Aspen Journalism

Mission

Our mission is to produce investigative and in-depth journalism for those with a stake in the Aspen region, by virtue of their living, voting, owning, working, recreating, or visiting here.

About our journalism

We believe well-informed citizens make better decisions; good journalism sustains both community and democracy; investigative reporting spurs needed reform, and well-written stories are an efficient and effective way to reach engaged citizens.

Our model as a nonprofit, reader-supported local newsroom was pioneered in 2011 by Aspen Journalism’s founder, Brent Gardner-Smith, directly inspired by his work with ProPublica. Implemented to ensure local communities have dedicated journalists with editorial independence, this civic benefit is funded by philanthropic, community, and public funds, sustaining AJs growing award-winning team of in-house and freelance journalists. We produce journalism that is unique to our local media landscape, with our collaborative model allows us to reach communities through the availability of our work to regional media outlets.