Support WyoFile’s successful mission

This is a fund-raising pitch. Unlike Wyoming Public Radio, where you have to listen to the pitch (because you don’t want to turn the dial), you could choose to skip this message. Please stick with me.

Some of the WyoFile board members have formal experience as journalists, and some have further experience with internet journalism. I, with thin journalistic credentials but strong opinions, accepted the invitation to join this venture for several reasons: Journalism based on facts is better than journalism based on ignorance, bias and/or expedience. Investigative journalism takes time and dedication, luxuries only rarely available to daily newspapers. Opinion pieces, which are not necessarily constrained by the above (that would be me), should at least stimulate discourse.

WyoFile has been an experiment. Judging by response and republication of WyoFile stories by other news outlets, and by the metrics of how many people log on to read it daily, and measuring how many people read The Sage Grouse and the WyoFile Energy Report, we ARE having an impact on Wyoming journalism.

This quality reporting does not come cheaply. WyoFile editors have contributed great pieces and found other world-class writers to contribute more. We can be extremely proud of the quality of work which has been made available to our public(s).

Several Wyoming newspapers and online media take advantage of our policy of allowing free use of our material, with attribution. WyoFile has also made significant strides in collaborating with other Wyoming media outlets and with other non-profit news organizations outside our borders, such as the Center for Public Integrity, Investigative News Network and the Rural West Initiative.

Meanwhile, as a non-partisan, non-profit entity, WyoFile is dependent upon grants and donations from wonderfully generous individuals and organizations. We do not receive any public funding. You can help WyoFile continue to provide insightful profiles of influential Wyoming people such as John Barrasso and Foster Friess, and important investigative reports on issues such as the price of poverty on the Wind River Reservation, and the policies of federal subsidies. Think of this: your money in the bank is not earning much interest for you (although it’s earning plenty for the banker); so invest it instead in something else: a lasting contribution to improving the quality of our public discourse.

Thanks

— The Sage Grouse (RT Cox)