Year in review 2014
description
Transcript of Year in review 2014
photo by: Matt Stern photo by: Angus M. Thuermer Jr. photo by: Ruffin Prevost
WyoFilePeople, Places & Policy
CONTENTS
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05
02
06
03
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04
08
09
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Letter from the board
WyoFile’s reporting impact
A note from Dustin and Lorena
Top stories from 2014
WyoFile staff
Financials
WyoFile board of directors
Financials
WyoFile’s commitment to readers in 2015
Thank you to our supporters
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To donors, readers & subscribers
It has been a banner year for Wyoming’s premier online news organization and the staff and board here would like to thank you for making it all possible. Your donations have allowed us to increase our staffing, intensify our coverage and improve the website and newsletter that carry news to your inbox.This year, we published more stories than ever in our history, including:
Publication of the Two Elk Saga, a powerful investigation into the mishandling of millions of dollars in state and federal funds.
Insightful coverage of faculty unrest and administrative turmoil at the University of Wyoming.
A statewide perspective on the breaking news that same-sex couples can legally wed in the state.
We expanded our staff, adding a veteran natural resources reporter to the news team. We also hired an experienced executive director to ensure that WyoFile is a sustainable business and a quality workplace for all of our employees.
We’ve invested in making the important news concerning the people, places and policies that drive Wyoming clear, timely and easy for you to access. We’ve been able to make those investments because you invested in us. We hope that you see your support at work in the pages of this year in review.
Thank you — WyoFile’s Board of Directors
A note from Dustin & Lorena
Dear readers and supporters,
WyoFile had an impressive 2014. We grew our staff to provide you with better service, set out to improve our website which now makes navigation even easier, and we increased our number of readers and donors. Without you, the staff, contractors, board, and regular contributors including Kelsey Dayton and Kerry Drake, WyoFile would not be as successful as we are today. The following pages offer a glimpse of our 2014 successes, how we have grown, and gives you some insight into how we operate and where we spend the hard-earned dollars you entrust in us.
Thank you for your support and for your dedication to quality and fearless journalism in Wyoming.
Lorena Garcia, executive directorDustin Bleizeffer, editor-in-chief
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Dustin and Lorena
make up WyoFile’s
management team.
Dustin is charged with
WyoFile’s editorial
direction and Lorena sets
the pace for Wyofile’s
business development.
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WyoFile staffExecutive director
Editor-in-chief
Operations manager
Natural resources reporter
Policy reporter
Lorena Garcia - Oversees the implementation of the strategic
plan. She secures necessary resources for WyoFile and oversees
the promotion, and expansion through on-the-ground tactics, online
methods and everything between.
Dustin Bleizeffer - Develops and implements the editorial strategy.
He spends hours at his desk, on the phone and on the road ensuring
that our readership receives the most accurate, well-researched news
in Wyoming. Author of Power to the People.
Guy V. Padgett III - He takes care of the details that make us run.
He oversees our financials, administrative and business operations.
He has his finger on WyoFile’s pulse, in the small things and in the
larger vision.
Angus M. Thuermer Jr. - With 35 years experience as a Wyoming
journalist, he brings an extensive background in natural resources
through life and reporting experience. Can’t get enough of his news
stories? Be sure to check out his blog: Wide-open Wyoming
Gregory Nickerson - You may have seen him on TV or heard
him on the radio, and of course you have read his unprecedented
reporting on the happenings under the capitol dome. He is also
WyoFile’s main contributor to Cheyennigans.
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WyoFile board of directors
Anne MacKinnon Patrick Larvie
Anne Ladd Gary Scott
Nadia White Gene Ruckman
Board chair, brings a wealth
of knowledge and guidance
through her experience
working in journalism and
natural resources. Anne lives in
Casper.
Board vice chair, a self-
described news-junkie, he’s
most passionate about making
public life more transparent,
the political process more
approachable, and to
encourage civic participation.
Board treasurer, brings
diverse experience in
community service, business,
health and journalism that
provides a different perspective
needed to ensure WyoFile’s
success.
Board secretary, offers
WyoFile his legal expertise
to ensure that our practices
are inline with the highest
operating standards as well
as brings the perspective as a
news consumer.
Member-at-large, a veteran
reporter and editor, is an
associate professor at the
University of Montana School
of Journalism where she
teaches old-school journalism
in the new media model.
Member-at-large, a
graduate from the University
of Wyoming, knows the
news industry inside and
out and brings marketing
and campaign development
expertise to WyoFile.
WyoFile provides
in-depth news,
analysis, and
commentary written
and edited by leading
local journalists
at no charge to all
segments of the
state. WyoFile shares
its content with all
Wyoming media for
free to help ensure
those local papers
and broadcast
stations can provide
in-depth information
to their readers and
listeners. It covers
the state’s critical
public issues with
an independent,
autonomous editorial
voice.
photo by: Greg Nickerson
photo by: Angus M. Thuermer Jr.
photo by: Lorena Garcia
photo by: Gregory Nickersonphoto by: Angus M. Thuermer Jr.
photo by: Leine Stikkel
WyoFile reporting impact
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WyoFile’s successes in 2014 include the groundbreaking online investigative series The Two Elk Saga (which was also compiled into an eBook); our continued examination of health care issues and policies; and fearless reporting on the aftershocks of the University of Wyoming’s tumultuous Sternberg era of energy influence within the administration. WyoFile also teamed up with UW’s Communications and Journalism Department to host the 2014 Wyoming Watchdog Workshop, conducted by Investigative Reporters & Editors. By giving clarity, prominence, and context to these issues, WyoFile empowered readers and Wyoming residents to participate in civic matters and hold elected leaders accountable. WyoFile’s media colleagues in the state took notice, too, accepting WyoFile’s insistence that its focus on these topics are worthy of further reporting and examination by republishing our stories in print and online, and by joining WyoFile in their own efforts to cover these issues in detail.
