Aspen Public Radio launches Women’s Desk

Aspen Public Radio is launching a Women’s Desk, which will seek to understand women’s status through economic, sociocultural, regulatory, technological, and news-making contexts.

Challenging the reality that men remain the vast majority of quoted experts and sources throughout traditional media, this reporting effort will aim to uplift women’s voices to create a more diverse and inclusive news landscape.

While women make up more than half the population in our country, and worldwide women are expected to outnumber men within the next 50 years, the underrepresentation of women in news and media results in the perspective of women often missing or misunderstood, whether that’s when reporting on issues of health, education, politics, environment, or the arts.

Over the past four months, women throughout the Roaring Fork Valley have been inspired — and inspired others beyond our region — to fund a full-time reporter at Aspen Public Radio to center on women’s voices, bringing their perspectives and experiences to our local reporting efforts.

Sarah Tory has been working as an independent journalist for over a decade, telling stories about the environment, migration, and rural communities. Her award-winning reporting has taken her across the western United States and beyond, for a variety of publications, including Aspen Journalism, Hakai, Mother Jones, Sierra, The Colorado Trust, and others. A resident of the Roaring Fork Valley since 2018, Tory has previously worked as a correspondent for High Country News. 

In her new role, she plans to follow in the footsteps of Social Justice Desk reporter Eleanor Bennett and immerse herself in diverse communities of women from Aspen to Parachute to develop meaningful collaborative relationships with sources. Her work will be driven by the experiences and insights of women who are impacted by today’s biggest issues — and the innovative solutions being explored to address them. 

“I am so inspired by this idea and honored to be Aspen Public Radio’s inaugural Women’s Desk reporter,” she said in a news release. “My experience as a journalist has consistently looked to lift up women’s voices in meaningful ways, and I look forward to expanding my storytelling skills into audio production and broadcast journalism.”

As part of this initiative, Aspen Public Radio will be joining The 19th News Network, a collective of national, regional, and local publishers seeking to advance racial and gender equity in politics and policy journalism. The 19th established the network in 2024 to shine a light on stories that elevate the voices of women and LGBTQ+ Americans of diverse backgrounds.

In addition to other opportunities for regional and national distribution, stories produced on the women’s desk will be translated into Spanish, archived online as part of Noticias en Español, and provided at no cost for publication in the region’s weekly Spanish-language newspaper, Sol del Valle, to make this reporting widely available for Spanish-speaking residents, as well. 

“There is no pressing issue of the moment that is not also a women’s issue,” Rep. Elizabeth Velasco of Colorado House District 57 said in the release. “Immigration is a women’s issue, trans rights are a women’s issue, housing is a women’s issue, education, healthcare, and safety from violence are all women’s issues. Thank you, Aspen Public Radio, for taking this important step.”

The founding members of the Aspen Public Radio Women’s Desk are: Tori Adams, Brooke Allen, Carolyn Buck-Luce, Amé Damaso, Lori Dresner, Jessica Fullerton, Glenda Greenwald, Jody Guralnick, Soledad Hurst, Jaidyn Hurst, Melinda Payson & Devon Judith Payson Wilson, Sara Ransford, Sally Sakin, Carole Segal, Donna Slade, SPURR — with gifts from Tina Staley, Amie Knox, Gael Neeson, Jackie Merrill, Christy Mahon and Jocelyn Childs — Susan Taylor, and the Laurie M Tisch Illumination Fund.

A celebration of this historic launch took place on Friday, March 21, hosted by The Little Nell in downtown Aspen, in celebration of Rachael Liggett-Draper, sommelier, and Barbara Marcos, pastry chef.

“We are proud to partner with Aspen Public Radio to host this event,” Henning Rahm, general manager of The Little Nell, said in the release. “We are dedicated to delivering exceptional experiences and are honored to have incredibly talented women paving the way for excellence, especially in our culinary program. This includes Rachael Liggett-Draper — the first woman on our award-winning wine team — and Pastry Chef Barbara Marcos, known widely for her innovative approach to desserts. We are thrilled to join the station as we meaningfully engage our community and celebrate these incredible women, together.” 

Tory will be joining a robust newsroom at Aspen Public Radio, including associate editor, reporter, and All Things Considered host Halle Zander; arts and culture reporter Regan Mertz; social justice reporter Eleanor Bennett; and Aspen Daily News reporters Josie Taris and Lucy Peterson, who also files stories for the radio station. You can learn more about the Aspen Public Radio team at aspenpublicradio.org/people. 

Aspen Public Radio broadcasts local newscasts and radio features from 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m., Monday through Friday, within national programming along with producing a daily local news podcast each weekday morning and publishing daily to aspenpublicradio.org.