YEAR IN REVIEW 4 | #NEWSCONEEDS 6 | JAVAS 10 | CSU PRESIDENT 19
Vol. 2 No. 11
DECEMBER 1, 2023
• DIG DEEPER •
| COMMUNITY | ACCOUNTABILITY | CURIOSITY | CONNECTION |
A YEAR IN REVIEW Eleven issues. Three printers. One office. Nearly 112,000 Puebloans to serve.
PSJ’s second volume wraps up: reflecting on 12 months of Pueblo reporting as 2023 comes to a close
A
By Ben Cason
s we anticipate another ball drop announcing the new year, the Pueblo Star Journal reflects on the adventure that was 2023. There have been trials and triumphs, and we thank you Pueblo for going on that adventure with us. We announced plans to resurrect the PSJ in October 2021 with the goal of adding another platform for Puebloans to turn to in order to stay informed about their community. The community consisted of more than 150,000 people — yet, there was only one newspaper. Beginning in March to October 2022 the PSJ produced the first volume of the newspaper. Since the start, the issues were monthly, free and full of great stories informing the Pueblo community. They were dropped off to our pick-up locations around Pueblo for readers to enjoy. In October, the PSJ team underwent some changes, as new opportunities arose for some of the founders, during a seminal period for the newspaper. We took a break in producing our monthly papers until February to reconfigure our goals and plans in the upcoming year. Gregory Howell, the chairman of the Board of Directors for the PSJ said on our inaugural podcast: “It’s been an amazing journey and I’ve been trying to find a word, and the word that comes to mind is ‘reboot.’” I joined the team at the start of the new year. The board of directors and advisory board for the PSJ had a heart for Pueblo that could not be stopped. News is a hard business to start something and keep it going into 2023. The opportunity was there to move on from the PSJ, but the passion for our community couldn’t be quenched. Over the last year we have been proud to pro-
duce the second volume of our newspaper and dig deeper.
Volume 2
We expanded our offerings in 2023 with the launch of many new initiatives. Our emphasis has been on community listening and connecting with new partners in Pueblo. One of our major successes was getting a physical office space, moving into suite 101 of the Pueblo Economic Development Corp’s Business and Technology Center, located at 301 N Main St. This allowed us to have a base for our community to reach out to us, which proved its usefulness many times throughout the year. In February, we launched the “First Friday Art Guide” which sits directly in the middle of nearly every issue of volume 2. This guide can be pulled out of the paper and connect you with our arts scene in Pueblo. Our guide has events listings, First Friday location hubs, information on the Van Gogh Van and stories highlighting Pueblo’s magnificent art scene. We debuted the Performing Arts Review Squad in that same issue. Squad manager Kristen Skye Hoffman set up a team of local theatre-makers to attend each other’s plays and write a review, documenting the play in the paper as well as spotlighting a thriving niche in Pueblo’s art scene. The team promotes all performing arts in Pueblo and establishes lines of connection between different theater groups to the benefit of participating members and readers alike. Our health columnist debuted “Thrive! with Rachel” in February. In every issue, Fit Instincts CEO and wellness coordinator Rachel Kutskill has written about how we can increase quality of YEAR IN REVIEW continued on page 4