The Denver Press Club on Saturday will admit Denver Gazette and The Gazette in Colorado Springs Associate Editor Jim Trotter into its Hall of Fame.

“Jim Trotter is being inducted into the Denver Press Club Hall of Fame because of what he has done across 50 years in newsrooms, and what he has given to every journalist who has worked alongside him,” according to the press club officials. “He has spent his career making other reporters better.” 

Trotter’s career includes stints as a reporter, columnist, and editor at Rocky Mountain PBS, the Rocky Mountain News, the San Jose Mercury News, and the Sacramento Bee.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editor John Boogert noted that Trotter’s influence has been felt across multiple Colorado newsrooms. Having worked with him at two different papers, Boogert said Trotter built his reputation early as a gifted writer and an all‑around generous colleague.

In the latter half of his career, Boogert added that Trotter has devoted himself to shaping the next generation of storytellers while contributing to work that earned multiple Pulitzer Prizes.

Though his name is not on the prize, Trotter said he takes great pride in helping craft and edit the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing winner “Final Salute” from the Rocky Mountain News reporter Jim Sheeler.

“For his poignant story on a Marine major who helps the families of comrades killed in Iraq cope with their loss and honor their sacrifice,” The Pulitzer committee wrote of Sheeler’s story.

“Jim is our resident word whisperer at the Gazette newspapers, weekly transforming raw, unwieldy copy into works of narrative art,” Executive Editor Vince Bzdek said. “He’s edited Pulitzer winners, written a column, helped start a newspaper in Denver and been the shoulder scores of reporters have leaned on throughout his long career.”

Bzdek added, “Somehow, he’s remained a Tennessee gentleman in a rascals’ business, deepening every institution he’s joined with an immense humanity and maybe a mischievous twinkle in his eye.”

Former Denver Press Club President Marianne Goodland, chief legislative reporter for Colorado Politics, nominated Trotter for the honor.

“I nominated Jim for two reasons: one of the perks I was offered when I joined Colorado Politics was the great opportunity to work with the legendary Jim Trotter, and it has been everything I hoped for,” Goodland said. “Few editors are as respected by reporters as Jim.”

She added, “The second was knowing that Jim would be the first editor so honored by the press club.”

Trotter’s son, Greg Trotter, reflected on his father’s influence.

“The deep humanity and compassion of his work in newspaper journalism have informed just about every aspect of my own life/career,” he said. “And at 79, he’s still in the game.”

Founded in 1867, the Denver Press Club is the oldest press club in the United States. Its Hall of Fame is “one of the most enduring traditions in Colorado journalism,” according to DPC officials. “The honorees we induct are the people who have shaped how Colorado tells its own story — and how the country has come to understand Colorado.”

Other HOF inductees for 2026 include: Lee Ann Colacioppo, editor of The Denver Post; Alan Kania, club historian and author of “The Denver Press Club: 150 Years of Printer’s Devils, Bohemians, and Ghosts;” Sharon Linhart, founder of Linhart Public Relations; and Linda Carpio Shapley, the interim CEO of Rocky Mountain Student Media and former Colorado Politics editor.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is Saturday evening at The Denver Press Club.