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Colorado is home to expansive natural wonders rocky mountains, vast forests, sand dunes, waterfalls and crystal clear lakes and rivers. If you love outdoors and extreme sports, there aren’t many better places to be than Colorado.
The state is also known for the Four Corners Monument, Pikes Peak, the Supermax prison facility, holding some of the world’s most notorious terrorists and drug lords, and interestingly enough, inventing cheeseburgers.
Even though printed media is in general decline all over the country, Colorado is still serviced by some of the biggest newspapers and magazines published in the country. One of the biggest media players in Colorado is Digital First Media a subsidiary of Alden Global Capital.
If you want to advertise in Colorado, the following 10 newspapers are the first ones you want to check out.
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The Denver Post
- Serves: Denver, Colorado
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 134,537 Daily; 253,261 Sunday (2016)
- Monthly web visits: 5.62 million
- Founded in: 1892
- Current owner: Digital First Media (Alden Global Capital)
- Executive Editor: Lee Ann Colacioppo LColacioppo@denverpost.com
The Denver Post is the biggest and most circulated newspaper in Colorado. It serves more than 720,000 people living in the state capital Denver and the nearby areas.
It’s one of the most authoritative newspapers not only in Colorado, but the entire country. The Denver Post has won a total of nine Pulitzer Prizes between 1964 and 2013, as follows:
- 1964 for Editorial Cartooning by Paul Conrad
- 1967 for Editorial Cartooning by Pat Oliphant
- 1984 for Feature Photography by Anthony Suau
- 1986 for Public Service for a series called “The Truth About Missing Children” with lead reporters Louis Kilzer and Diana Griego
- 2000 for Breaking News Reporting covering the massacre at Columbine High School
- 2010 for Feature Photography by Craig F. Walker
- 2011 for Editorial Cartooning by Mike Keefe
- 2012 for Feature Photography by Craig F. Walker
- 2013 for Breaking News Reporting covering the 2012 shooting in Aurora, Colorado
In more recent years, the paper has faced internal turmoil as its owner the Alden Global Capital hedge fund has conducted a massive downsizing of the newsroom. Staff was reduced to 70 people in 2018, compared to 250 in 2010, before the paper was bought out. Denver Post openly rebelled against its owners, calling them “vulture capitalists” who were “strip-mining” the newspaper for profit.
Today, The Denver Post is still the top newspaper in Colorado, though much of it’s readership has moved on to the digital publication at http://www.denverpost.com
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The Colorado Springs Gazette
- Serves: Colorado Springs and surrounding areas
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 122,200 Daily; 168,700 Sunday
- Monthly web visits: 1.68 million
- Founded in: 1873
- Current owner: Clarity Media Group
- Editor: Vince Bzdek vince.bzdek@gazette.com
The Gazette brings vital news and information to more than 100,000 readers in Colorado Springs and El Paso County.
A fun legend: In December 1955, the local Sears store advertised a 24/7 phone line, where children could call and talk to Santa Claus. Somehow, the phone number was misprinted and thousands of children ended up calling the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center in Colorado Springs instead. This marked the start of the annual NORAD tracking of Santa’s sleigh as it makes its way around the world.
On a more serious note, the Gazette won two Politzer prizes:
- In 1990 for Feature Writing for Dave Curtin’s story of a family struggling to recover after their home was destroyed in an explosion.
- In 2014 for National Reporting for David Philipps’s story about mistreatment of wounded combat veterans.
Today, you’ll find the Colorado Springs Gazette both on the news stands and only at http://www.gazette.com
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Pueblo Chieftain
- Serves: Pueblo, Colorado
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 30,000 (estimate)
- Monthly web visits: 506.10 thousand
- Founded in: 1868
- Current owner: Gannett
- Editor: Steve Henson shenson@chieftain.com
Pueblo Chieftain is the oldest daily newspaper in Colorado. It serves the residents of Pueblo County, as well as most of Southeastern Colorado.
Most of the newspaper’s recent history has been governed by a single man. Robert Hoag Rawlings worked for the Pueblo Chieftain for 70 years. He spent 37 of them as editor and publisher of the Chieftain, as well as chairman of the Star-Journal Publishing Corporation which owned the paper. After his death in 2017, the newspaper was sold according to his will and the proceeds went into the Robert Hoag Rawlings Foundation, which has helped the communities around Southern Colorado since 1988.
The current owner is Gannett, which publishes more than 560 community newspapers, including 124 dailies, along with more than 485 affiliated websites.
Most readers these days have transitioned to the digital version found at http://www.chieftain.com
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Grand Junction Daily Sentinel
- Serves: Grand Junction City and Mesa County, Colorado
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 35,000 (estimate)
- Monthly web visits: 160.60 thousand
- Founded in: 1893
- Current owner: Seaton Publishing Co.
- Managing Editor: Dale Shrull dale.shrull@gjsentinel.com
With more than 125 years of history the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel distributes in six counties in western Colorado, bringing daily news and information to more than 150,000 residents in Mesa and neighbouring counties.
