Aspen Public Radio has deepened its partnership with the Aspen Daily News by welcoming reporter Lucy Peterson to contribute to its local newscasts. Peterson, who covers the city for the Aspen Daily News, will now provide brief updates for Aspen Public Radio newscasts.
Peterson, a Denver native, joined the Aspen Daily News after reporting for The Aspen Times.
The collaboration is part of the Aspen Daily News’ Journalism Fund initiative, which also includes radio coverage from reporter Josie Taris. The partnership also allows the station to allocate resources toward other priorities. Aspen Public Radio plans to hire two full-time reporters in 2025 to focus on Arts & Culture and Climate across the Roaring Fork Valley.
Aspen Daily News Publisher David Cook highlighted the value of this partnership, saying, “A collaboration like this is not only good for the consuming public, to have greater access to local news, but it’s also great for the journalist to be seen in a multimedia format. It really helps them not only develop their own professional skills but be better known in their profession. It’s a win-win for all involved.”
Aspen Public Radio Executive Director Breeze Richardson explained, “In her role covering the city of Aspen, Lucy is already attending meetings, building relationships with key stakeholders, and learning the nuances of these complex issues facing our community; it’s more efficient for her to bring that expertise to our Aspen Public Radio local newscasts, opposed to us hiring someone full-time to duplicate that work.”
Cook also emphasized the broader mission of the initiative, stating, “We are excited to see how providing more local news to Aspen Public Radio listeners can strengthen the trust and reliability our community has for the newspaper. Aspen and our surrounding communities are an international destination, and we want to be industry leaders in creating a scalable, replicable model for other media ecosystems. This partnership is a huge part of that.”
