(Press release) — The Wyoming Humanities Council has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the Pulitzer Prize Board for Reporting on Equality in the Equality State: Wyoming’s Journalistic Past, Present, and Future. The program commemorates the Pulitzer Prizes’ Centennial in 2016 though the Pulitzer’s Campfires Initiative.

WHC has partnered with WyoFile.com, Wyoming Press Association, and WyoHistory.org to produce a series of in-depth articles that examine journalism in Wyoming examining past Pulitzer prize-winning topics as a lens to view similar issues in Wyoming. WHC has also partnered with the WPA to host a panel discussion, “Journalism in the Equality State – Where are we going?” about the past, present, and future of journalism and promoting/celebrating the project at the Wyoming Press Association Winter Convention on January 20.

“Journalism has the power to influence and transform our understanding of our culture. With the influx of ‘alternative media,’ the Pulitzers Prizes set the bar for what we should expect from media,” said Shannon Smith, WHC executive director. “Past Pulitzer winners have highlighted the importance of social justice and integrity. We want to engage Wyoming with these journalistic and literary values and encourage audiences to seek these values out when researching the world around them.”

Over the course of 2016, WyoFile.com will produce investigative articles on Wyoming issues through the lens of how Pulitzer Prize-winning pieces on similar issues led to increased awareness and in some case action. The articles will be available on the WyoFile.com website, through social media, and distributed for statewide publication via the Wyoming Press Association at the discretion of individual news agencies.

“Wyoming journalists play a critical role in civic life, from watchdogging elected bodies, to telling the stories of citizens’ plights and successes,” said WyoFile editor-in-chief Dustin Bleizeffer.  “WyoFile is proud to be a part of this collaboration that celebrates good journalism by putting it into action.”

WyoHistory.org in partnership with the WPA will produce profiles and stories about pivotal members of the WPA Hall of Fame. These stories and articles will be available through the WyoHistory.org website and will also be available to state news agencies for publication.

“Longtime Washington Post Publisher Phil Graham called journalism ‘the first rough draft of history,’” said Tom Rea, WyoHistory.org editor. “With articles on past Wyoming newspapers, the remarkable people who ran them and the remarkable people who wrote them, we at WyoHistory.org look forward in 2016 to offering readers a look at some colorful Wyoming history — right as it was happening.”

Leave a comment

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *