Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
After an evening screening of Stripped for Parts, Rocky Mountain Public Media hosted a panel discussion with local journalists and newsroom leaders examining the forces reshaping local media—and what’s at stake right now.
The film chronicles how Alden Global Capital’s hedge-fund takeover of newspapers nationwide has led to newsroom closures, mass layoffs, and the erosion of public-service journalism. What begins as one journalist’s investigation becomes a national confrontation between reporters and “vulture capitalist” ownership—backed by the NewsGuild union and driven by a fight to preserve journalism as a public good.
After the screening, our panel explored:
- How hedge-fund ownership and media consolidation affect newsroom independence
- What the proposed TEGNA deal signals for local television and digital news in our region
- The real-world impacts on journalists, audiences, and democratic accountability
- What sustainable, community-centered models of local journalism could look like moving forward
This conversation is ideal for journalists, students, civic leaders, media professionals, and engaged community members interested in a deeper dive into media ownership, power, and public trust.
Moderated by
Kimberly Spencer, Director at Colorado Media Project, a nonprofit leader with over 25 years of experience in fundraising, organizational strategy, and media sustainability. She has consulted for organizations and journalism support groups such as Blue Lena, Rocky Mountain Public Media, Local Independent Online News Publishers, and the Mississippi Free Press to build sustainable fundraising strategies, deepen donor engagement, and coach publishers on revenue growth.
Featured Panelists
Corey Hutchins, oversees the Journalism Institute at Colorado College, advises the Colorado Media Project, serves on the board of the state chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and consults for the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont. For nearly a decade he reported on the U.S. local media scene for Columbia Journalism Review, and he is a contributor to Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab. As a former alt-weekly reporter in the Palmetto State he was twice named South Carolina's Journalist of the Year by the S.C. Press Association. His work has appeared on the cover of The Nation, and in The Washington Post, Slate, The Daily Beast, and the Columbia Free Times, among other outlets.
Laura Frank, Executive Director, Colorado News Collaborative, pioneered collaborative journalism in Colorado as the founder of I-News, the nonprofit investigative news organization that merged with Rocky Mountain Public Media in 2013, the first such merger in the nation. She led the journalism team there for seven years. Now through COLab, she works with more than 175 news outlets and their communities across Colorado to make democracy stronger by making local journalism stronger.
Nathan Schneider, Associate Professor at University of Colorado, Media Studies, studies technology, democracy, and religion. His current project is an exploration of models for democratic ownership and governance for online platforms and protocols. He is founder of the Media Economies Design Lab. Schneider is the author of four books, most recently Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life, published by University of California Press in 2024, and Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy, published by Bold Type Books in 2018. He edited Vitalik Buterin’s book Proof of Stake: The Making of Ethereum and the Philosophy of Blockchains and co-edited Ours to Hack and to Own: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism, a New Vision for the Future of Work and a Fairer Internet.
This webinar was recorded on January 27, 2026
Watch, listen, and join the conversation.
Subscribe to RMPBS YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch
------------------------------------------------------
Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.
Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter
Facebook: / rmpbs
Instagram: / rmpbs
LinkedIn: / rocky-mountain-pbs
#PublicMedia #MediaBias #CommunityEngagement #AboveTheNoise #TrustLocalNews
After an evening screening of Stripped for Parts, Rocky Mountain Public Media hosted a panel discussion with local journalists and newsroom leaders examining the forces reshaping local media—and what’s at stake right now.
The film chronicles how Alden Global Capital’s hedge-fund takeover of newspapers nationwide has led to newsroom closures, mass layoffs, and the erosion of public-service journalism. What begins as one journalist’s investigation becomes a national confrontation between reporters and “vulture capitalist” ownership—backed by the NewsGuild union and driven by a fight to preserve journalism as a public good.
After the screening, our panel explored:
- How hedge-fund ownership and media consolidation affect newsroom independence
- What the proposed TEGNA deal signals for local television and digital news in our region
- The real-world impacts on journalists, audiences, and democratic accountability
- What sustainable, community-centered models of local journalism could look like moving forward
This conversation is ideal for journalists, students, civic leaders, media professionals, and engaged community members interested in a deeper dive into media ownership, power, and public trust.
Moderated by
Kimberly Spencer, Director at Colorado Media Project, a nonprofit leader with over 25 years of experience in fundraising, organizational strategy, and media sustainability. She has consulted for organizations and journalism support groups such as Blue Lena, Rocky Mountain Public Media, Local Independent Online News Publishers, and the Mississippi Free Press to build sustainable fundraising strategies, deepen donor engagement, and coach publishers on revenue growth.
Featured Panelists
Corey Hutchins, oversees the Journalism Institute at Colorado College, advises the Colorado Media Project, serves on the board of the state chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and consults for the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont. For nearly a decade he reported on the U.S. local media scene for Columbia Journalism Review, and he is a contributor to Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab. As a former alt-weekly reporter in the Palmetto State he was twice named South Carolina's Journalist of the Year by the S.C. Press Association. His work has appeared on the cover of The Nation, and in The Washington Post, Slate, The Daily Beast, and the Columbia Free Times, among other outlets.
Laura Frank, Executive Director, Colorado News Collaborative, pioneered collaborative journalism in Colorado as the founder of I-News, the nonprofit investigative news organization that merged with Rocky Mountain Public Media in 2013, the first such merger in the nation. She led the journalism team there for seven years. Now through COLab, she works with more than 175 news outlets and their communities across Colorado to make democracy stronger by making local journalism stronger.
Nathan Schneider, Associate Professor at University of Colorado, Media Studies, studies technology, democracy, and religion. His current project is an exploration of models for democratic ownership and governance for online platforms and protocols. He is founder of the Media Economies Design Lab. Schneider is the author of four books, most recently Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life, published by University of California Press in 2024, and Everything for Everyone: The Radical Tradition that Is Shaping the Next Economy, published by Bold Type Books in 2018. He edited Vitalik Buterin’s book Proof of Stake: The Making of Ethereum and the Philosophy of Blockchains and co-edited Ours to Hack and to Own: The Rise of Platform Cooperativism, a New Vision for the Future of Work and a Fairer Internet.
This webinar was recorded on January 27, 2026
Watch, listen, and join the conversation.
Subscribe to RMPBS YouTube channel: bit.ly/3zeF6Ch
------------------------------------------------------
Follow Rocky Mountain PBS on our other platforms, too.
Newsletter: rmpbs.org/newsletter
Facebook: / rmpbs
Instagram: / rmpbs
LinkedIn: / rocky-mountain-pbs
#PublicMedia #MediaBias #CommunityEngagement #AboveTheNoise #TrustLocalNews
