The Hidden Monopoly Silencing Our Valley: How One Company Controls the Narrative in Yampa’s Local News
Written by | Trenten Kelley
The heart of northwest Colorado, where the Yampa River winds through ranchlands and resort towns, a quiet crisis is unfolding in the very stories we read about them. As a local resident who’s watched our communities grapple with massive developments like the proposed Stagecoach Mountain Ranch. For those unfamiliar, it is a billionaire’s private ski enclave that threatens to reshape South Routt and more than likely have a snowball effect on surrounding communities.
I’ve come to a startling realization. The two main newspapers covering our area, the Steamboat Pilot & Today and the Craig Press, are owned by the same corporation. A monopoly that homogenizes our news, stifles diverse voices, and prioritizes advertiser-friendly narratives over hard-hitting journalism.
What started as a personal frustration, “why do these papers seem to gloss over the deep divisions and environmental risks of projects like Stagecoach?” Led me to uncover a web of corporate control.
Swift Communications, now a division of Ogden Newspapers, owns not just our local outlets but a dozen others across Colorado’s mountain towns. This consolidation has turned what should be competing voices into echoes of the same script.
The Rise of a Media Empire in the Mountains:
Swift Communications began modestly in 1975 with a couple of small papers but grew through aggressive acquisitions, targeting resort-heavy markets like ours. In 2016, they snapped up the Steamboat Pilot & Today and Craig Press in one bundle, effectively eliminating any real competition in Routt and Moffat Counties.
Fast-forward to 2021, when Ogden Newspapers, a family-owned chain with over 50 dailies nationwide, acquired Swift’s assets, centralizing operations further. Today, these papers share reporters, editors, and even a “Western Slope Regional Reporting Team” that feeds content across titles, ensuring uniformity.
This isn’t speculation, it’s documented in their own archives. When Ogden’s purchase was announced on November 30, 2021, the headlines and stories across Swift papers were near-identical clones:
• Steamboat Pilot & Today: “Pilot & Today’s parent company sells to West Virginia-based Ogden Newspapers”
• Craig Press: “Ogden Newspapers purchases Swift Communications”
• Vail Daily: “Parent company of Vail Daily sells to Ogden Newspapers”
• Aspen Times: “Parent company of Aspen Times sells to Ogden Newspapers”
The core text? Verbatim: “Founded in 1975, Swift Communications has operated magazines, newspapers, websites… In Colorado, that includes…” followed by the same list of papers and a quote from Swift’s CEO about “passing the baton.”
This cookie-cutter approach isn’t limited to corporate news, it’s the blueprint for how they cover everything from housing crises to wildfires.
Echo Chambers in Print: Uniform Headlines and Narratives
Dig deeper, and the patterns scream monopoly. On the Stagecoach proposal, a 6,100-acre luxury development by Discovery Land Co. that could double local households while exacerbating water woes and housing shortages, coverage across Swift papers reads like a shared press release.
Headlines from late 2024 emphasize delays and “procedural snags” with a pro-growth spin:
• Steamboat Pilot & Today: “Discovery Land Co. proposal for Stagecoach ski resort delayed by commissioners” Highlights such as “public benefits like jobs and infrastructure.”
• Craig Press: “Routt County tables Stagecoach 1041 permit hearing” Echoes the same developer quotes on “economic boost for South Routt.”
• Summit Daily News: “Private ski area near Steamboat faces scrutiny in county review” this mirrors the structure, touting “promised amenities and tax revenue” while soft-pedaling opposition.
Compare this to independent reporting from Aspen Journalism, which dives into resident fears of “21st-century colonialism,” Yellowstone Club lawsuits over pollution, and the inadequacy of 137 workforce housing units.
Swift papers? They bury those angles, framing critics as mere “concerns” amid glowing mentions of new trails and a grocery store.
This uniformity extends to other issues sensitive in the community like say, housing. Headlines like “Routt County workforce housing gap widens amid tourism boom” (Steamboat Pilot) and “Eagle County faces housing crunch as resorts expand” (Vail Daily) both pivot to “solutions in the pipeline,” completely ignoring displacement and effects to the valley.
Why? Advertisers, real estate firms, chambers of commerce and resorts hold sway. Former editors have called Swift “the only game in town,” with 90% market share in areas like Eagle County, allowing inflated ad rates and narrative control. Staff cuts post-acquisitions (20% in 2008, more after Ogden) mean fewer local reporters, more centralized editing from hubs in Denver or Reno.
The Real Cost: A Divided Community
This monopoly isn’t harmless. In a region facing wolf reintroductions, coal plant closures, and mega-developments, uniform coverage creates echo chambers.
Pro-business stories dominate, while existential threats, like Yampa River water calls, or toxic algae in Stagecoach Reservoir get downplayed. Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative warns that 70% of U.S. counties now have one owner or none, eroding democracy. Here in Yampa, it’s why Stagecoach feels like a done deal in print, even as neighbors tear up over fears of being “pushed out.”
We’ve seen this before: In 2009, a Summit Daily columnist was fired for criticizing Vail Resorts, a major advertiser. In Aspen, Swift’s dominance nearly crushed the last independent daily. For us, it means one lens on everything, amplifying divisions rather than bridging them.
The drum is broken.
And for now, the only rhythm the Yampa Valley hears is the one someone else is beating.
One owner.
One script.
One future, written in the margins of someone else’s profit sheet.
That’s the quiet truth beneath every glossy headline, every identical quote, every story that feels just a little too tidy.