Media Group.[23]At one point before 2009, the joint-operating agreement betweenThe Denver PostandThe Rocky Mountain Newsboasted a 600-strong staff of journalists, before the bankruptcy of theRocky Mountain Newsthat year.[21]

The announcement of 30 more layoffs in March 2018, which reduced the paper's newsroom from 100 to around 70 people, prompted a denunciation of its owners from the editorial board ofThe Denver Post.The editorial decried Alden Global Capital as "vulture capitalists" who were "strip-mining" the newspaper; it concluded that "Denver deserves a newspaper owner who supports its newsroom. If Alden isn't willing to do good journalism here, it should sell the Post to owners who will."[21]The editorial board pointed out that the cuts were hamstringing the ability of thePostto provide quality coverage of the fast-growing Denver region, and compared the size of its newsroom unfavorably to those of other newspapers in cities of comparable or smaller size to Denver.[23]Alden's "harvesting strategy" is what prompted Greg Moore, editor ofThe Denver Postfrom 2002 to 2016, to step down.[21]

The "open revolt" of theDenver Postagainst its owners garnered support and praise from other newspapers and journalists, includingMitchell Landsbergof theLos Angeles TimesandJoe NoceraofBloomberg View.[22]

In 2020, a documentary,News Matters,was released that follows the bold attempt by Colorado journalists to save the 125-year-oldDenver Postwhile the hedge fund ownerAlden Global Capitalslowly drains profits from the paper and dismissing journalists.[24]

Controversies

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In February 2014,The Denver Postbegan publishing a section entitled "Energy and Environment", funded by Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development (CRED), a pro–natural gas group. The stories in the section are written by outsiders, not by DP reporters. A banner across the top of the section reads "This Section is Sponsored by CRED". Nevertheless, critics express concern that the section risks confusing readers about the distinction between advertising and reporting.[25]

In January 2020,Jon Caldaraof theDenver-basedIndependence Institute,a weekly columnist forThe Denver Post,was fired after publishing two conservative articles on sex and gender.[26][27]In a column arguing for greater openness in public affairs, excoriating the Colorado legislature for avoiding the legally required referendum on a new state tax by repackaging it as a “fee” — and then prohibiting hospitals from listing the fee on patients’ bills. On the same theme, he criticized the state’s educational authorities for imposing a speech code forbidding speech considered “stigmatizing”. “In case you hadn’t noticed,” he wrote, “just about everything is stigmatizing to the easily triggered, perpetually offended.” Continuing on his theme of transparency, he also complained that the schools were not doing enough to make parents aware of the contents of their sex-ed curricula. While Caldara believes his "insistence" on the existence of only two sexes was "the last straw" for his column, he emphasizes "the reason for my firing is over a difference in style."[28]He was officially fired for failing to use "respectful language" and the lack of a "collaborative and professional manner."[29]

Editors

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Editors ofThe Denver Postinclude:

Notable columnists

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Former columnists includeWoody Paige[33]in sports,Tom Noel[34]on local history,Mike Rosenon the commentary page. Other columnists includedDavid Harsanyi,[35]Al Lewis,[36]Mike Littwin,[37]Penny Parker[38]andMichael Kane.[39]

Awards

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Pulitzer Prizes

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The Denver Posthas won nine Pulitzer Prizes:[40]

References not listed below can be found on the linked pages.

National and international awards

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  • 2015 and 2016:Radio Television Digital News Association's Edward R. Murrow awards, including Lindsay Pierce/ “Kailyn’s Spirit” in 2016,[43]three in 2015.[44]
  • 2015: Pulitzer Prize finalist in Explanatory Reporting for coverage of Colorado'smarijuanalaws.
  • 2007: Pulitzer Prize finalist in breaking news forThe Denver Post's coverage of Colorado's back-to-back blizzards.
  • 2007: Four awards for outstanding business coverage from theSociety of American Business Editors and Writers(SABEW) for the newspaper's 2006 series on Colorado's mortgage foreclosure epidemic, titled "Foreclosing on the American Dream".
  • 2007: FormerPoststaff writer Eric Gorski was awarded first place in "Best of the West" contest in the Business and Financial Reporting category for "The Gospel of Prosperity", a look at the finances of the Heritage Christian Center.
  • 2007: Visual journalists atThe Postwon 10 awards in two international newspaper competitions – nine Awards of Excellence in the 28th annual Society of News Design judging and a bronze medal in the 15th annualMalofiej International Infographic Awards,held inPamplona,Spain.

