AURORA | As just about everyone who lives or visits here knows, this isn’t your father’s Aurora.
Aurora has moved far beyond being a Denver suburb.
The demographics and the political impact of Aurora make this growing and nearly undefinable community a critical region of the state.
The Sentinel print and digital brands are evolving to reflect that reality. Not only does Aurora boast its own independence, so much of what happens here affects the rest of the region and the state. Aurora is that big. Icons such as the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, along with other massive research hospitals and health centers there, Buckley Air Force Base and an immense distribution center network along Interstate 70 highlight how critical Aurora is to the metro area.
The sheer force and number of Aurora-based metro community businesses, governments, schools and cultural entities are critical to the region’s residents.
We know from analyzing our readers’ habits that Aurora means more than a municipal boundary. The Sentinel boasts readers from across the metroplex, and all over the state. Residents who regularly tune into our digital and print news sources have long included Lowry, Stapleton, Green Valley Ranch, the Denver Tech Center, Windsor Gardens, northwest Arapahoe County, southeast Adams County, Centennial, Foxfield, and even Watkins and Bennett. Aurora’s impact on the region is not defined by boundaries.
Our redesigned media channels reflect that reality. As you can see from the print and on-line editions, the Sentinel has made big changes.
We’ve simplified our name to reflect how the community knows us: The Sentinel. It’s who we are, and you’ll see it here, on our websites, our social media channels and special publications.
The changes spell out more opportunity for advertisers and readers, said Sentinel publisher James S. Gold.
“We’re evolving in our coverage geographically and demographically,” Gold said. “We’re connecting the dots between local, regional, national and world in terms of news, opinion and culture. News and information doesn’t end at city limits — local has become regional.
“We’re more interested in what unifies the Denver and the Front Range region than in how we’re different.”
Sentinel Editor Dave Perry said print and digital products will provide more context to what happens in Aurora and greater Aurora.
“Our editorial mission will reflect that Aurora does not exist as an island but an increasingly important part of a rapidly growing and changing region,” Perry said. “Our readers want to know what’s happening in the area beyond the city, and how it affects them.”
The redesigned Sentinel offers in-depth, visual reads on politics, business, education and culture.
“The print edition of the Sentinel does what print does best,” Gold said. “Print offers the luxury of space, presentation and reflection. It’s linear. We tell a story each week from front to back.
“Online, however, we report every day as events unfold, and you can go in any direction with video, social, and e-commerce. SentinelColorado.com provides a rich portfolio of local, regional, state and world news with an emphasis on providing both quick read and in-depth storytelling unique to digital media.
Everyone who has a stake in the Sentinel will benefit from these big changes, said Sentinel Media Group Advertising Director Rhonda Canino.
Canino said the changes offer advertisers a way to not only target distinct and desirable readers, but several ways to tell their story to a variety of readers, in a variety of places, across a wide range of media and channels.
“We can help advertisers deliver campaigns to a focused and strategic audience or create dynamic campaigns to reach a developing target,” Canino said.