This is I-News

Welcome to the I-News Network.

I-News produces in-depth journalism that no other newsroom in the state can do.

We’re a nonprofit news service, so we collaborate with the most respected news outlets in Colorado to deliver high-impact journalism to millions of Coloradans.

Together, we’re filling the void in serious public-interest journalism, and bringing more in-depth news to the places you already look for your news: Your newspaper, radio, television, computer and digital device.

Our partners include Rocky Mountain PBS, Colorado Public Radio, KUSA, The Denver Post and virtually every daily newspaper in Colorado, plus ethnic and emerging media.

I-News

I-News

I-News is journalism that makes a difference.

Here are a few examples:

  • More doctors now disclose drug company payments after I-News helped Colorado Public Radio report hidden funding, allowing patients to make better-informed decisions.
  • Lawmakers called for a state audit after I-News helped EdNews and other partners show that online elementary and high schools get millions in tax money even though half their students leave within a year.

I-News reports on issues of statewide importance and local impact. Our specialty is turning complex information into compelling multimedia stories – so citizens can make better-informed decisions.

Our focus is high-impact, investigative journalism with an emphasis on data analysis, statistical analysis, data visualization and public records research. These are skills most newsrooms currently lack. However, these are skills that are urgently needed to produce public-interest journalism.

Traditional news sources face tighter resources and more deadlines. They don’t always have the time or specialized skills to do it all. I-News is there to help.

I-News also is helping train the next generation of investigative reporters and create the future of news. We work with journalism students at the University of Colorado and train high school journalists at our summer Investigative Journalism Institute.

You can join in, too. Share your insights through our Public Insight Network. Help sustain quality journalism with a donation to I-News. Suggest a story.

Contact us with any questions, ideas or suggestions.

Laura Frank

Laura Frank


Laura Frank is the executive director of I-News, the Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network. Laura is a Denver native who spent 20 years at newspapers, radio and public television around the country, specializing in in-depth reporting that requires data analysis and deep public records research. She has trained hundreds of journalists for more than a dozen media organizations, including the nation’s largest newspaper company (Gannett). Her work has been recognized in both broadcast and print, including a regional Emmy for documentary production in 1990 and as a top-10 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 at the Rocky Mountain News.
Laura started her first business at age 16 and began syndicating reports to radio and newspapers that same year. She is a Knight Fellow at the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the USC Marshall School of Business, and serves on the board of directors of the national Investigative News Network.


Burt Hubbard

Burt Hubbard


Burt Hubbard is the editorial director of I-News. Burt is well-known in the journalism world for his data analysis skills. His numerous awards include two prestigious Best of The West awards, a national education award for investigative reporting, and Reporter of the Year in Colorado. He also was a top-10 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in local reporting for the Rocky Mountain News and is enshrined in the Scripps Howard Journalism Hall of Fame. Burt has taught computer-assisted reporting and internet research to graduate students for 11 years at the University of Colorado School of Journalism and Mass Communication. For the past three years he has led research symposiums for journalists and citizens throughout Colorado on behalf of the university. Burt recently left the Denver Post to join I-News.


Joe Mahoney

Joe Mahoney

Joe Mahoney was a staff photographer and then Assistant Director of Multimedia for the Rocky Mountain News from 1999 until the paper closed in 2009. He also teaches photojournalism and social documentary courses as an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State University in Denver and has been a frequent coach at the National Press Photographers Association’s “Multimedia Immersion” and the “NewsVideo” workshops.

He was part of photo teams that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in 2000 and 2003 covering the Columbine school shootings and wildfires in Colorado. Mahoney won an Emmy in 2010 in the Topical Documentary category for his work as associate producer on “Final Edition.”

During his time with the News, Mahoney covered a wide range of stories from the Columbia space shuttle crash, presidential campaigns and both national political conventions of 2008, Stanley Cup championships, World Series as well as many local issues. Before joining the News, Mahoney spent nine years with The Associated Press.


Charlie Brennan is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience, most notably as a reporter at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, where he covered an array of beats and high-profile assignments over a span of more than 20 years. Brennan’s career highlights at the Rocky Mountain News ranged from covering the JonBenet Ramsey case to embedding with the U.S. Army during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. He is a past winner of the Colorado Associated Press Editors and Reporters First Place for Investigative Reporting, 2006, and in 1981 was runner-up for the American Society of Newspaper Editors Deadline Writer of the Year. Since leaving the Rocky Mountain News in 2007, Brennan spent two years as an on-air reporter for KDVR Fox31/KWGN Channel 2 in Denver, served as communications director for Stan Garnett’s 2010 campaign for Colorado Attorney General. In 2011 he reported for Education News Colorado. Additionally, Brennan collaborated with author Lawrence Schiller on the 1999 New York Times non-fiction best-seller, Perfect Murder Perfect Town. He has also served as an adjunct instructor in journalism ethics at the University of Colorado School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Brennan is married and resides in Lafayette.


Kristin Jones

Kristin Jones

Kristin Jones is a reporter for I-News. She was formerly a staff writer for The Center for Public Integrity, where she co-wrote a series investigating sexual assault on college campuses. The series received the Sigma Chi Delta Award for public service in independent online journalism for 2009. Her writing on government, finance and international affairs has appeared in ProPublica, The Wall Street Journal Asia edition, and The Blotter on ABCNews.com. She is also U.S. correspondent for the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper. Jones has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Kristin’s work for I-News


Ann Carnahan Espinola wrote more than 2,000 bylined stories during her two decades at the Pittsburgh Press and Rocky Mountain News. Her many awards include the National Education Writers Association award for distinguished reporting and the Shining Star Award, presented by the Colorado Press Association for the most consistently excellent reporter.

She was part of a News team whose coverage of a fatal wildfire was named as a top-three finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Ann was the first reporter in the history of the Rocky Mountain News to be inducted into the Scripps Howard Hall of Fame. At the News, she was named best reporter by her co-workers and won the editor-in-chief’s award for outstanding worker. Her beats included city hall, police, and civil and criminal courts. She also wrote an investigative column as well as a series of stories updating the lives of newsmakers after they faded from the limelight.

Ann is originally from Pennsylvania, but has called Denver home for more than 25 years.


Correspondents
David Milstead, reporter (bio)
Jim Sheeler, reporter (bio)

Volunteers
Bill Wilkinson (bio)
Dr. Richard Steckel (bio)

Interns (Summer 2011)
Beth Bartel (bio)
Courtney Jones (bio)

(Summer 2010)
Jordan Wirfs-Brock (bio)
Lauren Seaton (bio)
Andrea Sutherland (bio)