Cover the Ground Others Leave Behind
A shared reporting fund for rural North Idaho and the Idaho Statehouse—a partnership of the Coeur d'Alene Press, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
Inland Northwest Journalism Fund for North Idaho
North Idaho is one of the fastest growing regions in the country, yet the number of reporters covering its rural counties and its state government keeps shrinking. The North Idaho Regional Journalism Fund lets neighboring, independently owned newsrooms — the Coeur d’Alene Press, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News — pool community support to keep a reporter where coverage is thinnest: in rural North Idaho communities where decisions about your taxes, your schools and your public lands are made.
Support Local Journalism in Northwest Montana
Help sustain the reporters who cover your communities, hold institutions accountable, and tell the stories that matter across Northwest Montana
Local Journalism is Essential to Strong Communities
Every day, reporters from Hagadone Media Montana newspapers cover city halls, county commissions, schools, businesses, and the issues shaping life across Northwest Montana. That reporting helps residents stay informed, strengthens civic participation, and ensures that public institutions remain transparent and accountable.
This campaign invites community members to help sustain the local journalism that serves our region. Our mission is to pursue the truth wherever it leads and report it with accuracy, fairness, and a deep commitment to the communities we serve. Please donate if you support that mission.
Donations are made through the Inland Northwest Journalism Foundation, a nonprofit partner that helps communities support and strengthen local journalism. The fund is administered by Innovia Foundation, a community foundation serving the Inland Northwest.
Campaign Goal
We are launching a 100-day fundraising campaign to raise $100,000 in community support for local journalism.
This work requires ongoing investment. With your support, we can fortify our newsroom, expand our reporting, and ensure that strong, independent local journalism continues to serve our communities for years and decades to come.
These funds will help sustain reporting across Hagadone Media Montana newspapers serving Northwest Montana, including:
Daily Inter Lake, Whitefish Pilot, Hungry Horse News, Bigfork Eagle, Lake County Leader, The Western News, Mineral Independent and Clark Fork Valley Press.
Community support helps ensure that experienced local journalists continue covering the issues that affect our communities every day. Please donate and help bolster our mission.
Matching Challenge
Thanks to a partnership with Report for America, the first $25,000 raised will be matched.
Early donations will double their impact and help expand reporting capacity in Northwest Montana.
Your support helps sustain journalism that keeps communities informed and engaged. Please donate early to double your impact!
What Your Gift Funds
A shared regional reporting position covering rural North Idaho—not only the meetings, school boards and county decisions that otherwise go uncovered, but also focused reporting on specific developing stories the region’s news deserts miss.
The real cost of rural reporting: travel to rural communities, public-records requests, and the time it takes to report a story well.
Why this Matters
When no reporter is in the room, the decisions still get made — the public just doesn’t hear about them until it’s too late to weigh in. Independent local newsrooms are the last line of verification, context and accountability for the communities of North Idaho. This fund keeps that work going by letting readers invest directly in the reporting they rely on.
“Neighboring newspapers used to compete for the same stories. Today we partner and share resources — because the real contest isn’t with each other, it’s making sure the news that matters to North Idaho still gets covered.”
– Nathan Alford, Board Vice Chair & Founding Member, INJF
Standard Giving Levels
Friend — $100 annually
Champion — $250 annually
Benefactor — $500 annually
Leader — $1,000 annually
Legacy Builder — $1,500 annually
Editor’s Circle — $5,000 annually
Publisher’s Circle — $10,000 annually
Founder’s Circle — $25,000+ annually
Giving levels are based on annual total gift amounts. Donors at the Legacy Builder level and above receive a special gift from INJF and recognition in our annual report.
Support Local Journalism
Local journalism is the heartbeat of strong communities
Your gift helps sustain the reporting that serves communities across Northwest Montana.
While advertising and subscriptions remain an important part of sustaining our newspapers, they no longer fully support the level of local reporting our communities deserve. Community support helps fill that gap by funding in-depth reporting, coverage of rural communities, and stories that require time and resources to pursue.
Your support helps make journalism like the stories above possible. Contributions from readers and community members help ensure that experienced reporters continue covering local government, environmental issues, public safety, education, and the stories that shape life across our region.
Together, we can ensure that strong, independent local journalism continues to inform and strengthen our communities.
Donate today to support local journalism in Northwest Montana
Your gift supports:
- Coverage of rural communities across Northwest Montana
- Environmental, natural resource, and quality of life reporting
- Investigative stories that require time and in-depth reporting
- Watchdog reporting on city halls and county commissions
Give to the North Idaho Fund
Gifts are held and administered by Innovia Foundation and support a reporting position jointly directed by the partner newsrooms; coverage is shared across all three titles.
Editorial Independence and Donor Transparency
Our mission is to serve as the cornerstone of our communities through a steadfast commitment to community journalism and the delivery of factual information. We believe strong local news strengthens civic life, supports informed decision-making, and upholds the principles of the First Amendment and the Fourth Estate.
Support from readers, foundations, and community partners helps sustain this work. However, financial support does not influence our journalism. Our newsrooms maintain full editorial independence over the stories we pursue and the coverage we provide. Donors do not receive special access to our journalists, advance review of stories, or influence over editorial decisions.
We are committed to transparency in how this work is funded. Contributions that support our journalism do not constitute endorsement of a donor’s products, services, or viewpoints. All funds raised through this campaign are administered by Innovia Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that maintains legal control over all donations. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Independent local journalism depends on public trust. Upholding that trust through transparency and ethical reporting is a responsibility we take seriously.