RANGE is a media organization for people who love the Inland Northwest and want to make it better. We believe our communities are stronger when our newsrooms are run by truth’s fiercest advocates: the journalists themselves. Since 2020, RANGE has built a newsroom that empowers working people with civic education and people-centered investigative reporting. We are emphatically anti-racist, class-focused and passionate about bridging divides to build solidarity among all people, but especially working people. As a worker-owned cooperative dedicated to democratic management, RANGE exists to serve our region, to resurrect the idea of thriving careers in local journalism and to ensure rank-and-file journalists have the power to direct our growth in ways that best support the beats they cover and the community we all serve.
We believe
- The more people who participate in civic life, the more our cities, regions, and states will reflect the people who live there.
- Information access, and ultimately news awareness, are vital requirements for civic action and should be accessible to everyone.
- For many reasons, community members at the margins are either actively excluded or self-select out of news awareness and civic participation.
Our Vision & Mission
We want to refocus the news in the Inland Northwest toward the needs of ordinary people by cultivating complex conversations, expanding our moral imagination, and holding the powerful accountable. We are building action-oriented journalism that serves people where they are and gives everyone the tools to demand better.
The ultimate goal is building a journalism outlet focused on the kind of reporting that can change lives, helping as many community members as possible move from disempowerment and lack of news access toward meaningful information, citizen advocacy, and action.
We want to help provide the journalistic spark for a more robust, democratic, just and fair region.
How we started
RANGE started as a personal project and podcast from founder Luke Baumgarten in April 2020. Now we’ve grown to a small team of four — and we’re still growing.
Spokane is changing faster than most of us ever imagined. The choices we make today will impact the region for generations.
RANGE isn’t trying to replace the Inlander or The Spokesman-Review, we provide a vital and missing lens to the great reporting happening in local newsrooms.
Where we are
RANGE is based in Spokane, Washington. We cover our city, as well as the greater Inland Northwest — from Central Washington to the Idaho Panhandle and when it impacts us, even Western Montana.
Who owns us
We do! RANGE is owned by the Spokane Workers Cooperative, which means all RANGE employees are worker-owners of our news outlet and the other businesses that SWC owns.
SWC is governed by a board of directors elected from among the worker and investor members. Each business in our cooperative operates with independence, so no SWC business or the board can tell RANGE what to do or what to report on and we can’t tell another business to do their work differently. We believe this ownership model ensures independence and helps build up our community.
Our partners
A strong local news outlet needs a strong news ecosystem to be able to serve our entire community. That’s why we have partners across the region, state, and nation:
- KYRS Community Radio – a volunteer-powered, non-commercial, community radio station in Spokane serving the area with unique programming for un-served and underserved populations on 92.3 & 88.1 FM.
- FāVS News – informs and builds faith and non-faith community through digital journalism and online and offline engagement opportunities.
- Look 2 Justice – A WA-based nonprofit that empowers incarcerated journalists and organizers for a more just and fair criminal legal system.
- Stonewall News – centers on informing and empowering rural LGBTQIA+ communities, which are marginalized and increasingly threatened segments of the populace.
- The 19th News – an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy.
- Sunlight Research Center – a nonpartisan journalism support organization that equips newsrooms of all sizes to provide their communities with fact-based, transparent investigative journalism that holds power to account.
- InvestigateWest – a nonprofit, collaborative newsroom producing high-impact investigative journalism that holds power accountable, exposes injustice and empowers underserved communities across the Pacific Northwest.
- Cascade PBS – a community-licensed and supported public television station and media organization with a mission to inspire a smarter world.
How you can get involved
RANGE is a reader-supported publication. You can help us grow by becoming a paid subscriber starting at $10 per month or $100 per year.
If you don’t have the means to support RANGE financially, it’s okay! You can still read and listen to 100% of our content for free. And if you like it, you can support us by sharing our work with your friends and family and helping get the word out however you can.
Subscribe to our podcast and newsletter.
Follow us on social media: Bluesky, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit.
Join our Discord server to be part of the news conversation and connect with others who care about our community! Get your invitation here.
Email us at team@rangemedia.co
How to share sensitive news tips with us
If you have information of possible interest to the public, like data or documentation regarding unethical or illegal activities by public or private entities, or something that threatens or could harm the public, we want to talk to you.
Read our guide on how to do that safely here.
