Local Politicians Rally Around A New Print Paper In The Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – By Corey Hutchins for The Colorado Independent. Journalists are the “enemy of the people.” The “failing New York Times.” Fake news, Yadda, yadda. We’ve heard it all from President Donald Trump and his dedicated fans. In Colorado, while there has been some trickle-down press bashing, it’s nothing like what’s been coming out of the White House.

Which brings us to a packed event this Thursday in which two city leaders in Colorado Springs did the opposite— lavishing praise on the launch of a new nonprofit print newspaper that will serve the southeastern part of the city.

“If everybody here buys advertising in The Southeast Express, you’re going to be a big success,” said Mayor John Suthers at the beginning of a speech to around 150 or more at a public library. A city, he said, is made of great neighborhoods, and what makes great neighborhoods is a sense of community. “And it’s information and communication, in large part, that creates a community,” Suthers said. “So local news and information of importance to Southeast Colorado Springs will soon be in the hands of residents [with the] launch [of] The Southeast Express newspaper, and that will help create community.” He added “the city is proud to partner with The Southeast Express to keep this community in the know about how your city government is at work.”

The new paper, as reported in this newsletter last month, is a product of Colorado Publishing House, which owns the Colorado Springs Independent Business Journal, the>, and other Pikes Peak publications. The new Southeast Express is a nonprofit and will be mailed to 30,000 homes in the Southeast Springs, which its city council representative says is the most diverse council district in the state. Its founders believe the area is a news desert that deserves its own newspaper dedicated to covering it. John Weiss, chairman of Colorado Publishing House, said the paper will host a city council candidate forum in March along with two dozen community groups, as well as other public engagement events to “connect the community together.”

Colorado Springs City Councilwoman Yolanda Avila, who won her election in April 2017 when voters swept her and others into office and flipped the council’s majority from conservative to a moderate-to-progressive one, also cheered on the paper. “There’s been a perception about Southeast, and people have been imposing their stories on Southeast,” she said. “And now with this newspaper, The Southeast Express, we get to tell our story.”

In 2014, I wrote for Columbia Journalism Review about the city government in Fitchburg, Wisconsin spending $30,000 to revive a local community newspaper and help mail copies to every home and business in the diverse, rapidly changing city of 25,000 that was struggling with its identity. “Local officials believe a regular print paper might help foster public discourse and a sense of community,” I wrote. The piece also looked at the obvious conflicts of interest issues involved in such a scenario.

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Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers (L) talks with constituents following a speech at the launch of a new print newspaper founded by John Weiss (R) to cover the southeast part of the city. Jan. 30, 2019 - (Photo by Corey Hutchins)