Boulder Reporting Lab

Boulder Reporting Lab is the only independent, nonprofit, online news organization in our city and county. 

With a population of over 330,000, Boulder County doesn’t have enough reporters and has seen a rapid decline in journalists focused on original local reporting.

We have built from scratch a newsroom embedded in our community and dedicated to reporting on the issues that matter most to our community, including housing affordability, climate change, public safety, transportation, local government accountability and the stories of underrepresented voices. In three short years, we've produced investigations that triggered meaningful change, reported stories that sparked new community conversations focused on solutions, and revived a fact-based news habit for so many.

We exist because of the generosity of our donors, who understand that local journalism is the thread that weaves a community together, providing the rigor and accountability that only trained journalists can bring. They know that without it, our communities are vulnerable to misinformation and divided by opinion instead of connected by shared facts.

Your donation will help ensure we can continue to grow and provide original, public service local reporting that has gone missing in communities nationwide. From now through Dec. 31, 2024, every donation to BRL will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $1,000. That means your gift goes twice as far to keep Boulder informed, connected, and supported by fact-based journalism. This is your chance to help safeguard nonprofit local news at a critical moment.

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Background

Boulder Reporting Lab launched in November 2021 to fill the gap in Boulder’s local, public-interest daily journalism. We believe local journalism is a public good, essential for a healthy, thriving, and fair community and local economy. Our work is data-driven, solutions-focused and free for all to access. To provide this public service, we rely on support from donors, readers and business sponsors.

Since our launch, we have quickly become a core part of public-service journalism in the community. Our team includes full-time journalists who have built the area’s largest local news platform through our morning newsletter and won dozens of local, regional and national journalism awards. We are developing a community-driven funding model to support local news, aiming to make Boulder a model for financially sustainable, impactful, and equitable nonprofit journalism. With innovation in the city’s culture, we see Boulder as a testing ground for solutions to the national local news crisis.