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The story of journalism in Colorado has always been defined by change, and in the age of digital media, change is coming faster than ever.��

While the nature of an independent press has always required some focus on the business model of the press, things like private equity and corporate chain takeovers have impacted the media landscape. These new owners are placing an even heavier focus on the business side of journalism, making changes like shrinking newsroom size and moving away from hyper-local reporting. At the same time, the digital age has seen a rise of collaborative journalism and innovative business models.��

��The rise of generative artificial intelligence also has shifted how we gather, report, verify and share the news—improving our ability to find sources and mine endless public records, but exposing Coloradans to deepfakes, disinformation and more. Experts at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information and Poynter’s AI Innovation Lab are studying how AI is changing the ways we create and tell stories, from traditional news to algorithm design, video evidence and architecture.

A Closer Look: A Map of Colorado's Media History

The panel features key moments from a thousand years of Colorado media history, spanning the eras before and after statehood. View the full display at beginning Sept. 9 and continuing through the end of the month. Learn more →

• Traditional: Rock art and music
  • Rock art is one of the oldest forms of human communication, and many of the oldest examples in the United States are in Colorado.
  • Music has always been a major way to share information and messages. On July 22, 1893, Katharine Lee Bates climbed Pikes Peak and, inspired by the majesty of the view, wrote a poem of her experience. The poem was later set to music and became one of the most famous songs in American history: “America the Beautiful.”
• Newspapers
  • On April 23, 1859 the Rocky Mountain News published the first newspaper in Colorado, beating the Cherry Creek Pioneer to press by 20 minutes.
  • The largest newspaper in Colorado, The Denver Post, began as the Evening Post on Aug. 8, 1892. It began publishing under
  • its current name in 1901.
• Broadcast
  • Less than two years after the first commercial radio broadcast in the United States, Colorado’s first radio station, KLZ, went live on March 10, 1922, and has been on the air ever since.