When the Pikes Peak Media Company, owned by JW Roth and Kevin O’Neil, bought the Colorado Springs Independent and the Colorado Springs Business Journal, they promised to continue the newspaper’s tradition of independent journalism.
At the time of the purchase earlier this year, Roth told the Colorado Springs Gazette that the Independent would remain “left-leaning.”
That promise — already doubted by some — is looking more dubious now, as the two owners are among the hosts of a fundraiser tonight for right-wing congressional candidate Jeff Crank, a Republican who faces Democrat River Gassen in November’s election. The winner will replace retiring U.S. Rep. U.S. Doug Lamborn, a Republican.
Crank is a former staffer for the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, a sprawling ultra-conservative organization, as well as a conservative political consultant. He had a side job for many years as a conservative talk show host on KVOR, which fired Crank in 2021 for his refusal to abide by the station’s vaccination requirement — which Crank called an “unethical and immoral” mandate. On air, he once called it “digusting” for NBC to show gay people kissing. He’s a steadfast proponent of a national ban on abortion, recently calling the procedure “mostly a convenience.“
Neither Ross nor O’Neil could be reached for comment. Roth is the founder of a Colorado Springs entertainment company whose Colorado Springs amphitheater has become the target of neighborhood noise complaints, and O’Neil is a developer whose recently proposed 27-story development in Downtown Colorado Springs has faced public opposition.
