Montana Free Press

Last updated

Montana Free Press
Founded2016
FounderJohn S. Adams
TypeNon-profit organization
FocusState government, politics, economic journalism
Location
Area served
Montana
Key people
John S. Adams, Brad Tyer, Eric Dietrich
Website montanafreepress.org

The Montana Free Press (MTFP) [1] is an American non-profit news organization based in Helena, Montana. As an investigative journalism organization, it focuses on uncovering non-transparent bureaucratic processes and institutions. [2]

Contents

History

The Montana Free Press was founded in 2016 by journalist John S. Adams, [3] who had previously worked as the capital bureau chief for The Great Falls Tribune in 2015. Prior to both, Adams was a staff reporter at the Missoula Independent . [4]

In 2018, Montana Free Press founder Adams was featured in the documentary film Dark Money , which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The film uncovered the influences of undisclosed corporate "dark money" on elections, [5] while delving deep into investigative topics such as how the funding from American Tradition Partnership influenced Montana state and federal election laws. [6] [7] [8]

Coverage

The Montana Free Press focuses on the government and policy of the State of Montana, as well as on issues relating to the economy, environment, energy, health care, and social justice. Investigative news from Montana Free Press includes articles on solitary confinement in Montana state prisons, [9] lobbying from right to work organizations, [10] state budget cuts' effects on rural areas of Montana, [11] [12] water supply in Fort Peck Indian Reservation, [13] among other topics.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solitary confinement</span> Strict form of imprisonment

Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to discipline or separate incarcerated individuals who are considered to be security risks to other incarcerated individuals or prison staff, as well as those who violate facility rules or are deemed disruptive. However, it is also used as protective custody on incarcerated individuals whose safety is threatened by others in order to separate them from the general prison population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Mayer</span> American journalist

Jane Meredith Mayer is an American investigative journalist who has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1995. She has written for the publication about money in politics; government prosecution of whistleblowers; the United States Predator drone program; Donald Trump's ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz; and Trump's financial backer, Robert Mercer. In 2016, Mayer's book Dark Money—in which she investigated the history of the conservative fundraising Koch brothers—was published to critical acclaim.

<i>Jackson Free Press</i>

The Jackson Free Press, referred to often as simply "JFP", is a for-profit community magazine available free of charge at various retail establishments in Jackson, Mississippi founded in 2002 and owned by Mississippi native Donna Ladd and author and technology expert Todd Stauffer. It is currently the only member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies (AAN) in the state of Mississippi. It is known locally for its annual Best of Jackson awards as nominated by its readers and its online political blogs. It also has sponsored numerous local events such as the Fondren ArtMix, JubileeJam, the Chick Ball, the "Race, Religion & Society Series" and the Crossroads Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truthout</span> American non-profit news organization

Truthout is a progressive non-profit news organization which describes itself as "dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues". Truthout's main areas of focus include mass incarceration, prison abolition, social justice, climate change, militarism, economy and labor, LGBTQ rights and reproductive justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola Three</span> American prison inmates in solitary for decades

The Angola Three are three African-American former prison inmates who were held for decades in solitary confinement while imprisoned at Louisiana State Penitentiary. The latter two were indicted in April 1972 for the killing of a prison corrections officer; they were convicted in January 1974. Wallace and Woodfox served more than 40 years each in solitary, the "longest period of solitary confinement in American prison history".

<i>The Colorado Independent</i>

The Colorado Independent was a nonprofit, independent media organization, first reporting news via its online website that was started in July 2006, later revitalized again in September 2013 under new Colorado-based management.

<i>Santa Fe Reporter</i> Alternative weekly newspaper in New Mexico

The Santa Fe Reporter (SFR) is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. First published in 1974, it features reports on local news, politics, art and culture, and is published once a week on Wednesdays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Sullivan</span> American journalist

Laura Sullivan is a correspondent and investigative reporter for National Public Radio (NPR). Her investigations air regularly on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and other NPR programs. She is also an on-air correspondent for the PBS show Frontline. Sullivan's work specializes in shedding light on some of the country's most disadvantaged people. She is one of NPR's most decorated journalists, with three Peabody Awards, three Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, and more than a dozen other prestigious national awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Bullock (American politician)</span> American politician & lawyer (born 1966)

Stephen Clark Bullock is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 24th governor of Montana from 2013 to 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

The Franklin News Foundation, previously the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, is an American online nonprofit news organization that publishes news and commentary from a conservative and free market, limited government perspective on state and local politics. Its journalism platform is called The Center Square, rebranded from Watchdog.org. Founded in 2009 in North Dakota, the organization moved to Virginia and is now based in Chicago.

