Creating a stronger Colorado media ecosystem by building a long-term, continuous listening model that drives relevancy in content and delivery.
Above the Noise Initiative
Colorado sources of local news—including newspapers, radio, TV, online, magazines and non-traditional community news sources—equals a total of 594 outlets. The Above the Noise initiative will create a stronger Colorado media ecosystem amidst a threatening landscape of lack of funding, resources, and capacity for these local news outlets across the state. This goal fosters a resilient and sustainable journalism ecosystem that adapts to and evolves with change, ensures equity in roles, and supports diverse and impactful storytelling.
In partnership with the Colorado Press Association, Colorado Media Project, and Colorado State University's Center for Public Deliberation, Rocky Mountain Public Media has launched Above the Noise, a statewide initiative encompassing:
1
Train/up-skill newsrooms on methods of deep, ongoing community listening, facilitating constructive discourse, and building trust through ongoing relationship building.
2
Add capacity to newsrooms through shared community engagement staff housed at RMPM who partner “on the ground” with local newsrooms to plan and facilitate community listening and conversations.
3
Sustain ongoing relationships and trust-building by RMPM’s creation/expansion of a 64-county Ambassador program that acts as a mirror for local journalism organizations to reflect their relevancy and impact to those we seek to engage and serve. This statewide network of sources will also surface critical issues for further exploration by local newsrooms through their coverage at the hyper-local level.
Our research shows the following results when local newsrooms actively engage with their communities:
Builds credibility and trust in media.
Builds a sense of belonging and validation and fosters connection.
Can work towards addressing historical and ongoing inequities in media coverage for communities of color, rural populations, and low-wealth and other marginalized groups.
Holds newsrooms accountable.
Promotes healing within communities and beyond.
Increases community members’ resilience against disinformation, through media literacy workshops, town hall discussions, and media partnerships.
Advances civic engagement by empowering community members in civic life.
Reduces polarization and division.
Supports civility and democracy.
Allows newsrooms to better understand the needs, interests, concerns, and assets of their community.
The Challenge and The Opportunity
Studies show that the closure of newspapers leads to political polarization, lower voter turnout, fewer political candidates, and economic costs.
Colorado is one of the nation’s fastest-growing states, and we know that the information needs of Coloradans vary widely across our diverse geography, and yet Colorado’s local newspapers are declining more rapidly than predicted. * In very rural locations, such as southeast Colorado, broadband internet access is not a given – in these communities, audiences rely on our broadcast programming for current and
According to a 2023 study conducted by Northwestern University, nationally, the decline of local newspapers accelerated so rapidly in 2023 that analysts now believe the U.S. will have lost one-third of the newspapers it had as of 2005 by the end of 2024, rather than originally predicted for 2025.** The study found that Colorado has lost 32 papers since 2005, and 12 in the last five years. A decline of 22%. **
Alongside the decline of local news sources, RMPM’s Journalism Director Jeremy Moore’s work on Reality Check found the following:
· National misinformation narratives trickle down to local communities
· More than 70% of people are not confident they can spot misinformation
· Polarization makes engaging new audiences difficult
· Trust in news and journalism is near the all-time low of 2016
· AI intelligence is rapidly changing the ecosystem
· Serious lack of resources and skills makes it difficult for local news outlets to respond and engage with the public
What is Misinformation?
According to the American Psychological Association, misinformation is false or inaccurate information. Disinformation is false information which is deliberately intended to mislead—intentionally misstating the facts. The spread of misinformation and disinformation has affected our ability to improve public health, address climate change, maintain a stable democracy, and more. ****
It is our position at RMPM that one of the strongest tools to counteract the risks of misinformation, is to ensure robust news sources that provide a steady stream of accurate, trustworthy information to local communities. Without these sources and a sense of connectivity, community members can feel isolated and alienated from the mainstream of society—particularly those who are not traditionally represented in the media. In turn, this can increase the potential of communities becoming more susceptible to misinformation and/or even radicalized.
