Aspen Journalism 2011 Annual Report Our Mission: Aspen Journalism is an independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to produce investigative journalism in the local public interest. We cover the Roaring Fork River watershed in western Colorado, with an emphasis on Pitkin County and the communities of Aspen and Snowmass Village. Our Goals: Serve the local public interest. Produce excellent in-depth accountability journalism. Present local public information in a useful and compelling manner. Collaborate with local and regional news organizations. Impact from reporting We raised awareness, and in at least one instance, sparked action, on a number of compelling local and regional issues, including: Redstone and Placita "phantom" dams: our reporting in the Aspen Daily News on conditional water rights for two large potential dams on the Crystal River helped spur the Colorado River District to walk away from one dam and significantly downize the other. Base Village lawsuits and project status: we reported for The Aspen Times on the lawsuits between Related Cos, its investors, and its bankers and brought forward new details and a trove of documents. The Bear Ranch project: we reported on Bill Koch's fantasy ranch under construction near Paonia in Gunnison County for the Sunday Denver Post. Al Gore's frustration about climate deniers: audio we gathered during an Aspen Institute session went viral on the Internet. Changing demographics in region: we published a four-part series with The Aspen Times and the Glenwood Springs Post Independent on what the census told us about the region. Our collaborations with local and regional media organizations: In 2011, we collaborated on over 30 stories with nine different local and regional media organizations. Denver Post "The price of privacy," Sunday 10/23 "Details of the land swap," Sunday, 10/23 The Aspen Times "Garfield County, New Castle lead Western Slope growth," 4/28 "After the recession, region sees a boom in empty homes," 4/29 "Germans weighing value of Base Village at Snowmass," 10/5 "Aspen Skiing Co. submits Base Village bid," 10/7 "Aspen Skiing Co. not alone in bid for Base Village," 10/12 "Related Cos. not faring well in court against Base Village lenders, investors," 10/26 "Related's suit a hard sale to Delaware court," 10//26 "New owners of Base Village issue first statement," 12/2 "Lowe Enterprises signs contract to manage Base Village," 12/21 Aspen Times Weekly "Census reveals a changing complexion for the Roaring Fork region," Sunday, Aspen Daily News "Crystal River dams draw new round opposition," 3/14 "Districts walking away from water," 4/25 "City water rights for hydropower being questioned," Sunday, 7/10 5/1 Our collaborations with local and regional media organizations: Aspen Daily News, con't "SkiCo to close snowmobile 'marina' on top of Aspen Mtn., 11/29 "Powder to the People fought the law - and the law won," Sunday, 12/11 Snowmass Sun "Legal fight against Burnt Mountain trail ends," 11/30 "Lowe Enterprises signs contract to manage Base Village," 12/21 Glenwood Springs Post Independent "2010 Census: Garfield County, New Castle lead West Slope growth," 4/28 "After recession, a local boom in empty homes," 4/29 "Hispanic population booms in valley," 4/30 "Hispanics flex political muscle," 5/1 Aspen Public Radio Collaboration on census project with Aspen Times, Glenwood Post Profiles of six city council candidates, April Over 25 daily radio news stories, April and May, including: "Aspen city critic Marilyn Marks has requested a recount in last week's election for mayor;" "Officials with the White River National Forest released a final environmental impact statement and record of decision yesterday for a forest-wide travel management plan;" and "Demolition of the Given Institute building in Aspen's West End got under way yesterday." Our collaborations with local and regional media organizations: KDNK Produce and host "Aspen Journalism On-Air," a monthly public affairs show Produced series of reports for KDNK on Aspen Ideas Festival Produced a number of news stories: "The Phantom Dams of the Crystal River," mid-March "Crystal River Valley fights potential dams, flooding of Redstone," mid-March "Water rights, forever good?" mid-March "Groups back off water rights after decades of holding on," April 25 "Aspen Ski Co CEO says local government needs to support development more," 8/10 "As dead trees pile-up, state looks to Europe for biochar lesson," September "More water could soon leave the Valley for the front range," September "Front Range draining much of Western Slope's excess water," September Grassroots TV 30-minute interviews of nine mayoral and city council candidates on "Probe Line" Other media outlets that used our reporting w/o prior collaboration: We want our reporting to have an impact, and so we allow other media outlets to publish and broadcast it at no cost, as long as they give us credit, run the story in full and keep all links in the story in place. We're pleased that at least seven organizations published over 25 stories under those guidelines. The Snowmass Sun "Census reveals a changing complexion for the Roaring Fork region," 5/2 "Germans weighing value of Base Village," 10/4 "SkiCo not alone in bid for Base Village," 10/18 "Related Cos. not faring well in court against Base Village lenders, investors, "Related's