You can support journalists and help the Denver Press Club through Colorado Gives Day

The Denver Press Club is the oldest press club in America. It was founded in 1867 to support journalism and journalists in Colorado. It's a living newsroom where journalists, newsmakers, and neighbors meet to discuss the issues shaping our state.

"A century ago, press clubs were everywhere. Today there are only a handful left worldwide," said Skyler McKinley, the club's treasurer. "Ours celebrates journalism, gives scholarships to prospective journalists, and holds up the idea that people have a right to know -- and a place to talk about why what's going on is going on."

Walk into the DPC on any given week and you'll find public programs, Q&As with candidates and policymakers, author talks, and conversations about everything from airport zoning to homelessness.

"Journalism is the first step toward solving community problems," McKinley said. "If you don't know about it, you can't begin to address it. As Coloradans, we're good at coming together to tackle big challenges, but that starts with robust, local truth-telling."

If you've ever learned something from a local story, met a neighbor at a civic forum, or found help because a reporter paid attention, you've felt the Denver Press Club's impact.

It's a rare neutral ground where residents can talk directly with the people who make and cover the news.

"There's no other institution where you can read something in the news and then come talk with the folks who reported it, or the people in the story," McKinley said. "We elevate the public's right to know into the public's right to discuss."

The Club's history underlines that role.

Presidents have engaged with the DPC. Dwight Eisenhower famously slipped in through the back door to sit quietly in a booth. The walls hold letters from presidents and pulitzer namesakes, artifacts from legacy newsrooms, and caricatures of the journalists who built Colorado's media landscape.

At the heart of the DPC's nonprofit mission is its scholarship program for Colorado journalism and media students. The support is financial but also practical: mentorship, networking, and a seat at real newsroom tables. It supports tuition, books, and housing relief for Colorado journalism and media students. Scholarships help students from underrepresented communities to tell Colorado's stories.

Theodora Boateng is a second-year student at the University of Denver. She serves as an editor for the DU Clarion's "Unify" section, amplifying stories from student affinity groups and turning national headlines into campus-relevant coverage.

Through the Club, she met working reporters and DU alumni, connected with journalists from Colorado Public Radio, and even lined up a newsroom tour after a DPC program with NPR's Ari Shapiro.

"It felt like my networking dream," she said. "I've watched classmates go to conferences and internships. Now I'm building those connections, too, right here in Denver."

Her scholarship shifted things at home as well.

"My dad used to laugh when I said I was delivering newspapers," Theodora said. "When I won the scholarship, he realized how serious I am -- now he's pricing cameras with me. My mom? She's my biggest hype woman."

The DPC can be strengthened with community support.

As commercial newsrooms shrink, community spaces that connect the public to truth-telling are more important.

"It's easy to mistrust someone you never meet," McKinley said. "It's a lot harder to mistrust someone you've spoken with in good faith. The Club makes those interactions possible."

The DPC building at 1330 Glenarm Place turns 100 this year. Maintaining a 1925 landmark as a public-facing civic space is expensive. Insurance, utilities, and basic upkeep have tripled in recent years. Without broader community support, institutions like this disappear.

"If journalists alone were sustaining this place, it would've closed when the (Rocky Mountain News) did," McKinley said. "We're still here because Coloradans value a gathering place to weigh the ideas of the day."

On Colorado Gives Day, your gift keeps that work and the next generation of truth-tellers going.

Ways to Support:

- Give on Colorado Gives Day. Support scholarships, programming, and preservation. 
- Attend a program. Many events are open; you don't need a press pass -- just curiosity.
- Become a "Friend of Journalism." Membership welcomes all who value informed communities.

Tori Mason is a Board Member of the Denver Press Club.