Local and regional awards

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  • 2013: The Carson J Spencer Foundation "Media All-Star" award for responsible reporting on suicide.[45]
  • 2007:The Denver Postwon 22 top awards in two Colorado journalism contests, including the award for general excellence from the Colorado Associated Press Editors and Reporters (CAPER). The staff of denverpost was awarded top honors for online breaking news.
  • 2007: The Mountain States Office of the Anti-Defamation League presentedDenver Posteditorial cartoonistMike Keefewith its annual Freedom of the Press award.

References

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  1. ^Turvill, William (June 24, 2022)."Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Print sales fall another 12% in 2022".Press Gazette.RetrievedJanuary 11,2024.
  2. ^Turvill, William (June 24, 2022)."Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Print sales fall another 12% in 2022".Press Gazette.RetrievedJune 28,2022.
  3. ^Petty, Daniel (May 17, 2016)."Denver Post unique visitors jump to 6.01 million, up 65 percent year-over-year".The Denver Post.Archivedfrom the original on May 14, 2019.RetrievedJune 30,2016.
  4. ^Ember, Sydney (April 7, 2018)."Denver Post Rebels Against Its Hedge-Fund Ownership".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on April 8, 2018.RetrievedApril 13,2018.
  5. ^Ember, Sydney (April 12, 2018)."Colorado Group Pushes to Buy Embattled Denver Post From New York Hedge Fund".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on April 14, 2018.RetrievedApril 13,2018.
  6. ^McCartney, Laton (2008).The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country.Random House. p.124.ISBN9781400063161.
  7. ^McClanahan, Michael D. (1999)."Part 1: Early Runyon".Denver Press ClubHistorical Archive.Archived fromthe originalon October 6, 2007.RetrievedJune 20,2007.
  8. ^Riley, Marilyn Griggs (2006).High Altitude Attitudes: Six Savvy Colorado Women.Big Earth Publishing. p. 83.ISBN978-1555663759.
  9. ^Hosokawa, Bill (1976).Thunder in the Rockies: The Incredible Denver Post.New York: Morrow.ISBN0688029736.
  10. ^Roberts, Michael (April 27, 2006)."Dealing: The Post offers staffers money to leave".Westword.Archivedfrom the original on June 26, 2019.RetrievedJune 26,2019.
  11. ^"Industry Bloodbath Continues: 'Denver Post' Loses 21 Posts in Newsroom".Editor & Publisher.Associated Press. June 19, 2007. Archived fromthe originalon May 26, 2008.RetrievedJune 28,2008.
  12. ^"Denver Post Cutting Staff".9 News.June 4, 2016.Archivedfrom the original on June 26, 2019.RetrievedMay 16,2016.
  13. ^Opam, Kwame (December 31, 2013)."The Denver Post launches marijuana culture site The Cannabist".The Verge.Archivedfrom the original on June 26, 2018.
  14. ^Petty, Daniel (October 12, 2016)."Humble brag: Cannabist surpasses High Times in unique visitors for first time".The Cannabist.Archivedfrom the original on March 24, 2017.
  15. ^Hendee, Caitlin; Avery, Greg (March 14, 2018)."Massive job cuts coming to the Denver Post".Denver Business Journal.RetrievedSeptember 11,2018.
  16. ^Pankratz, Howard (September 7, 2011)."MediaNews Group names John Paton new CEO".The Denver Post.Archivedfrom the original on December 13, 2018.
  17. ^Raabe, Steve (November 4, 2013)."Singleton to retire from Denver Post owner MediaNews Group".The Denver Post.Archivedfrom the original on June 26, 2019.
  18. ^"Denver Post parent says now is not right time for sale of company".The Denver Post.May 14, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on June 30, 2016.
  19. ^Roberts, Michael (May 9, 2017)."Denver Post Moving Newsroom Out of Denver".Westword.Archivedfrom the original on May 12, 2017.RetrievedMay 13,2018.