The year brought several key organizational successes as well. In March WyoFile hired Lorena Garcia as Executive Director, and in May WyoFile hired longtime Wyoming journalist Angus M. Thuermer Jr. as its natural resources reporter. Garcia made huge strides in setting WyoFile’s revenue and support networks on solid ground, while Thuermer’s reporting has brought clarity to just how much humans intervene in Wyoming’s complicated patchwork of land, water, air and wildlife.
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Top stories from 2014
Photographers sue to stop Grand Teton elk huntAction in D.C. court says elk feeding is cause of hunt that killed one grizzly bear and
could kill four more.
Q&A: Al Simpson on same-sex marriage in the Equality
StateAl Simpson on same-sex marriage in the Equality State: “Regardless of what
happens in this case, we will have gay marriage in Wyoming this year.”
Study: Non-hunters contribute most to wildlifeWhile hunters generate funds for state agencies, federal lands in the West are the
essential foundation.
Ancient Life in the High TetonsNew archaeological finds suggest prehistoric people lived above 9,000 feet in what is
now Grand Teton National Park.
America’s longest mule deer migration discovered in
WyomingThe discovery of America’s longest mule deer migration by Wyoming scientists adds
to a burgeoning awareness of where animals move and why they move.
As WyoFile produced more content in 2014 it also experienced significant increases in reader traffic and engagement. Here are WyoFile’s top 5 most read stories of 2014.
2014 IncomeWyoFile financesFoundations
Individual donors
Grand total
Underwriters
Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation $ 50,000.00
$ 120,000.00
$ 37,500.00
$ 540.00
$ 9,967.04
$ 2,000.00
$ 724.27
$ 220,731.31
433 Donors
Wyoming Medical Center
Wyoming Humanities Council
Dragicevich Wyoming Foundation
Investigative News Network
George B. Storer Foundation
283 New donors
Wind River Hotel & Casino
Wyoming Community Foundation
Miami Community Foundation
John S. & James L. Knight Foundation
Wyofile is a non-profit
organization. All donations
received are tax deductible.
We receive our funding from
foundations, individual donors
and underwriting. It is our
goal to increase our support
from donors and underwriters
in order to operate in a more
sustainable financial position.
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$ 141,272.22
$ 6,070.50
Grand Total
Grand Total
WyoFile financesWyoFile income sources
WyoFile spending percentages
Total income
Total expense
Grants $ 220,731.31
$ 235,240.23
$ 141,272.22
$ 47,882.15
$ 6,070.50
$ 88,237.91
$ 1,090.00
59 %
63.35 %
38 %
12.89 %
2 %
23.76 %
1 %
100 %
100 %
Editorial
Donors
Development
Underwriters
Admin
Others
$ 371,792.05
$ 371,360.29
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WyoFile commitment to readers
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Our readers, donors and subscribers have entrusted in us the challenge and opportunity to inform them on the issues most important to our great state. With this trust, we commit to quality journalism in 2015 that is rooted in the pursuit of truth, good storytelling and easy access through modern media.
WyoFile’s editorial staff will continue to search beyond the headlines to report what drives the decisions that help determine the quality of life in Wyoming communities and on its landscape.
WyoFile will continue to provide accountability in government, broader and deeper understanding of health care, education and natural resource issues.
WyoFile commits to making sure every corner of the state knows about us to support the growth of an informed and engaged citizenry in Wyoming.
Thank you to our supporters
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Nadia White
Paul Klingenstein
Joe Albright
Eric Barlow
Don Dorn
Dave Ebertz
Megan Hayes
John Heyneman
Frosty Kepler
Anne Ladd
Patrick Larvie
Kenneth Lay
Doreen McElvany
W K Nelson
Geoff O’Gara
Anne Pendergast
Lollie Plank
John Schiffer
Gary Scott
John Vincent
Lucy Waletzky
Pete Williams
Jazmyn McDonald
Sandy & Miguel Leotta
John Vincent
The Lockwood Family
Kristy Bleizeffer
Lori Brand
Audrey Cotherman
Claire Dunne
Lorena Garcia
Edith Healy
Katie Hogarty
Maria Katherman
Dennis Knight
Arthur Kolis
Anne MacKinnon
Nathan Martin
Tatiana Maxwell
Jared Miller
Amy Nagler
Harry Ruckman
Juliette Rule
Cyndy Simer
Shannon Smith
Linda Stoval
John Vincent
Gregg Warnock
Jill Welborn
Trailblazer Circle Major Donors
$500+
Cornerstone Circle Recurring Donors
photo by: Angus M. Thuermer Jr. photo by: Joe Riis.