Before he was the publisher of a magazine with a peak circulation of 85,000 and a masthead with 40-plus staffers, Daniel Brogan was a journalist. When the 32-year-old former Chicago Tribune reporter and columnist launched 5280 from his second bedroom in July 1993, he probably didn’t imagine that his Denver-based monthly would someday outsell national titles on Colorado newsstands. He might not have anticipated that 5280 would provide more than $10.4 million of in-kind donations and support to local organizations. And he definitely didn’t know that the brand would grow to encompass some of the city’s most anticipated annual social events, a website with 600,000-plus monthly unique page views, and social channels that reach more than 300,000 followers.
That 5280 would win two National Magazine Awards (with 12 more finalist nods) and regularly earn double-digit City and Regional Magazine Award nominations, though? Those achievements may have been in Brogan’s plans all along. For 32 years, he held the dual titles of CEO and editor-in-chief—and he took the latter seriously, never compromising the integrity of his newsroom.
Even when it irked advertisers, he championed and supported ambitious journalism, from giving more than 40 editorial pages of a single-topic issue to the 20-year anniversary of the Columbine school shootings to sending an editor to Afghanistan to embed with a Colorado-based unit that was one of the U.S. Army’s first gender-integrated howitzer crews. The magazine’s investigative journalism prompted a change in Colorado law regarding prosecution of minors, played a key role in freeing a Native American entrepreneur who had been imprisoned on a technicality, and helped clear an Air Force Academy cadet wrongly accused of sexual assault.
5280’s success was far from guaranteed when Brogan launched the magazine from that second bedroom with little more than some personal savings and a pocket full of soon-to-be maxed-out credit cards. Denver had seen more than its fair share of local publications come and go over the years and there was plenty of skepticism that this time would be any different. A columnist in the Rocky Mountain News wrote that “Denver eats city magazines for lunch” and predicted that 5280 would be its next course. The town’s largest ad agency held an office pool to predict how many issues 5280 would last.
Although Brogan remained a journalist at heart, he became a businessman, too. All of those skills—retaining advertisers during times of economic uncertainty, negotiating printing costs, balancing profits and expenses—were tested during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. He steered 5280 through both crises with minimal layoffs, a testament to his loyalty to and belief in his staff, many of whom have worked for the magazine for more than a decade. (5280’s most tenured employee, its office manager, recently celebrated his 25-year anniversary with the company; a staff writer has been on the masthead for 17 years.)
So, when it came time for Brogan to move on from 5280, perhaps it should not be surprising that he prioritized its editorial independence and the retention of his employees when finding a new owner. In December 2024, Brogan sold the magazine he’d founded—and the multifaceted, widely respected brand he grew it into—to a local digital media entrepreneur who is committed to preserving 5280’s high-quality journalism, prestige, and reputation as a force for good in Colorado. As Brogan said at the time of the sale: “I wanted to find a new owner who cares about Denver and sees our community as more than just a piggy bank.” Brogan remains on the masthead as 5280’s founder, and the 2025 Milton W. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award is a fitting way to honor his contributions to the Mile High City and the larger world of city and regional magazines.
5280’s evolution over the years. The magazine’s first issue in July 1993 featured Top Doctors, a time-honored city-magazine staple. In 2008, when the Democratic National Convention was held in Denver, Brogan hired artist Shepard Fairey to create a variation on his famous “Hope” poster for 5280’s cover. The December 2024 issue was Brogan’s last as the magazine’s owner.