  20. ^Sydney Ember (April 12, 2018)."Colorado Group Pushes to Buy Embattled Denver Post from New York Hedge Fund".New York Times.RetrievedJanuary 19,2020.
  21. ^abcdMargaret Sullivan (March 15, 2018)."Is this strip-mining or journalism? 'Sobs, gasps, expletives' over latest Denver Post layoffs".Washington Post.RetrievedJanuary 19,2020.
  22. ^abDominique Mosbergen (April 6, 2018)."In an Extraordinary Act of Defiance, Denver Post Urges its Owner to Sell the Paper".Huffington Post.RetrievedJanuary 19,2020.
  23. ^abDenver Post Editorial Board (April 6, 2018)."Editorial: As vultures circle, The Denver Post must be saved".Denver Post.RetrievedJanuary 19,2020.
  24. ^News Matters (film).Fast Forward Films, LLC. 2020.
  25. ^Valentine, Katie (April 16, 2014)."The Denver Post's 'Energy And Environment' Section Is Produced By The Oil And Gas Industry".ThinkProgress.Archivedfrom the original on June 11, 2019.
  26. ^Caldara, Jon (January 17, 2020)."Caldara: Colorado Dems should let sun shine on their hospital fees and sex-ed curriculum".The Denver Post.
  27. ^Caldara, Jon (January 3, 2020)."Caldara: The media's progressive bias has a propaganda guide — The AP Stylebook".The Denver Post.
  28. ^Caldara, Jon (January 20, 2020)."Here's the column that got me fired from the Denver Post".Think Freedom.
  29. ^Colacioppo, Lee Ann (January 21, 2020)."Editor's note on the discontinuation of Jon Caldara's column".The Denver Post.
  30. ^ab"Denver Post Picks New Editor".The New York Times.Associated Press. December 1, 1989.Archivedfrom the original on December 20, 2017.RetrievedJune 25,2019.
  31. ^"Denver Post editor Greg Moore resigns".The Denver Post.March 15, 2016.Archivedfrom the original on June 20, 2016.RetrievedMay 16,2016.
  32. ^"Lee Ann Colacioppo named editor of 'The Denver Post'".The Denver Post.May 31, 2016.Archivedfrom the original on June 25, 2016.RetrievedJune 2,2016.
  33. ^"Woody Paige".The Denver Post.July 31, 2016.RetrievedAugust 19,2021.
  34. ^"Tom Noel".The Denver Post.August 26, 2019.RetrievedAugust 19,2021.
  35. ^"David Harsanyi".The Denver Post.March 2, 2018.RetrievedAugust 19,2021.
  36. ^"Al Lewis".The Denver Post.August 2, 2013.RetrievedAugust 19,2021.
  37. ^"Mike Littwin".The Denver Post.October 31, 2013.RetrievedAugust 19,2021.
  38. ^"Penny Parker".The Denver Post.March 23, 2012.RetrievedAugust 19,2021.
  39. ^GAME BOYS: Professional Videogaming's Rise from the Basement to the Big Time by Michael Kane - IGN,June 16, 2008,retrievedAugust 19,2021
  40. ^"Prize Winners by Year".The Pulitzer Prizes.Columbia University.
  41. ^Cavna, Michael (April 18, 2011)."The Pulitzers: Denver's Mike Keefe wins for Editorial Cartooning".The Washington Post.Archivedfrom the original on February 3, 2012.
  42. ^Peltz, Jennifer (April 16, 2013)."Shooting coverage wins Pulitzer".3 News.Archived fromthe originalon January 27, 2016.
  43. ^Ostrow, Joanne; Worthington, Danika (June 21, 2016)."Denver Post videographer Lindsay Pierce wins National Murrow Award for" Kailyn's Spirit "".The Denver Post.Archivedfrom the original on June 26, 2019.RetrievedMay 9,2018.
  44. ^"Denver Post takes home 3 national Murrow Awards".The Denver Post.October 14, 2015.RetrievedMay 9,2018.
  45. ^"Denver Post receives Media All-Star award for responsible reporting on suicide".August 23, 2013.Archivedfrom the original on December 12, 2021.RetrievedMay 9,2018– via YouTube.

Further reading

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  • History of Denver,by Jerome C. Smiley, 1901, page 672.
  • Voice of Empire: A Centennial Sketch of The Denver Post,by William H. Hornby, page 8.
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