Press Release

New Directions for American News

h-co.org/democracy | #HistoryColorado

Denver, Colo. (March 5, 2021)  —  Americans have their eyes glued to the news, and Americans vying for progress have set their sights on the news economy. 

PRESS CONTACT
John Eding, Communications & PR Manager
303-866-3670 | john.eding@state.co.us

Amid historic levels of media consumption, David Barsamian and Maeve Conran present “Media and Democracy” on Wednesday, March 24, at 7 p.m. MST. This live, virtual event is proudly presented by History Colorado’s acclaimed election-year speaker series, This Is What Democracy Looks Like. More information and tickets ($5–15) are available via h-co.org/lectures and the event page at h-co.org/media.

According to research conducted by the Knight Foundation with more than 20,000 US adults, Americans see increasing political bias in the news media, and most Americans suspect inaccuracies in news are intentional. Yet eight in 10 Americans also believe the news media is very important to democracy, and a majority believes the media can heal U.S. political divisions. It seems the free press is currently at a crossroads, balancing between peril and potential.   

Here in Colorado, our dynamic mediasphere has many facets. Public media is growing its reach; the Denver Gazette is mounting a challenge to the Denver Post; the Gates Foundation and others are backing resilience through new forms of collaboration; and the founding editor of Westword is approaching 45 years at her post. What is the big picture to which this adds up, and where should we go from here? 

About David Barsamian
David was born in New York to refugees who had fled the Turkish genocide of Armenians. He grew up with a strong interest in international issues, which developed further during an extended period in India in the 1960s. In the mid-1980s, he founded Alternative Radio, an archive of lectures and speeches by radical thinkers throughout the world. He is particularly well known for his interview series with Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy, Edward Said, Eqbal Ahmad, Howard Zinn, and Tariq Ali, which have been collected into books.

About Maeve Conran
Maeve is a producer at Free Speech TV and the former News Director at KGNU, a community radio station in Boulder and Denver. Conran is originally from Ireland and her news stories have been broadcast on Radio France, RTE (Ireland’s national broadcaster) as well as NPR and many radio stations in the United States. Her work has been recognized regionally by the Colorado Broadcasters Association and nationally by the Public Radio News Directors Inc.

About the Speaker Series
Part of an ambitious election-year initiative, History Colorado’s 2020–2021 speaker series aims to be as multi-dimensional, provocative, and participatory as democracy itself. It leads a host of programs at History Colorado, such as the Borderlands Speaker Series, that have drawn an enthusiastic, increased following during the Covid-19 pandemic. Garrett Reppenhaggen—a third-generation American veteran, and the executive director of Veterans For Peace—and Indigenous artist Gregg Deal join Barsamian and Conran among upcoming presenters through June of 2021. All events take place online in a live, interactive format. A discounted full-series ticket ($40–140), single-event tickets ($5–15), and complete details are available at h-co.org/lectures.

The This Is What Democracy Looks Like Speaker Series is supported by:
Walter S. Rosenberry III Charitable Trust | Abarca Family Foundation | Richard and Mary Lyn Ballantine | Peter and Rhondda Grant | George and Mary Sissel | Donors to the Executive Director's Innovation Fund | Donors to the Women’s Vote Centennial

About History Colorado
History Colorado is a division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and a 501(c)3 non-profit that has served more than 75,000 students and 500,000 people in Colorado each year. It is a 141-year-old institution that operates Colorado’s oldest museum, nine additional museums and historic sites, a free public research center, the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, and the History Colorado State Historical Fund (SHF), which is the nation’s largest preservation program of its kind. The SHF currently administers more than 280 grants across Colorado, of which more that 70% are allocated in rural areas.

History Colorado’s outlets are publishing Black voices and confronting entrenched racism in historic preservation. Beginning in 2019 History Colorado has added curators of Latino Heritage and LGBTQ+ History to its staff, and added a full-time position to its Museum of Memory team, which works proactively to incorporate underserved communities and voices into its contemporary collecting initiative and other efforts. The History Colorado Center is the nation’s first state history museum to display a monument toppled last summer with new, inclusive interpretation. History Colorado now shares anti-racist grounding virtues in all of its job postings, and asks all applicants to describe how these principles show up in their work.

History Colorado’s mission is to create a better future for Colorado by inspiring wonder in our past. We serve as the state’s memory, preserving and sharing the places, stories, and material culture of Colorado through educational programs, historic preservation grants, collecting, outreach to Colorado communities, the History Colorado Center and Stephen H. Hart Research Center in Denver, and nine other museums and historic attractions statewide. History Colorado is one of only six Smithsonian Affiliates in Colorado. Visit HistoryColorado.org, or call 303-HISTORY, for more information.