CC students can attend a conference in Denver for free this week
The Collaborative Journalism Summit is May 15-16
Colorado College students have the opportunity to attend this week’s Collaborative Journalism Summit in Denver for free.
Each year, the summit moves from city to city. Organizers choose where based on a city’s level of interest in collaborative media efforts — and their execution of them.
“We’ve been in Philly, Chicago, D.C., Detroit and were supposed to be in North Carolina when the pandemic hit,” said the center’s director, Stefanie Murray. “This year we chose Colorado and Denver, specifically, because of the incredible collaborative efforts we see all over the state.”
For the past several years, Colorado has been a pioneer of an ethos toward collaboration over competition among newsrooms. More than in many states, journalists and newsrooms in Colorado tend to partner often, though they will compete when and where it makes sense. Other states often look to Colorado for inspiration.
Taking place May 15-16 at the Delta Hotels Denver Thornton, the summit is “designed to be a fast-paced event full of sharing and learning,” organizers said. “Both days are typically packed with sessions, so prepare accordingly.”
The schedule includes panels, “lightning talks,” “fireside chats,” keynote and plenary sessions.
Colorado College students can attend the conference for free by using the code SPONSOREDTICKET. (It might look like you’re registering as a speaker, but don’t worry about that.)
It’s a great networking event for student journalists and anyone looking to understand collaborative journalism.
Colorado journalists and national players will host panel discussions, including one of your professors. Find out who the keynote speakers are here. If you’re on the fence about attending, the center posted seven reasons to register for it.
Here are the first three:
1. Learn from journalism’s most innovative collaborators
The Summit brings together trailblazers who have transformed collaborative journalism from concept to impactful reality. You’ll hear from Wendi Thomas and Ayanna Watkins of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, whose investigative partnership with ProPublica led to nearly $12 million in medical debt being wiped clean for 5,300 patients.
The Summit also features speakers from Outlier Media sharing how its Detroit-focused collaboration helped residents recover lost funds, and Earth Journalism Network explaining its cross-border environmental reporting model.
Sessions will cover everything from the Chicago Media Project’s innovative use of AI and WhatsApp to reach migrant communities to Dallas Free Press’s unconventional arts-journalism partnership that’s reaching entirely new audiences.
2. Discover Colorado’s collaborative journalism ecosystem
Colorado has emerged as a national laboratory for collaborative journalism, with its ecosystem featuring more than 180 news outlets working together across content creation, community engagement, and capacity building.
Our opening keynote focuses on what Colorado news leaders have learned from years of successful collaboration. You’ll hear how eight news organizations are collaborating to fill a Spanish-language news desert in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley and learn about the Colorado News Mapping Project, which became a catalyst for further collaborations across the state. Colorado College and University of Denver representatives will share concrete solutions from their experience that you can apply in your communities.
The state’s thriving collaborative media landscape provides a perfect backdrop for understanding what’s possible when news organizations unite around shared goals.
3. Find solutions to pressing industry challenges
The Summit will directly address the economic, technological, and audience challenges facing journalism today. The Press Forward plenary session will detail how this national coalition is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms and build necessary infrastructure through coordinated grantmaking.
Find the other four reasons here. Register for the conference here.
Seniors, see you at the SCPMC tonight
Seniors graduating with a journalism minor, check your inbox for an invitation for a get-together at 5 p.m. tonight.
Also seniors, fill out this survey for the Career Center
With graduation just around the corner, the Career Center wants to hear from you.
Here’s what they need:
Whether you have already lined up your “first destination” beyond CC, or are still exploring, please take just 5 minutes to complete the First Destinations Survey — your input will help Colorado College support current and future students as they navigate their career journeys.
Fill out that survey here.
Here’s more from the Career Center:
Curious where other recent CC graduates have gone? See results from previous First Destination Surveys! https://www.coloradocollege.edu/offices/careercenter/lets-collaborate/first-destination-surveys.html
Need Career Support? It’s not too late! https://www.coloradocollege.edu/offices/careercenter/index.html
If you’re feeling behind or unsure, you’re not alone—and we’re here to help. Meet with a career consultant (Schedule an appointment via Handshake), visit our office, or explore our online resources.
Alumni Career Fair on May 21 https://events.bizzabo.com/hirecolorado2025?promo=school&tr=true
Meet hiring managers and recruiters from the Denver region’s leading employers who are actively hiring for full-time positions across all experience levels.
For additional career support, contact the Career Center at careercenter@coloradocollege.eduor 719-389-6893.
On behalf of the college, we appreciate your time!
More odds & ends of interest to CC journalism students
📺 KOAA News5 in Colorado Springs is looking for a multimedia journalist.
📲 Follow the CC Journalism Institute on Instagram and on Facebook.
📰 “What Can You Do With The New York Times Student Access?” wrote Lilly Asano in the Catalyst student newspaper.
👀 Chatwan Mongkol has a useful story for the Nutgraf newsletter about what internship recruiters look for in candidates. If you’re on the hunt for an internship (and you should be), make sure you read this and follow the advice.
📰 Your First Byline gathers journalism advice from professional reporters and editors and offers it in an accessible way in a daily newsletter.
😳 Journalism.wtf provides “a little help in navigating resources, events, groups and opportunities in the world of creating news and information.”
🗞 Stay informed: Make sure you are reading each week’s edition of the Catalyst student newspaper cover to cover and letting its editors know if there’s something you think their reporters should report.
💻 Get involved: Make yourself acquainted with all of the campus publications at Colorado College here.
💸 Take advantage: As a CC student, you get free access to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, the Economist magazine, and more, which can save you a lot of money on subscriptions. You can sign up through Tutt Library. Find more information about how to access these publications and others here.
📍 Bookmark these journalism resources
Make sure you’re keeping up with the latest trends in journalism (including student journalism) by bookmarking some of these outlets and keeping up to speed:
Inside The Newsroom — The Newsletter For Journalists (featuring journalism jobs, internships, and opportunities)
The Nugraf, a weekly newsletter by Chatman Mongkol about student journalism, featuring “original reporting on the state of student journalism and dedicated sections for showcasing stories by student journalists and highlighting industry opportunities.” (Warning: students who took Inbox Journalism might be envious of Mongkol’s slam-dunk idea for a national newsletter.)
Don’t fall prey to the “News Finds Me” phenomenon, and make sure you’re always actively seeking out news and information.
📝 Have you officially registered for the journalism minor?
Do you identify as a journalism minor but might not actually be registered as one on paper?
Here are the requirements for a journalism minor at CC:
“Introduction to Journalism” and three other topics in journalism classes or others that qualify from English or film and media.
Complete an internship.
Complete a practicum: a long-form piece of journalism in the medium of your choice published outside of a campus publication (what’s your dream outlet? Let’s try!)
If you want to register for the minor, fill out this online form. Put Corey Hutchins down as your advisor, and I’ll sign off on it. Then let’s meet to talk about what you might want to consider for an internship or practicum.
Get in touch
As always, feel free to get in touch any time, or let me know if you want us to take you off this list. — Corey Hutchins, manager, Colorado College Journalism Institute.