Since 2009, the newspaper has operated under Kansas-based Seaton Publishing Co, with many of the Seaton family members acting as higher executives in the publication.
Since 1998, the newspaper also publishes digitally at http://www.gjsentinel.com
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Boulder Daily Camera
- Serves: Boulder, Colorado
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 30,000 (estimate)
- Monthly web visits: 564.32 thousand
- Founded in: 1890
- Current owner: Prairie Mountain Publishing Digital First Media
- Senior Editor: Julie Vossler-Henderson jvhenderson@prairiemountainmedia.com
Boulder Daily Camera is the main source of news, information and advertising in Boulder and Broomfield counties.
The newspaper has carried numerous names throughout its history Boulder Camera, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Daily Camera, and the Camera. All of them remain in use by its readers and the industry.
You can also access the Daily Camera online at http://www.dailycamera.com
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Fort Collins Coloradoan
- Serves: Fort Collins and Northern Colorado
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 40,000 (estimate)
- Monthly web visits: 910.51 thousand
- Founded in: 1873
- Current owner: Gannett
- Executive Editor: Eric Larsen ericlarsen@coloradoan.com
Fun fact: Coloradoan is the deprecated term for Coloradan a resident of Colorado. That said both the term and the newspaper are highly popular.
Fort Collins is the fourth most populous city in the state with more than 170,000 residents and only one daily newspaper. This makes the Coloradoan the most trusted local news source in Northern Colorado. In fact, local news are the main focus of the publication, syndicating national news from USA Today
The paper also publishes digitally at http://www.coloradoan.com
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Greeley Tribune
- Serves: Greeley, Weld County and Northern Colorado
- Publishes on: Four days per week
- Print circulation: 15,000 (estimate)
- Monthly web visits: 607.56 thousand
- Founded in: 1870
- Current owner: Prairie Mountain Publishing Digital First Media
- Editor: Jerry Martin jmartin@greeleytribune.com
The City of Greeley and The Greeley Tribune were founded by the same person Nathan Meeker an agricultural writer for Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the New York Tribune.
The Greeley Tribune is the only local news paper, serving more than 100,000 residents of Weld County in Northern Colorado.
In 2019, the newspaper switched from a daily publication to running four times a week, due to the shrinkage of the printed media industry.
The online publication is updated daily. Visit the Greeley Tribune at http://www.greeleytribune.com
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Daily Times-Call
- Serves: Longmont, Colorado
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 19,000 (estimate)
- Monthly web visits: 152.11 thousand
- Founded in: 1931
- Current owner: Prairie Mountain Publishing Digital First Media
- Longmont Editor: John Vahlenkamp
- Boulder Editor: Julie Vossler-Henderson
The Longmont Daily Times-Call is one of the victims of the downsizing printing industry. Formerly the proud source of local news and information for 86,000 Longmont residents, today it republishes most of its content from sister publications owned by the same parent company.
The newspaper is owned by Prairie Mountain Publishing a subsidiary of Digital First Media itself controlled by Alden Global Capital. In 2017, the company abandoned the Longmont office and moved the publication to the HQ of the Boulder Daily Camera, also owned by the same group.
You can find the Daily Times-Call online at http://www.timescall.com
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Loveland Reporter-Herald
- Serves: Loveland, Berthoud, Larimer and Weld Counties, Colorado
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 17,000 (estimate)
- Monthly web visits: 313.88 thousand
- Founded in: —
- Current owner: Prairie Mountain Publishing Digital First Media
- Editor: John Vahlenkamp vahlenkampj@prairiemountainmedia.com
Reporter-Herald brings local and national news daily to 79,000 residents of Loveland, and also broader areas in Larimer and Weld Counties in Colorado.
The paper was part of Lehman Communications, along with several other prominent Colorado publications, before the company was acquired in 2011 by Prairie Mountain Publishing. Previously based in Loveland for more than 100 years, the newspaper moved its offices to Berthoud, Colorado in 2017.
Access the Loveland Reporter-Herald online at http://www.reporterherald.com
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The Aspen Times
- Serves: Aspen, Pitkin County, Colorado
- Publishes on: Daily
- Print circulation: 9,000
- Monthly web visits: 461.76 thousand
- Founded in: 1881
- Current owner: Colorado Mountain News Media, Swift Communications
- Editor: David Krause dkrause@aspentimes.com
The Aspen Times is a free daily newspaper the oldest and most trusted in the ski-resort town. It focuses predominantly on local issues is Aspen and Pitkin county, but sees wider distribution up to Carbondale in Garfield County.
The paper’s latest owner Swift Communications moved operations to Gypsum, Colorado.
Online, the Aspen Times publishes using a common platform to all Swift publications. You can visit the website at https://www.aspentimes.com/
Colorado Press Association
We broke down the top ten newspapers in Colorado, however, there are hundreds of smaller publications scattered all over the state. The Colorado Press Association has a detailed map, where you can discover dozens of member newspapers and get more information about the printing industry in Colorado.