There Are Three News Outlets in the County, but We Still Have an Access Problem

The recent merger of Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune, based in Oroville, with Omak-Okanogan County Chronicle, based in Omak, reduced the number of printed newspapers in the county from three to two, but there are more problems beneath the surface.

The first problem is access. There are only two free news sites in all of Okanogan County- Methow Valley News… and Methow Valley Examiner. MVE only removed its paywall a couple months ago.

MVE’s analytics showed the paywall stopped too many people from accessing local news. “Too many” is an arbitrary number, but for this writer, it was significant enough to realize it was deterring from the site’s purpose.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Chronicle’s analytics shows the same. The Chronicle has a hard paywall. They aren’t giving people the benefit of any free articles per month as MVE did.

Whether or not people should have uninhibited access to news and information, regardless of ability to pay, would be a good forum for discussion. Where we are now is most of Okanogan County does not have free digital access to a local news outlet.

The other side to this equation is how newspapers can not just survive, but flourish in a “free” environment. MVN publisher Don Nelson has more than once written about the precarious state of the news business. Consider the donation and subscription models that MVE and MVN have as a means of not just supporting but paying it forward.

The second problem is independence. MVE and MVN are also the only two totally local outlets in the county. The Chronicle is owned by the Mullen family, which owns newspapers in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Washington, and by publisher Teresa Myers, who is local to the county.

The third problem is coverage. Below is a graphic by Local News Initiative indicating the number of news outlets in the country by county. I took this graphic from the New York Times because it has more contrasting colors.

What is happening to Idaho?

Or the heartland from North Dakota to Texas? Or the South for that matter?

This graphic is generous because it only goes by the number of news outlets in each county. It doesn’t take into account how many news outlets have paywalls or are skewed in a geographical area.

Methow Valley disproportionately has two of the three news outlets in the entire county. We don’t regularly cover Wauconda or Nespelem, but I guarantee you there are stories there.

Even though our county is light green on the map, there are areas that have no coverage and whose residents are essentially living in news deserts.

That’s how we operate with three news outlets. How about counties that only have one?

Following an interview, Trinity Hightower Stucker, candidate for county commissioner, mentioned that many constituents are getting their information from Facebook. It caught my attention. I spend very little time on Facebook. It is helpful for information from officials, and comments can be informative, but comments are not held accountable for the authenticity of information.

A healthy journalism ecosystem is important for our democracy. It’s hardly talked about, but many colonists did not support independence from the British Empire. The times they were divided. What gave us the framework to understand different perspectives and empower people’s agency to form their opinions and participate in this fledgling democracy? It was the printing press.

Some people think we’re in precarious times now. Responsible news outlets serve as a plumb line. Knock yourselves out discoursing, but we need news transmission that’s accountable, not just angry people on one side of an argument or another. Better fodder provides better conversations and healthier democracies.

I encourage people to read Methow Valley News. In fact, you should support them. They have a publisher, two reporters, 11 contributors, an office manager and a “social media goddess,” which I am definitely not. One person cannot compete with a staff 16. They are a local powerhouse, but they do not cover everything and admit it as much.

I consider myself a moderate, which I interpret as having a measure of curiosity about how people see the world. I am to the right of MVN because they are so far to the left. You’ll see differences in what stories are covered, how they’re covered, who’s interviewed, and what’s presented.

You should read both.

As for counties that have only one news outlet, oy vey.