Colorado’s media landscape continues to evolve as The Denver Post, the state’s flagship paper, announced it would be moving its offices from downtown to their Adams County printing plant. Reporter Jon Murray tweeted earlier today that publisher Mac Tully confirmed the move:
Our publisher has pivoted from “considering” to it’s happening: @denverpost‘s remaining presence downtown will go to Adams County plant
— Jon Murray (@JonMurray) May 8, 2017
Cuts, layoffs, furloughs and buyouts have plagued the Post in recent years. Some of the paper’s most respected editorial writers and investigative reporters have gone on to become political consultants, industry shills or PR lackeys, and we can’t blame them. While many in the media see this as sad and bemoan the rise of “fake news,” we just see the further marginalization of old media as inevitable progress. With the rise of local blogs that quickly churn out clever content on everything from weed and beer to politics, the need for a newspaper continues to become obsolete.
And that is okay. The way people get information has evolved ever since the beginning of the written word. People can now seek out the information that interests them and the news media can no longer play gatekeeper.
What impact this will have on Colorado politics will be interesting to watch as campaigns kick into gear for 2018. Candidates can maybe count on someone who covers the big-ticket stuff, like debates and major gaffes, but that’s probably about it.