Aspen Journalism is an independent news organization and a 501c3 nonprofit. Our mission is to produce quality in-depth journalism, as we believe well-informed citizens make better decisions. Our approach is both investigative and collaborative. Our coverage area radiates outward from Aspen to the Western Slope, to Colorado, to the Colorado River basin, and to the West.

We collaborate with a growing list of newspapers in our region, including the Aspen Times, Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Vail Daily, Summit Daily News, Steamboat Pilot and Greeley Tribune. We also recently collaborated on a story with Aspen Sojourner magazine spotlighting Aspen’s immigrant laborers and the challenges they face.

The Roaring Fork River is both a large tributary of the Colorado River and a major supplier of water for the Front Range, hence our ongoing coverage of water and rivers in Colorado and the West. We've also covered education, land-use, local government, housing, transportation, energy, wealth, real estate, the ski industry, and development.

In eight years of operation, we've successfully demonstrated our founding concept of serving the community as an independent news organization that is "local, online, nonprofit, investigative, and collaborative." To do that, we've worked with a number of talented freelance journalists, including:

Sarah Tory
Allen Best
Heather Sackett
Lindsay Fendt
Catherine Lutz
Tim Mutrie
John Colson
Tim Cooney
Paul Andersen
Madeleine Osberger
Bob Ward
Brady Hurley

Some of the highlights of our reporting include:

Our journalism advisory board includes:

Roger Adams, former news director, Aspen Public Radio
Dave Danforth, columnist at, and former owner of, the Aspen Daily News
Charles Davis, dean, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia
Charles Firestone, executive director, Aspen Institute Communications & Society Program
Laura Frank, president and general manager for news, Rocky Mountain PBS
Sarah Gilman, contributing editor, High Country News
John Masters, executive director, GrassRoots Community Network
Mike McPhee, former reporter, Denver Post
Rem Rieder, former editor-at-large and media columnist, USA Today
Curtis Robinson, co-founder of Roaring Fork Sunday and former editor at the Aspen Daily News
Carolyn Sackariason, former news director at Aspen Public Radio and former editor at the Aspen Daily News
Steve Skinner, columnist at Aspen Daily News and former GM at KDNK
Andy Stone, former columnist and editor at the Aspen Times
Mike Webb, vice president, BerlinRosen

Our board of directors includes:

Tim McFlynn, Chair
Tim is the executive director of Public Counsel of the Rockies, past chair of the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails Board, and a Manaus Fund board member.

Harry Teague
Harry is the founder and principal designer at Harry Teague Architects. He has lived in the Aspen area since 1972, when he received his M. Arch. from the Yale School of Architecture. Teague’s work, which includes the Benedict Music Tent in Aspen, has been widely recognized and appreciated.

Mark Harvey
Mark is a rancher, writer, filmmaker, and photographer. He is the author of The NOLS Wilderness Guide and the producer and director of the documentary A Land Out of Time. Mark is the current president of the board of EcoFlight and has served on the board of High Country News, the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, and Public Counsel of the Rockies.

Michael McVoy
Michael is an Aspen-based investment adviser, the former co-publisher of The Aspen Times, and a Manaus Fund board member.

Brent Gardner-Smith is Aspen Journalism's executive director, editor and founder. He is currently reporting on water and rivers. Brent's also been a reporter at KSNO, the Aspen Daily News and The Aspen Times, the executive director at Aspen Public Radio, and a raft guide at Blazing Adventures. His work has been recognized by the Colorado Broadcaster's Association, the Colorado Press Association and the Society for Professional Journalists. He has a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a bachelor's degree in English from California State University Chico.

AJ's editorial independence policy

Aspen Journalism retains full authority over its editorial content. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of revenue. Our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. We cede no right of review or influence of editorial content. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services, actions, or opinions. We disclose our donors on our website, and do not accept anonymous donations.