As noted in "Education News Colorado Gets Stiffed on CSAPs," a July 2008 blog, Education News Colorado is a solid online source for happenings in the education field. The site is well-financed, thanks to contributions from organizations such as the Daniels Fund and the Piton Foundation, and journalistically credible thanks to the presence of pros such as Alan Gottlieb, who spent sixteen years writing for publications such as the Denver Post. And while most news organizations are retrenching these days, EDC is expanding, recently hiring Nancy Mitchell, longtime education reporter for the Rocky Mountain News.
According to Gottlieb, corresponding by e-mail, Mitchell was "one of the Rocky's best, and chose to sign up with us despite having other options." In regard to the decision to staff up at such a tenuous time in the journalism business, he concedes that "no one knows what the media landscape will look like in a year." However, he adds, "I believe there's a place within it for niche news sites like ours. I wouldn't be surprised to see similar sites spring up, focused on different issue areas. In Denver Times gets a lot of ink, and I wish it well, but it's not exactly a lean operation at this point. Our site now has three fulltime people, up from 1.5 four months ago and 2.0 since January 1. And we pump out a ton of good content. Given the economy, this lean model is the only one that makes sense."
Sounds like the time Gottlieb's spent in the world of Internet journalism has taught him some important lessons...
