Aspen Daily News reported Monday night that the Hoffmann Media Group, the media branch of a Florida-based private equity firm, has purchased the paper.
David Hoffmann, founder and chairman of Hoffmann Family of Companies, has been acquiring a growing portfolio of local news outlets across the U.S. since 2022, including the Telluride Times and other resort town papers.
But Aspen Daily News leadership has long emphasized its independent ownership, and the decision raises questions for some about the reason for the sale.
Consolidation also worries some community members about the new owner’s potential editorial overreach, but the newspaper’s current publisher David Cook sees the new resources as an opportunity.
Cook, who has co-owned the Aspen Daily News with Spencer McKnight since 2017, spoke with Aspen Public Radio’s Halle Zander on Tuesday about the deal.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Halle Zander: You've had other offers to buy the Aspen Daily News over the years. Why now, and why this buyer?
David Cook: I’ve fielded calls for over the past two years for opportunities to partner — to purchase. You know, everyone just didn't feel quite right, whether it was a vanity project or a misunderstanding of how expensive it is to produce a daily newspaper.
And when the Hoffman's approached me, it was immediately clear that we were very mission and value aligned. It became a very easy conversation and allowed me to take the offer seriously.
Zander: What are Hoffman's values that you relate to?
Cook: First and foremost, it's radical independence in the newsroom. It is important and will remain important to me [that] we retain that commitment to accountability journalism and being a fourth rail and holding a check on power.
Zander: What kind of due diligence did you do on the company? What did you unearth?
Cook: I called every single one of their publishers that have been recent acquisitions. I talked to a lot of industry professionals that have worked with the Hoffman group.
The news space has — there's been a lot of consolidation. You know, it's very easy to find someone that has worked with someone and or been acquired by someone. So it's becoming a tighter and tighter knit community.
Zander: Does that worry you — that consolidation?
Cook: Certainly, that's the brilliance of individual ownership is that you kind of keep the consolidation from happening. But ad-supported media in general, across the United States and internationally, is going away.
Consolidation is certainly a four-letter word in a lot of circles. So when you find a good actor in the space that is committed to keeping the autonomy within the local newsrooms, it's easy to say that, “Yes, this is a better ownership group than someone that does have an ax to grind.”
This consolidation really does feel like the right one.
Zander: Was [the Aspen Daily News] in a precarious financial situation to the point where you were — that's why you were interested in pursuing a buyer?
Cook: No, no, we've, we've actually had a very meaningful and successful 2025, but to no one's surprise, operating a business in the boundaries of Aspen is a very expensive proposition, and we are committed to paying living wages, giving benefit packages, making it so that people can treat this as a career.
So while we were doing fine, there's always room for upside, and efficiencies and growth.
Zander: What kinds of investments are you expecting to receive from Hoffman, does it mean any more staffing?
Cook: One of the best things I heard from them was that they've never once fired an editorial employee. So my goal is to expand our news output.
A lot of the opportunities for cost savings and efficiencies will come through the PPOs, the web platforms, the HR department, billing software, like all of those things that create a lot of opportunity for being with a larger organization.
Zander: Having a billionaire-owned company outside of Colorado come to Aspen and buy a newspaper is a pretty familiar story. When Ogden bought the Aspen Times, there was a lot of staff turnover and some really incredible longtime local journalists left the field altogether. I think that's still a big concern for the community. How are you reassuring staff, and your readers, that that's not going to be your fate?
Cook: Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's been literally the focal point of every conversation I've had with the Hoffman group.
You know, the beauty of it is, is we'll be held to account every day on our front page. People will be able to see the news product.
You know, people will see that the editorial product hopefully doesn't only stay the same, but improves.
Zander: I know you've said that the Hoffman Media Group does not get involved in editorial decision making, but we've seen Jeff Bezos at the Washington Post and the owner of the Los Angeles Times both cross those lines. If this were to come to pass with the Hoffman Media Group, how would you prevent that from happening?
Cook: You know, there is a certain leap of faith you have to take after you've done all of the work on the backside, my editor Andre Salvail literally asked the question yesterday, and he said, “Does Hoffman in any way influence or try to put any direction towards the Op Ed pages?” And it was assured that not only have they never done it, they certainly would never do it in the future.
So, all I can do is the best I can do in vetting their sincerity and their promises that they're making to the staff. But it was — it was proclaimed very loudly and very clearly that they do not engage in any direction or any influence peddling on the Op Ed pages.
Zander: David, thank you so much for being here.
Cook: You're welcome. Thank you.
