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Coloradans are an independent, rugged bunch. Yet it’s been difficult to watch my family, friends, and colleagues wrestle with the fear that has come with the rapid spread of COVID-19 over the past week. In my 20 years as a journalist, I have not experienced a story that has moved this fast or been so wide-ranging. We are all struggling to understand how this pandemic will affect us and our loved ones, our communities, the country, and the world at large.
5280 has been a part of the Denver community for more than 27 years, providing both lifestyle journalism and deeply reported investigations that aim to show our readers how to live their best lives in the Mile High City and Colorado. We have never been a breaking news organization, and as the media landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years, we have maintained our commitment to the unique and wonderful medium of the monthly magazine, even as we have poured resources into our digital operations.
Over the past few days, we have begun to provide you with what we think will be must-read, pertinent coverage for our new reality in the coming weeks and months at 5280.com—a mix of updates on COVID-19, news analysis, and what we in the business refer to as “softer stories” about, say, working from home or how to support local restaurants and other businesses. We will continue to bring you this coverage for as long as this global story continues to affect our community. We will also continue to bring you the stories we’ve become known for over the past quarter century—ones that aim to enlighten our readers about the place we call home.
The April issue of 5280 went to press before COVID-19 became the biggest story in recent memory, and some of that edition of the magazine will feel out of step with the times. We wish that weren’t the case, but such are the realities of a monthly print publication schedule. As I write this, however, we have been working to incorporate coverage of the pandemic and the resultant fallout into our upcoming May issue; in that issue, you will also find the kinds of pieces we traditionally do—stories that will hopefully entertain and provide a respite for readers during these difficult times. Our aim as we face this challenge is to be in this with you, our readers—to bring you both important information and news as it happens, to help you make sense of this complicated new reality, and to be proud of all of the things that make Denver and Colorado such wonderful places to live.
As always, we welcome your feedback. You can email me directly at geoff@5280.com and find me on Twitter at @geoffvandyke.
Warm regards,
Geoff
