Denver Urban Spectrum

Denver Urban Spectrum (est. 1987) is a newspaper in Denver, Colorado. Founded by Rosalind "Bee" Harris, describes themselves as filling a gap in the market for positive news stories by and about people of color.^[2]

Denver Urban Spectrum

Spreading the news about people of color
Type	Monthly newspaper
Publisher	Rosalind Juanita Harris
Editor	Ruby Jones
General manager	Lawrence A. James
Founded	1987
Headquarters	Aurora, Colorado
City	Denver, Colorado
Circulation	25,000
Readership	60,000[1]
Sister newspapers	Gulf Coast Urban Spectrum, Baltimore Urban Spectrum
ISSN	1085-634X
OCLC number	23866026
Website	https://www.denverurbanspectrum.com/

History

Rosalind Juanita Harris founded Denver Urban Spectrum (DUS) in 1987 to address the lack of positive articles about people of color.^[2]

The DUS headquarters had a fire in 1989 that almost shut down the newspaper, but community fundraising helped with the paper's financial troubles.^[3]

As a way of supporting youth of color who are interested in journalism, DUS and Harris founded Urban Spectrum Youth Foundation in 2000. The foundation originally offered multi-week workshops, but now offers internships, seminars and other opportunities to middle- and high-school students.^[4]

In 2016, DUS developed the Montbello Urban Spectrum Edition as a bimonthly newspaper for the Montbello community.^[2]

In 2017, DUS expanded to offer the Baltimore Urban Spectrum and the Gulf Coast Urban Spectrum.^[2]

In 2023, DUS launched a podcast network called Expanding the Narrative Network. It is the first network in Colorado to showcase people of color in the community.^[5]

Awards and recognition

DUS gives away awards to celebrate the BIPOC community in Colorado. The "African Americans Who Make a Difference" award is given to 14 people each February.^[6]