suit a hard sale to Delaware court,"10/25 "Base Village owners issue first statement," 12/6 Vail Daily "Census reveals a changing complexion for the Roaring Fork region," 5/2 Crystal Valley Echo "Crystal dams decision coming to a head (for now)," April, 2011 Huffington Post Denver "Aspen Journalism Explores The Clash Between Environmental Privilege and Immigration in Pitkin County," 8/23 10/25 Media outlets that used our reporting w/o prior collaboration, cont'd Aspen Business Journal "City and county grant approval for new Tiehack lift; SkiCo busy preparing site," 6/1 "Billionaires prepare to sue city over Castle Creek hydro plant," 7/11 "PitCo opposes potential dam on the Crystal River," 8/1 "The price of privacy: Bill Koch," 10.25 "Related to NYC court on Base Village: It's the bank's fault," 11.21 Real Aspen "Silencing the Roaring Fork River in Colorado," 8/18 "Exploring environmental privilege in Aspen," 8/19 "Legal fight against Burnt Mountain trail ends," 12/1 "SkiCo to close snowmobile 'marina' on Aspen Mtn.," 12/1 Aspen Post "Should Colorado move from beetle-kill to biomass? August "Exploring environmental privilege in Aspen," 8/17 "Opposition To Crystal River Dam," 10.27 "Snowmass Base Village Bingo," 11/19 "Aspen Skiing Company Closing Snowmobile 'Marina,' 11/29 "Snowmass Burnt Mountain Brouhaha Over," 11/30 "New owners of Snowmass Base Village Say They Will Finish The Job," 12.3 "Powder to the People fought the law - and the law won," 12.12 Original reporting on the Aspen Journalism site, not otherwise published We also publish our own work on our own website, and we take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet to present audio and video slideshows to augment our reporting. The stories that we published include: "Comments on Aspen's hydro power proposal," 3/1 "Proposed EPA fracking study," 3/1 "Draining the Fork & the Pan: transmountain diversions," 3/1 "PitCo's Ely barred from executive session, new maps show range or reservoirs," 3/17 "West Divide Project water rights chart and map," 3/25 "The market for Crystal River water," 3/29 "Stormwater mismanagement in the gas fields," 4/12 "City and county give SkiCo administrative approval for new Tiehack lift; SkiCo busy preparing site," 6/1 "Silencing the Roaring Fork River," 7/26 "PitCo opposes potential dam on the Crystal River," 7/27 "Al Gore calls 'bullshit' on climate propaganda," 8/5 "The Pitkin County Register: Properties over $10M," 8/8 "Opposition against Placita dam on Crystal River grows," 8/11 "Should Colorado move from beetle-kill to biomass?" "Exploring environmental privilege in Aspen," 11/17 "Biomass in Germany and in Austria ... and in Colorado?" 9/28 "Related to NYC court on Base Village: It's the banks' fault," 11/18 Recognition of Aspen Journalism - 2011 Aspen Journalism is a start-up organization, but our initial year of operations did not go unnoticed. We're grateful that we were able to tell our story with the following organizations. KDNK "Nonprofit news org takes root," Spring American Journalism Review "Keeping an Eye on Aspen," 11/23 Columbia Journalism Review "Aspen Journalism: The News Frontier Database," 8/13 Organizational Accomplishments - 2011 It takes a lot to get a nonprofit off-the-ground, but we succeeded on a number of fronts. And we can now say that the organization has successfully been launched and is now poised for growth and success. Incorporated as nonprofit Populated board of directors Populated journalism advisory board Recognized by IRS as 501c3 organization Joined Investigative News Network as member Used freelance reporters, editors, photographers, and news app developers Raised over $150,000 for two additional years of operations Online accomplishments - 2011 Established ongoing and multifaceted website (1,868 page views in last month, 727 unique visitors) Established Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts (129 Twitter followers) Linked to annotated documents and maps via DocumentCloud Produced and posted audio news stories and interview via SoundCloud Produced and posted video slideshows via Vimeo Staff Brent Gardner-Smith, Editor and Executive Director Freelancers Used in 2011 David Frey, reporter Madeleine Osberger, reporter Brady Hurley, copy editor Dan Bayer, photographer Devon Meyers, photographer Zach Ornitz, photographer, video producer Heather Rousseau, photographer Tim Berman, news application developer Governance Board of Directors Catherine Lutz, freelance reporter, former managing editor of Aspen Daily News Tim McFlynn, executive director, Public Counsel of the Rockies Michael McVoy, Aspen-based investment advisor Tim Mutrie, freelance reporter & online editor of Powder magazine Journalism Advisory Board Charles Davis, associate professor, Missouri School of Journalism Charles Firestone, exec. director, Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program Laura Frank, executive director, Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network Sarah Gilman, associate editor, High Country News Rem Rieder, editor and senior VP, American Journalism Review Curtis Robinson, former editor, Aspen Daily News Andy Stone, columnist, former editor, The Aspen Times Financial Supporters The Manaus Fund The Sopris Foundation Joanne and Lee Lyon The Nick DeWolf Foundation The Thrift Shop of Aspen The Brett Family Foundation The Ernst and Wilma Marten Foundation