The Changing Media Ecosystem
Idaho is at a crossroads between corporate news media and independent journalism
In July 1864, just a year after President Abraham Lincoln signed the resolution creating the Idaho Territory, James Reynolds began publishing a newspaper out of a log cabin in Boise. The Idaho Tri-Weekly Statesman operated for 24 years under Reynolds and later Judge Milton Kelly. In 1888, Calvin Cobb purchased the paper and renamed it the Idaho Daily Statesman.
From 1888 to 1963, the Statesman was owned and operated by Idahoans. Calvin Cobb bequeathed the paper to his daughter, Margaret Cobb Ailshie, and after her death it continued under general manager James Brown. In 1963, the Statesman was purchased by Federated Publications, which owned newspapers from Washington to Indiana. In 1971, Federated merged with Gannett, which sold the Statesman to Knight Ridder in 2005. Shortly thereafter, McClatchy bought Knight Ridder before filing for bankruptcy in 2020. Today, McClatchy is owned by Chatham Asset Management, a New Jersey-based hedge fund.
What was once Idaho’s newspaper of record is now a corporate-owned machine whose primary purpose is to generate profit for a hedge fund. While this structure ensures the paper has the resources to cover a wide range of topics—from news to sports to local interest—it also means that accurately informing Idahoans is no longer a top priority. Not only does the Statesman’s editorial board lean so far left it makes Barack Obama look like a Reaganite conservative, but that perspective seeps into regular columns and even straight news reporting.
In the old days, newspapers supported themselves with subscriptions and classified ads. It was once a truism that nearly every citizen subscribed to the local paper. The picture of a man reading the news at the breakfast table before heading to work was a staple of American culture. I’m old enough to remember video games like Paperboy, which played on the cultural memory of young people delivering papers as their first job.
Before the internet, if you needed a job, wanted to sell your car, or were desperate for a date, you put an ad in the paper. Small and cheap, but multiplied hundreds of times a day, these classifieds generated nearly half of a paper’s revenue. But in 1995, Craig Newmark of San Francisco began sharing online listings with friends. It wasn’t long before Craigslist gutted the market. Why spend time and money putting an ad in the newspaper when you could post online for free and reach more people at the same time?
Google, Facebook, and other websites also chipped away at the usefulness of the local paper. With classifieds rendered largely obsolete and subscriptions in decline, news outlets became increasingly dependent on online ads to fund their operations. But those ads soon grew so pervasive and intrusive that they drove the creation of ad-blocking plugins, which allowed readers to check the news without being bombarded by flashing banners and irritating pop-ups.
It’s no wonder, then, that local newspapers were eventually gobbled up by out-of-state corporations. But that doesn’t make the loss of local ownership any less damaging to our heritage. Corporate consolidation of news media has also eroded public trust. According to Pew Research, most Americans say they trust local news more than national outlets, with a massive partisan divide as illustrated in this chart:
Print media isn’t the only sector that’s been consolidated. KTVB is owned by Virginia-based Tegna, KIVI by Ohio-based Scripps, and KBOI by Maryland-based Sinclair. According to a recent report by Don Day at BoiseDev, Texas-based Nexstar Media has an agreement to buy Tegna, but Sinclair is attempting to outbid them. Idaho’s “local” stations are little more than lines on a balance sheet in battles between massive media conglomerates.
I know many conservative Idahoans who still subscribe to the Statesman or turn on KTVB for the evening news, but they are becoming fewer and farther between. Younger generations increasingly turn to nontraditional sources for information, whether independent media outlets or social platforms such as Twitter. The business model that traditional news media outlets have followed for generations is not long for this world.
Journalists often view their profession as a sacred calling, but that’s hard to reconcile with corporate ownership and the profit motive. To be fair, news outlets have always gone to great lengths to attract readers—recall the yellow press of Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, which literally helped start a war just for the headlines. But there’s something especially soulless about Idaho’s paper of record being owned by a hedge fund.
So what are the alternatives?
One model is the Idaho Capital Sun, affiliated with States Newsroom. That organization uses grants from various foundations to provide local news in all fifty states, though since much of its funding comes from left-wing donors it unsurprisingly leans leftward. Nevertheless, I often find the Capital Sun provides some of the most comprehensive coverage of the legislative session. I regularly rely on reporting from Clark Corbin, Laura Guido, and Kyle Pfannenstiel to supplement my own analysis.
BoiseDev, meanwhile, does great work in the Treasure Valley. While the publication is primarily focused on development, it produces solid reporting on local politics too. Unlike the Capital Sun, BoiseDev is funded entirely by memberships and advertising. Even so, co-owners Don Day and Kara Jackson are able to support a staff of eight editors, reporters, and producers who publish multiple stories each day. Margaret Carmel, for example, covers both the statehouse and Eagle politics with fairness and objectivity.
Finally, Idaho Reports is produced by Idaho Public Television, which is partially funded by state and federal tax dollars. While Melissa Davlin, Logan Finney, and their colleagues generally do a good job covering news and politics fairly and from multiple angles, I wonder how Congress’s defunding of PBS will affect the program going forward.
Then there is the independent media space, a chaotic blend of straight news and commentary. The internet gave everyone the tools to build their own platform, though few broke through to mass appeal. Bob Neugebauer has published the Gem State Patriot for many years—long before most independent conservative outlets existed—though today it is mostly opinion. Greg Pruett runs the Idaho Dispatch, focusing on straight news and investigative reporting. John Crowder manages the Observer News Group in Pocatello and the surrounding area, while the 5b Gazette is a newer publication that covers Blaine County. The Kootenai Journal, edited by Charity Joy, provides news and commentary in the Panhandle, while Erin Barnard’s Kootenai County Spectator focuses on local government. Local Yocal is another newer platform, posting articles and videos on news, politics, and community issues.
And, of course, there is the Gem State Chronicle, bringing you news and analysis aimed at empowering Idahoans to make positive change.
Independent media still has a long way to go before it can fill the vacuum left by corporate media’s decline. Right now, the Chronicle is still just one person—me—which limits the breadth of reporting I can provide. I don’t have the resources to cover sports, statewide news, or lifestyle features like the corporate outlets. In fact, I often rely on them for background and context to support my own commentary.
My value proposition for you is to distill complex information into clear, actionable insights that help you engage in the political process. Most people don’t have time to watch committee hearings or floor debates every day of the legislative session, or to research the mechanics of urban renewal and tax assessments. Just as it’s often a better use of your time to take your car to a mechanic rather than spend hours or days trying to fix the problem yourself, I’ll do that work for you, then explain what’s happening in a way that enables you to be an informed and active citizen of the Gem State.
Is there room in today’s economy for a truly independent news outlet—not owned by out-of-state corporations and not designed to push Idahoans leftward? Could there be a conservative counterpart to States Newsroom? God willing, the Chronicle will continue to grow. One day, I hope to bring on more help and expand our coverage. Until then, I’ll keep working to help you find the signal amid the noise, empowering you to be a more active and engaged citizen. And I’ll continue striving to earn every penny of support you so generously give.
Thank you to all who support this platform and its mission. Thank you especially to sponsors Lynn Bradescu Boise Realty and Money Metals.