Estes Park Trail-Gazette: In Northern Colorado, nearly 40% of local news sources have disappeared in the last decade, reflecting a national crisis in local journalism that hits especially hard in rural communities where news serves as a crucial link to governmental accountability and community cohesion. Responding to this alarming trend, initiatives like the Colorado Media Project and the “Press Forward” are making strides to rejuvenate and innovate the journalism sector. Adding to these efforts, the Colorado Citizen Observers Project (CCOP), spearheaded by the League of Women Voters of Larimer County, offers a unique approach by directly engaging community members in news gathering to fill the widening information gap.

Sonia Kenning, a 15-year League volunteer and veteran, leads this innovative project, which is supported by the Gates Family Foundation, the Colorado Media Project, Open Media Foundation, the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, the Colorado Press Association, Colorado State University Center for Public Deliberation, and Documenters.org.

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