KBDI-TV said this week it will launch the project when it raises an initial $400,000.

A news release didn't set a target date. It said the project would ask for tax-deductible donations but didn't say who possible donors might be.

Station officials didn't immediately return calls Tuesday.

The operation will be called Colorado Public News. The editor-in-chief is Ann Imse, who was a reporter for the now-closed Rocky Mountain News.

Wick Rowland, KBDI's president and CEO, said in the news release the venture is in response to "the reduction of significant investigative journalism" nationally and locally.