Broadside News Group

Ownership Structure

Broadside News Group is a privately held media company. It is wholly owned by Novel Cognition (novcog.com), a Denver-based technology and consulting firm founded by Guerin Green. There are no outside investors, venture capital firms, hedge funds, or private equity stakeholders. The company is not beholden to shareholders or quarterly earnings targets.

This independence is by design. In an era when newsroom after newsroom has been gutted by corporate consolidation, leveraged buyouts, and profit extraction, we chose a different path. Broadside News Group answers to one imperative: serve the communities our publications cover. That means editorial decisions are driven by the public interest, not by financial pressures from investors who have never set foot in the places we report on.

There are no silent partners. No board of directors drawn from unrelated industries. No obligation to deliver returns to people whose primary interest in journalism is what it can earn them. The chain of ownership is short and transparent: Guerin Green founded Novel Cognition, Novel Cognition owns Broadside News Group, and Broadside News Group publishes the journalism.

Funding Model

Revenue comes from multiple streams, each chosen to support our journalism without compromising it:

• Digital advertising — Display and programmatic advertising across our network of publications. Advertisers purchase space; they do not purchase influence.
• Sponsored content — Clearly labeled and visually distinguished from editorial content at every point of display. Readers will never have to guess whether something is journalism or advertising.
• Consulting services — Technology, media, and communications consulting operated through affiliated properties under the Novel Cognition umbrella.
• Educational programs — Training, workshops, and educational initiatives operated by affiliated organizations.

We do not accept funding from political parties, political action committees, or candidates for public office. We do not allow advertisers or sponsors to review, alter, or influence editorial content. The funding side and the editorial side operate with separate authority, separate decision-making, and separate chains of accountability.

No Paywall Philosophy

Most of our journalism is published free and open. This is not an accident of our business model. It is a core principle.

We believe paywalls create information inequality. The people who most need local news — low-income residents, renters, immigrants, the elderly, people navigating systems that directly affect their housing, health, and livelihoods — are the least able to pay for it. When the price of knowing what your city council decided, or what your school board voted on, or whether your landlord has code violations, is a monthly subscription, the people with the most at stake are the first to be shut out.

We sustain our operations through diversified revenue, not by restricting access to the information communities need. Journalism that only the comfortable can afford is not public service. It is a product. We chose to build something different.

Technology Infrastructure

Our publishing technology is developed and maintained by Novel Cognition, our parent company. This includes content management systems, distribution infrastructure, audience analytics, and AI-assisted editorial tools used across the network.

We disclose this relationship here because readers deserve to know how their news is produced and distributed. The technology serves the journalism — it does not direct it. Content management decisions, distribution priorities, and analytics interpretation are all subject to the same editorial standards that govern our reporting.

For our detailed policy on the use of artificial intelligence in journalism — including what AI tools do and do not do across our publications — see our editorial standards.

Editorial Firewall

The ownership structure described above does not grant the owner editorial control over any individual publication. An editorial firewall — the foundational principle of responsible media ownership — separates business operations from editorial decisions at every level of this organization.

In practice, this means:

• The publisher does not review, approve, or direct news coverage.
• Editors-in-chief of individual publications have full authority over their editorial content, including what stories to pursue, how to report them, and when to publish.
• Advertising and revenue staff have no role in editorial decisions. A story is never killed, softened, or delayed because of its effect on a business relationship.
• If a conflict of interest arises between the business interests of Novel Cognition and a story being reported by any Broadside publication, the story takes precedence. Every time.

This is not a courtesy extended to our editors. It is a structural requirement of how we operate. Without it, nothing else on this page would matter.

Questions

Transparency is only meaningful if it invites scrutiny. Readers, journalists, researchers, and anyone else with questions about our ownership, funding, business practices, or the relationship between our corporate structure and our editorial operations are welcome to ask.

Contact us directly. We will respond.