• by Ray Schultz , April 1, 2021

States Newsroom, a nonprofit network of independent news outlets, has launched its 21^st site: Idaho Capital Sun, one of five it plans to introduce this year. 

The Capital Sun will be based in Boise and staffed by journalists with experience in Idaho statehouse reporting. 

Christina Lords, who led the Idaho Statesman prior to it turning to nonprofit journalism, will serve as editor-in-chief. 

“Idahoans deserve to be informed about the important happenings in our state capital,” Lords states. “Our aim is to bring data, context and analysis to some of the most under-covered state politics and capital city issues.”

The reporting team will include: Kelcie Moseley-Morrin, a reporter who has covered Idaho at the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, the Lewiston Tribune and the Idaho Press. Also in the edit mix is Clark Corbin, a journalist who has covered Idaho politics for the Idaho Falls Post Register and Idaho Education News, and Audrey Dutton, reporter for the Idaho Capital Sun and the Idaho Statesman. 

Founded in 2017 by Chris Fitzsimon, States Newsroom employed 78 full-time editors, reporters and support staff in 20 states prior to the Idaho launch.   

This year, it also plans to add outlets in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon and New Mexico. In February, it launched Capital Connections, a free content syndication service for news organizations.  

“As States Newsroom grows, our mission to provide high-quality, nonpartisan reporting on the crucial issues of our time remains the same,” Fitzsimon states.

On its website, States Newsroom cites Pew Research Center that newsroom employment in the U.S. fell by 25% in the decade between 2008 and 2018, and that only 30% of newspapers have reporters assigned to cover statehouses.