Jessica Gibbs is a journalist based in the Denver metro area. She has worked as a general assignment and government reporter for nearly eight years, and covered education for nearly three years.
Gibbs worked as a senior beat reporter for Colorado Community Media, publishers of 20 local newspapers in and around Denver, before her departure in 2022. She then worked as an independent journalist, writing for publications including The Colorado Sun, Denverite, and Westword. She joined The Denver Gazette in August 2022, where she now works as a city hall and business reporter.
Gibbs began her reporting career in her home state of Nebraska before moving to Colorado in 2016.
At CCM, she served as a lead reporter for a year-long series on mental health, tracking gaps in the system and barriers to care.
She has covered gun violence extensively, spending months on the shooting that inspired Colorado’s red flag law. Gibbs also helped lead her newsroom’s coverage of the STEM School shooting and the ensuing court cases.
Gibbs goes where the story takes her — from trekking up wildfire scorched mountain sides to attending breaking news press conferences at the crack of dawn. Gibbs particularly enjoys stories that cover people or places underrepresented in the news media.
In 2022, Gibbs was promoted to senior reporter at Colorado Community Media, with a focus on covering issues affecting the Denver metro area. Gibbs was also assigned to the Douglas County School District, a nationally-watched district and Colorado’s third largest. In August 2022, Gibbs joined The Gazette, where she has covered the Denver and Aurora city hall beats in addition to business coverage.