We have some amazing news: Today RANGE was named one of 205 newsrooms across the US, Guam and Puerto Rico to receive a grant of $100,000, thanks to funding from Press Forward, the nationwide initiative to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news.
Anyone who has been paying attention to our fundraising emails recently will know this is a truly meaningful gift, but we want to take a moment to underscore that, not only is the grant amount extraordinary, it demonstrates just how extraordinary RANGE itself and our community of readers are. The grant money will be paid out over two years, and will lay the foundation for us to continue empowering the afflicted and afflicting the powerful through 2025, 2026 and beyond.
Over 900 newsrooms applied, and we’re tremendously proud to have been selected among the most vital and innovative small local publications anywhere in the US — a group that includes everything from the oldest paper in Alaska to a digital startup serving refugee communities in Atlanta.
RANGE is the only outlet in Eastern Washington and one of only four in the entire state of Washington who were selected. We also want to congratulate our Washington peers and give a special shout out across the border in North Idaho, to our friends at the Sandpoint Reader, who also earned this grant — they are truly one of the best community weeklies we’ve ever read (not just because the Reader was Luke’s first steady freelancing gig).
We are especially proud to be the only worker-owned newsroom in this inaugural cohort. We hope to be a light that many, many more worker-owned newsrooms follow in the years to come.
RANGE has gone through a tremendous evolution since April 2020: from one guy making a podcast in his attic to a team of 3.5 journalists working across different mediums that empower our community to take action. We’ve created CIVICS, a weekly series that previews important municipal meetings so you’re able to speak out about the issues you care about. We’ve reported for the overlooked, whether it’s unhoused people in Camp Hope or rural folks on private wells contaminated by forever chemicals. We’ve held powerful institutions and people accountable, leading to actual change, like when we reported that city officials weren’t keeping track of opioid overdose deaths, and when officials were packing the Trent shelter past its legal occupancy.
As many of you know, in August, we hit a critical moment after losing grant funding, forcing us to get way outside our comfort zone as we reached out to our readers for support.
It was really hard for us to make that ask, but we are so tremendously grateful for the outpouring that followed. The way Spokane showed up was much, much bigger than expected, and gave the RANGE team a clear (long-term, for sure, but clear) sense of how we can not just do great journalism, but do great journalism sustainably.
That’s perhaps the best news of all.
This grant is incredible, not only validating the vision we have for doing journalism in Spokane, but also very tangibly helping us keep the lights on.
But grants like this are not the end goal. Your support is.
Grants are a necessary — and flattering! — stepping stone on the path to being a muckraking, worker-owned newsroom that can fight for a more just, equitable and fair Spokane without worrying about whether we’ll scare off funders or advertisers, because we know we have all the support we need from our readers.
Thanks for being one of those readers, and thank you for believing in RANGE
Luke, Val and the RANGE team
You can support RANGE — and help us empower our communities — by becoming a recurring member at $10/month or $100/year here!
