We’ve had an interesting and exciting couple of weeks at The Columbian. Now that our plans have advanced, I am excited to be able to share some of the details with you.
First and most importantly, thanks to the generosity of the donors to our Community Funded Journalism, we have decided to create a fourth reporting position on our metro team.
This new position will cover environmental issues and climate change, with a special focus on equity and inclusion. Dangerous wildfires, increasingly violent storms and days of choking smoke are becoming more common. Our forests are in poor health and native fish are endangered. There’s a lot to write about.
But the beat is not all about bad things. It’s our duty to report when positive steps are taken, too. Our region is becoming more reliant on clean hydroelectricity for transportation and heating. We have some visionary leaders who are concerned about the impacts of global warming. We can write about solutions, not just problems.
Reporter Lauren Ellenbecker will tackle these challenges. You will recognize her name. She’s been with us since last year, covering Vancouver city government and, most recently, the 3rd Congressional District race. Although we haven’t staffed a full-time environment beat reporter for several years due to budget reductions, Lauren already has had a few chances to cover environmental topic, including the Vancouver City Council’s adoption of some aggressive climate goals.
She’s already begun the transition to her new beat, which will occur as soon as we name her successor on the city hall/federal government beat. We have a finalist in mind and hope to have this person on board sometime next month.
Creating this position is a bit of a leap of faith, and it reflects our growing confidence in Community Funded Journalism. With our first three community-funded reporters, we wanted to raise a big amount of money before we filled the jobs. Now that we have been able to gauge the incredibly positive reaction to our CFJ program, we have created and filled this fourth position earlier than planned. This is an urgent topic and we want to get the reporting started right away.
We’re approaching major donors and launching a grassroots campaign to raise at least $10,000 to put directly toward Lauren’s salary. If you want more information or can help, visit www.columbian.com/cfj to learn more. Our program is in partnership with the nonprofit Local Media Foundation, and contributions are tax-deductible to the extent of the law. Donors receive no special input into our coverage plans or stories; we retain editorial control.
New reporter on the beat
Speaking of newcomers, we have also hired a second community-funded journalist covering homelessness and affordable housing issues. She is Mia Ryder-Marks, who comes to us from Portland, where she has been covering education for three different weekly newspapers in the south metro area owned by Pamplin Media Group.
Mia, who starts Jan. 9, earned her master’s degree in journalism at the University of Oregon and has experience working in — not just covering — social services. In our conversation, she talked about how she was passionate about housing issues. I am, too. In addition to being a root cause of homelessness, the high cost of housing causes many families to live on the edge. It prevents people from becoming homeowners, and, as we know, homeownership is the major way Americans build wealth.
At a time when other news organizations are cutting reporting jobs, I’m pleased we are able to increase our coverage of major issues, thanks to generous support from our community.
