Denver Press Club Starts a Podcast

John Ensslin, long-time Denver Press Club member, has launched a club podcast on the club, its history, and the state’s long, sometimes wild, journalistic traditions and personalities.

Bruce Goldberg
Photo: Denver Business Journal

In the first podcast, long-time club president, Bruce Goldberg, provides some club history and I talk about 35 years as a media commentator and pollster. Listen in here.

A comment on the changes in polling and news during my career:

Much of what has happened over the 35 years has surprised me. One never knows the direction fate will take you. Outside forces are powerful. I began with the Rocky Mountain News and it lost out in the newspaper wars. But I’ve been with 9KUSA since the 1980s and they have been the Denver area TV news leaders the entire time and are strong today.

Floyd Ciruli
Photo by Evan Semón

Colorado has been a rich environment for commenting about politics and public policy with a host of interesting leaders and issues to track. In the most recent decade, Colorado has been a swing presidential state, and that has made us a center of national attention.

Colorado has increased in population by more than 60 percent since I began my career in the 1980s. That growth contributed to the state’s shift from very conservative politics in much of the 1990s to a more progressive era in the new century. Hopefully my polling and analysis have contributed to the public understanding of the transition and its causes.

And polling has changed substantially over the period. Today it is more ubiquitous, complicated and controversial. More than half of many surveys are conducted on cell phones. But I believe it still provides an accurate measure of public opinion which can help inform our public dialogue. It also allows officials to make better choices and accomplish their goals.

I am working on interesting projects today in an exciting political moment for the country. The blend of media, public opinion and public policy that is combined in my firm has been exciting and very productive.