Sources:
https://www.axios.com/2023/11/16/newspapers-decline-hedge-funds-research *
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/06/newspapers-close-decline-in-local-journalism/ **
https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/projects/state-of-local-news/2023/report/ ***
https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/health-misinformation ****
The 20/80 Phenomenon
To further
reinforce the need for broader engagement and representation in the media, the research below explored trends around national political discussion.
The VOX
POP “Voice of the People” 80/20 Issue
Cited research from Dr. Yanna Krupnikov and John Barry Ryan: The
Other Divide: Polarization and Disengagement in American Politics. Pew
Research Center: The Public, The Political System and American Democracy
Key
interesting points in this study include:
20%
of the public follow politics. White, male, well educated, higher
income, older and
They are more likely to engage with their local, statewide,
online, or national newsrooms, in community listening, feedback and/or story
pitching.
80%
Identified themselves with politics as an identifier – but that
doesn’t mean they are
Distrust of public
institutions, media or academia could also sway the research a bit as they may
not participate in polls.
RMPM’s team has
determined that for listening sessions to be successful for the 80%, it should
be more open ended—not based on politics, democracy, voting etc. There is a place for both types of listening
sessions. Above the Noise is focused on more long-term sustainable listening
models—not election cycles.
Those who talk about politics most are older, better educated
% who say they discuss politics and
government with others
The successful execution of Above the Noise promises a multifaceted impact, including:
· A more collaborative and robust media ecosystem in Colorado with shared vision, goals, and tools
· Strengthened community access to news and information programming, human-centered storytelling, and enriched arts and culture representation
· Improved media products for communities because of access to shared tools
· Supportive tools and approaches to the work that will address system-wide burnout amongst journalists and media leaders
· Improved representation and trust amongst communities of color and media organizations in Colorado
· Increased engagement of youth, especially through collaboration with schools and universities throughout the state
PHASE I | Above the Noise Initiative 2024:
QUARTER 1
Impact Tracker Implementation with specific table
for Community Listening. Completed February 2024.
QUARTER 2
Recruited 25 Newsrooms. Completed March 2024. 40 participants in six regions.
Interview 40 Newsrooms to determine needs. Schedule for April/Early May 2024
Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Training available April 2024.
Implement first listening sessions May 2024. Continuous through November 2024. *Goal is two per month.
Creation of Facebook page and recruitment tools. May 2024.
QUARTER 3
Recruit minimum of 35 Ambassadors by November of 2024
Recruit minimum of 10 Community Partner Organizations by November 2024.
PHASE II | Above the Noise Initiative 2025:
Formalize the network of 64 Ambassadors statewide.
Identify local “documenters".
Create a “toolkit” for Ambassadors and Advisory Board.
Operationalize these groups as a network for user-centered product design.
PHASE III | Above the Noise Initiative 2026:
Bi-annual in-person meeting for the entire Ambassador network, in addition to mini-conferences throughout the state.
Facilitated smaller, regional Ambassador meetings.
Updated needs assessment to ensure the initiative stays current and relevant.
Conduct 2.0 training for the documenters engaged in hyper-local newsrooms.
The Role of Ambassador64
A critical component of the overall
success and long-term sustainability of Above the Noise is to establish new and
strengthen existing deep-rooted relationships in the local community and local
trusted Ambassadors to build infrastructure for continuous listening. The goal is for Ambassadors to stand in the gaps
of what local newsrooms need, that could be documenters, listeners, engagement
helpers, etc. In the first quarter of 2024, the team
has already engaged 17 of the 64 identified Ambassadors. This process will be
ongoing through 2025.
Ambassador Locations
April 2024
April 2025
Partner with Us!
Above the Noise is poised to have long-lasting impact in shaping a healthier media ecosystem for Colorado.
We would be honored to explore ways of partnering to support this critical initiative to support strong local public interest journalism, news literacy, and engaged Colorado communities for generations to come.