Local news lights the way for local involvement. Citizens cannot support or oppose community issues they do not know about. Constituents cannot vote confidently on policies they do not understand or candidates they do not recognize. Customers cannot patronize businesses they have never heard of.
Action at the local level starts with information at the local level — and independent coverage close to home can be increasingly hard to find.
This project will ideally serve as a digital town square for sharing original reporting on public affairs in Whitman County. I am working to develop a localized annual voters guides and additional policy coverage for citizens seeking a more engaged understanding of local governance or community well-being. Read our annual reports on our biggest and most impactful stories for 2019 and 2020.
My background includes writing for both daily and weekly newspapers in Washington state, most recently at The Inlander (Past stories) in Spokane. Before that, I spent several years at The Daily World in Grays Harbor. Much of my reporting has focused on rural government, criminal justice and natural resources. I have also spent more than a decade living in Pullman and reporting on Whitman County. From 2003 to 2007, I worked as a student reporter and editor at The Daily Evergreen. And from 2015 until June 2018, I served as a professional adviser for the WSU Office of Student Media.
I now freelance, writing stories about how international trade impacts local farmers and the bizarre background of the Mimosa building.
I believe strongly in the role of public records, open meeting law and independent fact checking in keeping public institutions accessible and accountable. I believe journalism should enforce transparency and empower citizens to participate in their own governance. I hope some of you will want to help me find and tell stories that challenge our community to be better.
Most importantly, Pullman and Whitman County are home. My children will grow up here. They play in its parks. They walk its streets. They will attend its schools and community events. My family pays taxes and votes and lives under its laws. Journalism is really the only way I know how to get involved with my community, so this gives me an excuse to do that.
In the meantime, I am just one reporter (with both busy toddlers and freelance editors to appease), so please support your other local newsrooms such as the Evergreen, The Daily News, The Whitman County Gazette, Pullman Radio News, The Lewiston Tribune, The Inlander and The Spokesman-Review. Feel free to send me questions or news tips at: whitmancowatch@gmail.com.