The Center Square, formerly Watchdog.org, is an American news website that features reporting on state and local government. It is a project of the Franklin News Foundation, a conservative online news organization. The Center Square distributes its content through a newswire service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Media and Democracy</span> Non-profit organization in the US

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnie Two Shoes</span> American journalist

Minnie Two Shoes was a publicist for the American Indian Movement from 1970 to 1976 and worked most of her life in journalism and advancing Native American people and causes.

The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is a non-profit consortium of journalism organizations. The organization promotes nonprofit investigative and public service journalism through its association of member entities.

The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is a nonprofit investigative news organization housed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The organization's stated mission is to "increase the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future generations of investigative journalists."

<i>Dark Money</i> (film) 2018 American film

Dark Money is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Kimberly Reed about the effects of corporate money and influence in the American political system. The film uses Reed's home state of Montana as a primary case study to advance a broader, national discussion on governance in an era of super PACs and Citizens United. Dark Money premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and premiered to a Montana audience at the Big Sky Film Festival in February 2018. The broadcast rights to Dark Money were purchased by PBS distribution to air the film as part of their docu-series POV in 2018.

VTDigger is an investigative online newspaper that reports on the state of Vermont in the United States. Founded in September 2009 by Anne Galloway, the newspaper has grown to have an average monthly audience of 730,000.

<i>The Colorado Sun</i> Online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado, US

The Colorado Sun is an online news outlet based in Denver, Colorado. It launched on September 10, 2018, to provide long-form, in-depth coverage of news from all around Colorado. It was started with two years of funding from blockchain venture capitalists at Civil and from a Kickstarter campaign. The news outlet is now funded by reader support, through memberships, and from sponsorship and grant revenue. The electronic newspaper is based in Denver. It is an associate member of the Associated Press.

States Newsroom is a U.S. tax-exempt organization that serves as an umbrella organization for state-focused news outlets with progressive editorial outlooks. Launched in 2019, it began as a sponsored project of the Hopewell Fund, a left-leaning nonprofit that does not disclose its donors. It grew out of NC Policy Watch, a progressive think tank in North Carolina founded by Chris Fitzsimon. Fitzsimon is States Newsroom's director and publisher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation of American bison</span> Effort to increase bison in North America

The conservation of bison in North America is an ongoing, diverse effort to bring American bison back from the brink of extinction. Plains bison, a subspecies, are a keystone species in the North American Great Plains. Bison are a species of conservation concern in part because they suffered a severe population bottleneck at the end of the 19th century. The near extinction of the species during the 1800s unraveled fundamental ties between bison, grassland ecosystems, and indigenous peoples’ cultures and livelihoods.# English speakers used the word buffalo for this animal when they arrived. Bison was used as the scientific term to distinguish them from the true buffalo. Buffalo is commonly used as it continues to hold cultural significance, particularly for Indigenous people. Recovery began in the late 1800s with a handful of individuals independently saving the last surviving bison.# Dedicated restoration efforts in the 1900s bolstered bison numbers though they still exist in mostly small and isolated populations. Expansion of the understanding of bison ecology and management is ongoing. The contemporary widespread, collaborative effort includes attention to heritage genetics and minimal cattle introgression.#

References

  1. "About MTFP".
  2. Legg, Heidi (July 3, 2019). "Emerging Nonprofit Models in Local News". Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy (Harvard Kennedy School). Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  3. Hutchins, Corey (March 28, 2016). "Once on the verge of leaving journalism, a Montana reporter launches a nonprofit news outlet". Columbia Journalism Review . Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  4. Hutchins, Corey (June 4, 2015). "A bureau's closure sparks talk of new approaches to state coverage in Montana". Columbia Journalism Review . Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  5. Reed, Kimberly (September 28, 2018). "Dark Money". PBS. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  6. O'Sullivan, Michael (July 17, 2018). "Political junkies will feel their blood boil watching this new documentary". Washington Post. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  7. Lowry, Brian (July 17, 2018). "'Dark Money' shines light on politics, journalism in Citizens United age". Money CNN. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  8. Rosen, Lisa (July 24, 2018). "Kimberly Reed's 'Dark Money' turns campaign finance into a political thriller". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  9. Adams, John S. (December 17, 2015). "Isolation Nation: While some U.S. states are reforming solitary confinement laws, in Montana, secluding inmates is still a reality". Montana Free Press. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  10. Adams, John S. (January 26, 2016). "Documents detail Right to Work's involvement in Montana elections". Montana Free Press. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  11. Adams, John S. (March 7, 2016). "Embattled state doctor arrested in Butte on drug charges". Billings Gazette. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  12. Eggert, Amanda (August 2, 2018). "Forgotten communities". Montana Free Press. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  13. Pauli, Hunter (August 30, 2018). "The fight to save clean water on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation". Guardian News. Retrieved July 24, 2019.